Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM) and Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA), regional chapters of Folk Alliance International, are both currently accepting applications for juried showcases during their respective annual conferences this fall. All showcase entries must be submitted online.
The regional events provide 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, and others engaged in the folk music field. Booking gigs is a primary objective of some performers who attend these annual conferences, while many presenters and folk DJs come primarily to scout out new artists and those who they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, along with other Folk Alliance International regional conferences, the FARM Gathering and NERFA Conference are much more than that – they are really about forging connections and building community.
FARM has set May 31 at midnight (Central time) as the deadline for submissions for consideration for 14 juried showcases to take place during the evenings of Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. The 2014 FARM Conference extends from Oct. 23-26.
FARM requests that each artist submit two live performance links, along with a $15 fee (Those artists selected to showcase will pay an additional $25 showcase fee upon notification). Listening Room Network is administering the showcase application process for FARM, as it did last year. Noting that the submissions need not be “produced, “the showcase application guidelines state: “In fact, the best submissions are a simple production of you in front of the camera, preferably in front of an audience. Artists are asked to submit videos that feature the same lineup as the intended showcase performance (i.e., if one intends to perform solo, s/he should not submit a performance video with a band or backup singers).
Artists selected for these juried showcases will be notified by July 1. Artists who showcased at the 2012 or 2013 FARM Conferences are ineligible. Selected artists and all band members/backup musicians must be members of Folk Alliance International and be registered for the full conference.
More information and FARM online showcase applications may be found at http://www.listeningroomnetwork.com/showcase/rules.php?orgID=1.
NERFA, which draws the largest number of people to its conferences of any FAI region, is accepting applications for both its Formal and Quad Showcases that are slated for Friday and Saturday nights, Nov. 14 and 15, during its annual four-day conference at .the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York. NERFA has set the following submission deadlines: Tuesday, May 27 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) for its Formals, and Wednesday, June 25 at 11:59 p.m. for its Quads. Application forms may be found on the left-hand side of its website (www.nerfa.org), along with rules and more information. After artists submit their forms, along with the requisite application fees, directions will be sent to them explaining the online music submission process.
The14 juried 15-minute Formal Showcases, which are the premier and most coveted showcase opportunities at the NERFA Conference, take place in the resort’s theater.
Immediately following the Formals, conference goers shuffle between four rooms to enjoy juried 15-minute Quad Showcases – 20 of which are scheduled each night. As with the Formals, nothing else is allowed to go on during the Quad Showcases.
Editor’s Note: I am currently in my third term as an elected board member of NERFA and my first term on the Folk Alliance International board of directors.
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