Folk Alliance Region-West (FAR-West), Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM) and Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA), regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International, are 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, 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 FAR-West, FARM and NERFA conferences are much more than that – they are really about forging connections and building community.
FAR-West has set April 30 at 11:59 p.m. (PDT) as the submissions deadline for its 13-juried Official Showcases that are set to take place during the evenings of Friday, Oct 16 and Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Marriott City Center in Oakland, California, where its conference opens Oct. 15 with a Venues’ Choice Concert. Seven artists will be featured in 20-minute slots on Friday, while six will showcase their talents on Saturday.
Artists are required to submit links to videos of three song performances, along with a $25 fee. A two-tier rating system will be used to evaluate them on the basis of engagement, talent, musicianship, song craft and other elements that make a showcase-worthy act. Finalists and alternates will be contacted on or about July 1.
Showcase applications, along with more information, guidelines and tips may be found online at www.far-west.org/officialshowcase2015.html.
FARM has set May 31 at midnight (Central Time) as its submissions deadline for 14 juried evening showcases on Friday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Sheraton and Hotel Vetre in Iowa City, Iowa, where its annual conference extends from Oct. 22-Oct. 25.
FARM requests that each artist submit two live performance links, along with a $15 fee. Those artists selected to showcase will receive notification by July 1 and will then pay an additional $20 showcase fee. Listening Room Network is administering the showcase application process for FARM, as it has for the past two years. 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 who showcased at the 2013 or 2014 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
www.listeningroomnetwork.com/showcase/rules.php?orgID=6
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. 13 and 14, during its annual four-day conference at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York. NERFA has set the following submission deadlines: Friday, June 5 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) for its Formals, and Tuesday, July 7 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, fees and more information.
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.
Folk Alliance International — which hosts its annual conference, music camp and fair in February — is a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization that aims to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance.
Editor’s Note: I am a 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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