Bill & Kate Isles (Photo: Jeff Ilse)
Aiming to select artists based on performance ability as well as musical skill, FARM partnered with the Listening Room Network to develop and administer a new online system for showcase submissions and judging this year, according to Bob Hofbauer, president of FARM’s board of directors. Applicants were asked to submit links to three songs. Most submitted all three as videos, although only one was required. “We requested that the submissions be of live performances and that the band configuration be the same as that expected to perform at the conference,” Hofbauer noted.
Like other regional conferences of the nonprofit Folk Alliance International, the annual FARM conference provides useful and enjoyable learning and networking opportunities, not to mention plenty of fine listening and performing opportunities for artists, presenters, agents and managers, folk DJs, folk societies and clubs, and others engaged in the traditional and contemporary folk music field.
In addition to the coveted official showcase slots, artists have several other opportunities to perform and gain exposure to presenters and radio DJs in attendance. These include Performance Lane (pre-scheduled, unplugged 10-minute showcases to be held simultaneously in two smaller conference rooms following the official showcases on Friday and Saturday nights); Midwest Radio Presents, unplugged late-night private showcases in a limited number of hotel rooms from midnight to 2 a.m., and late-night jamming and song circles. Famed singer-songwriter Melanie (“Brand New Key,” “Lay Down (Candles in the Wind),” “What Have They Done to My Song Ma”) will be the keynote speaker on Friday night and also will lead a songwriting master class on Thursday afternoon. Daytime workshops, panel discussions and mentor sessions also are on the agenda, while singer-songwriter and Waterbug Records founder Andrew Calhoun will host a traditional Call & Response sing-along.
Both a la carte (“Taste of FARM”) and all-inclusive conference registration is available. For more information and registration forms, visit www.farmfolk.org.
A nonprofit organization for those engaged in traditional, contemporary and multicultural folk music, dance and related performing arts, FARM is a regional arm of Folk Alliance International, which seeks to strengthen and advance organizational and individual initiatives through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.
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