Emerging Artist Showcase Performers Chosen for 2019 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

Twenty-four artists/acts have been selected to perform in The Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on Friday afternoon, August 2, 2019, from noon to 4:30 p.m.

Appearing in this year’s Emerging Artist Showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance): Answer the Muse, James Lee Baker, Suzie Brown, Wes Collins, Scott Cook, Corner House, Karen Dahlstrom, Sarah Eide, Roger Street Friedman, GoldenOak, Hawthorn, Lara Herscovitch, Kaiti Jones, Travis Knapp, Grace Morrison, Mosa, Zoe Mulford, Karyn Oliver, The Promise is Hope, River Run, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Ellen Shae, Deborah C. Smith, and Dan Weber. Named as alternates were South for the Winter, Shawna Caspi, Jim Allyn, and Banjo Nickaru. Although there is no compensation for showcasing artists, each will receive full admission, on-site camping and meals for the festival, plus one guest pass per act.

The Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se, although the audience is surveyed as to which showcase artists they’d like to see return the following year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap. This year’s Most Wanted Song Swap will feature Quarter Horse, Solebello and Justin Farren.

An opportunity to be seen and heard in a large amphitheater setting, with hundreds of folk fans, presenters, agents, media and other music industry professionals in attendance, the showcase was open to all performing artists who have not previously showcased their talents at Falcon Ridge in the last two years and who will not be appearing on its stages in any other capacity this year. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges looked for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material that need not be original. This year’s judges were Bruce Swan and Louise Baker from Baker Booking and WPKN (Bridgeport, CT) working as a team, Bruce Martin from Blues Café in Southbury, CT, and Pam Robinson from The Folk Project and curator of he New Jersey Uke Fest.

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, takes place August 2-4, 2019 at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, New York, located in the foothills of the Berkshires near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The festival features dozens of artists performing on several stages (including a dance tent), children’s music and activities, and a wide array of crafts, food and other vendors. A Pre-Fest Tastings Day & Farm Market is slated for Thursday, Aug.1, featuring locally grown food, drink and artisanal items, along with performances by a number of artists from 5-11 p.m. on The Lounge Stage presented by Tribal Mischief Productions.

Artists slated to perform during the festival – in addition to those in the Most Wanted Song Swap — include Michael Allman & the Mile High Band, Annie & the Hedonists, Bettman & Halpin, BoDeans, Buddy System, Jim & Madeline Christensen, Emma’s Revolution, The Gaslight Tinkers, The Ivy Vie Players, Martyn Joseph, Stephen Kellogg, Low Lily, G,eorge Marshall with Wild Asparagus, Crys Mathews, Pamela Means Band, Mid-City Acres, Beth Molaro, Mustard’s Retreat, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Patti O’Brien Melita, Pete’s Posse, Kerri Powers, Paul Rosenberg, Rowan Brothers, Ryanhood, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Storycrafters, Tame Rutabaga, Andrew VanNorstrand, Kathryn Wedderburn, and Annie Wenz. The Falcon Ridge House Band — featuring Rad Lorkovic, Mark Dann and Eric Lee –also will be on hand to accompany a number of other artists.

Those camping at Falcon Ridge and staying up through the early morning hours can enjoy an array of informal jams, mini-showcases and after-hours song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience at the Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, Pirate Camp and elsewhere. Singer-songwriters Terry Kitchen and Tony Kearney host the Nite Owl Swap and Nite Owl Hoot.

More information can be found and tickets for the festival may be ordered at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Editor’s Note: I have attended the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival each summer almost since its inception. It was an honor to serve as an Emerging Artist Showcase judge last year. For nearly a decade, I also arranged and hosted late-night song swaps at Falcon Ridge under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com in partnership with Tribes Hill and, later, Pirate Camp. While I continue to camp with friends at Pirate Camp, I have enjoyed visiting various campsites and checking out a number of artists who are new to me over the past several years.