More than 800 performing artists, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk DJs and others actively engaged in traditional and contemporary folk music will converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, NY, Nov. 7-10, 2013, for the 19th Annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. AcousticMusicScene.com will again have a major presence as it hosts afternoon and late-night song swaps, in addition to its popular Midnight Hoot at the close of the conference’s first day.
Folks jamming in the lobby during a previous NERFA Conference
(Photo: Robert Berkowitz/RSBImageWorks.com)
Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the annual NERFA conferences, and many presenters and folk DJs do scout out new artists and those whom they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections, building community, and attending workshops and seminars to learn about options to further careers.
As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, taking center stage during this year’s conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges, with each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set in the resort’s theater on Friday and Saturday nights. Slated to perform on Friday are Billy Jonas and The Billy Jonas Band, Tall Heights, Connie Kaldor, OCEAN, Jean Rohe and the End of the World Show, Darryl Purpose, and The Hickory Project. Saturday’s Formal Showcase lineup features Comas, Natalia Zukerman, Miles to Dayton, Amy Speace, Roosevelt Dime, Buddy Mondlock, and The Boxcar Lilies.
After the formal showcases, attendees will shuffle between four conference rooms to catch short sets by 40 additional artists who were selected by a different set of judges. Performing in Quad Showcases on Friday night are Mike Agranoff, C. Daniel Boling, Meg Braun, Michael Braunfeld, Jon Brooks, Cary Cooper, Joe Craven, John Flynn, Fred Gillen, Jr., Hannah & Maggie, Matt Harlan, Kim & Reggie Harris, Kate Klim, Zoe Mulford, Jory Nash, Red Moon Road, Janet Robin, SONiA, Spuyten Duyvil, and Sloan Wainwright. Saturday’s Quad Showcase artists include Amy Black, Roy Bookbinder, Rich Deans, Aengus Finnan, Ian Fitzgerald, Harpeth Rising, Robby Hecht, Louise Mosrie, Murphy Beds, Karyn Oliver, Panache Quartet, Jim Photoglo, Hayley Reardon, Red Tail Ring, Cosy Sheridan, Sultans of String, Vinegar Creek, Anne Weiss, The Whispering Tree, and Brooks Williams.
Following the juried showcases each evening (as well as during the afternoons), AcousticMusicScene.com will join dozens of presenters, performers and others in hosting guerilla showcases in their hotel rooms that extend through the early morning hours. Open mics, informal jam sessions, private showcases, thematic song circles and round-robin song swaps round out the musical mix. It’s not unusual to see musicians staking out other areas of the hotel and jamming until 4 or 5 a.m.
Acoustic MusicScene.com Midnight Hoot Features Artists and Singing Folk DJs
Click on the image above to read and/or print an enlarged version of this AcousticMusicScence.com flyer.
Now in its seventh year, the Midnight Hoot is intended to shine a spotlight on several folk DJs who also enjoy singing, while providing them, presenters and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time. It also enables artists to enjoy each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday (although since increasingly more people have been arriving on Thursday, some intensive workshops will take place that afternoon).
Artists slated to perform in the Midnight Hoot (listed alphabetically, not in order of appearance) include Bob Ardern, The Barrel Jumpers, Marc Black, C. Daniel Bolling, Matt Borrello, Marc Douglas Berardo, Susan Cattaneo, Jerry DeMeo, Tony Denikos, Ian Fitzgerald, Chris Fuller, Connor Garvey, Gathering Time, Marci Geller, Ghosts of the American Road, Susan Greenbaum, Melissa Greener, Brian Ashley Jones, Stuart Kabak, Brian Kalinec, Keith Kelly, Savannah King, Mike Laureanno, Mara Levine, Bernice Lewis, Rob Lytle, Zoe Mulford, Karyn Oliver, Davey O, Janet Robin, John Sonntag, Bethel Steele, Hank Stone, Jonah Tolchin, John Tracy, Chuck Williams, Avi Wisnia, and The YaYas. A house band comprised of David Buskin (keyboards), Mark Dann (bass) and Marshal Rosenberg (percussion) also will be there for anyone who desires accompaniment.
American and Canadian Artists to Showcase in the AcousticMusicScene.com Room
The AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule appears below, as well as on the attached flyer.
Friday Afternoon
(Hosted by Hank Stone and Connor Garvey)
2:30 Funny Folk: Mark Allen Berube, Drew Jacobs, Martin Swinger
3:00 Long Island Sounds: Jerry DeMeo, The Folk Goddesses, Rorie Kelly, Hank Stone
3:45 Maine Stage: Connor Garvey, Calen Perkins, Chris Ross, Sorcha
Friday Evening
(Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)
11:45 Mara Levine (accompanied by Gathering Time)
12:00 Harmonic Convergence: The Boxcar Lilies, Gathering Time, Kim & Reggie Harris
12:30 A Trio of Duos: Hannah & Maggie, The Levins,
Lords of Liechtenstein
1:00 Folk You Should Know: Arlon Bennett, Marc Douglas Berardo, Rob Lytle
1:30 More Folk You Should Know: Jeremiah Birnbaum, Marci Geller, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes
2:00 Bandemonium: Miles to Dayton, Pesky J. Nixon
Saturday Afternoon
(Hosted by Stuart Kabak and Michael Kornfeld)
2:00 Amy Black, Rich Deans, Fred Gillen, Jr.
2:30 C. Daniel Boling, Stuart Kabak, Keith Kelly
3:00 Nashville in New York: Brian Ashley Jones, Louise Mosrie,
Twangtown Paramours
3:30 I’m From New Jersey: Loretta Hagen, Jean Rohe, John Sonntag
4:00 O’Canada: Aengus Finnan, Kat Goldman, Jory Nash
Saturday Evening
(Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)
11:45 Texas Songwriters: Cary Cooper, Matt Harlan, Brian Kalinec, Amanda Pearcy
12:30 No Fuss & Feathers Road Show: Karyn Oliver, Carolann Solebello, The YaYas
1:00 Mid-Atlantic Songwriters: Tony Denikos, John Flynn, John Tracy
1:30: Fingerstyle Guitar Virtuosity: Bob Ardern, Hiroya Tsukamoto
2:00: All Keyed-Up: Anna Dagmar, Allie Farris, Kate Klim, Heather Pierson, Rachael Sage, Avi Wisnia
NERFA (www.nerfa.org) is part of the larger Folk Alliance International, an association that seeks to foster and promote multicultural, traditional and contemporary folk music, while strengthening and advancing organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.
Editor’s Note: My thanks to Stuart Kabak, with whom I partner in hosting late-night song swaps and open circle under the AcousticMusicScene.com Tent @ Pirate Camp during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, for providing a carpeted wooden platform stage and stage lights for this year’s AcousticMusicScene.com showcases. Thanks also are due to him and fellow singer-songwriters Connor Garvey and Hank Stone for graciously offering to guest host afternoon showcases, to Amy Blake , Gary Schoenberger and Sybil Moser for the loan of folding chairs, and to Karen Finkenberg for her assistance in designing flyers.
In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases during the NERFA Conference, I will be offering some one-on-on mentoring sessions focused on artist bios and one-sheets, media relations, social media, website content, what presenters look for when considering artists for their concert series, and how artists and presenters can work together to promote concerts.. I also serve as vice president of NERFA’s board of directors and am a candidate for the Folk Alliance International board.
Like/Follow Us!