Ron Olesko Receives NERFA’s Creator of the Year Award for Folk Music Notebook

Veteran folk DJ Ron Olesko was the recipient of the inaugural Creator of the Year Award presented by the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) during the nonprofit organization’s 25th annual conference in Stamford, CT, Nov. 7-10, 2019. Olesko, a NERFA stalwart, who has been hosting a folk show (Traditions) on WFDU-FM (Teaneck, NJ), was recognized for launching Folk Music Notebook, an online radio station showcasing folk music 24/7 earlier this year.

‘For his efforts in creating, curating and maintaining Folk Music Notebook as a 24/7 online folk channel that also can be accessed via free apps and listened to through your smartphones, car speakers, and other Bluetooth streaming devices, NERFA is delighted to recognize Ron Olesko with our inaugural Creator of the Year Award,” said Michael Kornfeld, president of NERFA’s board of directors.

Visibly moved and overwhelmed, after having himself just presented NERFA’s first Album of the Year Award to singer-songwriter Ellis Paul for The Storyteller’s Suitcase. Olesko accepted the award in front of some 700 conference attendees during a Friday night dinner and awards ceremony in the Stamford Crowne Plaza’s International Ballroom.

“It is because of NERFA and the spirit it creates that I am able to find the motivation and support to organize this channel,” asserts Olesko. “You are all my family and the art created by this community keeps me going. I will continue to work this labor of love until my last breath. Thank you all for the love you’ve shown me.”

Folk Music Notebook launched on May 3, 2019 – the 100th anniversary of the birth of folk music icon Pete Seeger. Olesko envisions it as a gathering spot for the folk community and all the fans of our music –- a place to ‘discover’ new artists ad songs as well as honor the established names who created this living tradition.

As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com [http://acousticmusicscene.com/2019/05/02/folk-music-notebook-a-247-music-channel-launches-online-and-is-available-via-free-apps/], Folk Music Notebook offers up a curated playlist focusing on the diverse contemporary folk music community, while also incorporating the folk revival artists who drew many people to this genre. Interspersed with the music are brief but informative DJ announcements, recorded stories behind the songs from the artists themselves, as well as commentary, news and other special features. The channel broadcast juried official showcases, as well as its own curated artist showcases, live from the conference.

Folk Music Notebook engages listeners by showing the connections between songs and styles – keeping them engrossed throughout the day without constant badgering from hosts, endless strings of commercials, or repetitive automated playlists.

“I was stunned to receive such a recognition and proud of what has been accomplished by all the wonderful program hosts and correspondents that make Folk Music Notebook possible,” Olesko posted on his Facebook page. “I almost lost it when I walked onstage to accept the award and saw people starting to give me a standing ovation … It was a moment I won’t forget, to be recognized by this wonderful family of folkies!”

Olesko noted that he shares the award “with all of our hosts, everyone who contributed to our Kickstarter campaign that enabled us to launch, the artists whose music we share, and [with] everyone who tunes in to our 24-hour service. I am very proud what we have created together!” He expressed thanks to the NERFA board of directors for recognizing Folk Music Notebook and what it has accomplished so far. “We have some exciting new shows and plans for the future, and I think you will enjoy what we are going to be adding at www.FolkMusicNotebook.com – your home for great folk songs old and new, 24 hours a day!”

An active participant in NERFA conferences for many years, Olesko served as a moderator and panelist during this year’s event, and was part of the judging panel that selected the official showcase artists. He joined Sonny Ochs (an upstate New York-based folk DJ who also has a show that airs on Folk Music Notebook) in moderating a Wisdom of the Elders session featuring fellow folk DJs Wanda Adams Fischer (host of Hudson River Sampler on WAMC in Albany, NY), John Platt (host of Sunday Supper on WFUV in the Bronx, NY), and Rich Warren (host of the nationally syndicated Midnight Special that emanates from WFMT in Chicago, IL). Olesko also joined Platt and folk DJs Jess Phaneuf (MVY Radio on Martha’s Vineyard, MA), Joe Pszonek (who hosts shows on WNTI in NJ and on Blues & Roots Radio), and Greg Torrington (Stingray Digital) in a panel discussion entitled Ride The Wave: Radio, Podcasts, Satellite, Terrestrial & New Media Platforms, as well as Pszonek, AcousticMusicScene.com’s Michael Kornfeld, and artists Mara Levine and Stuart Markus on a panel exploring Self-Promoting Your Project To The Folk DJ Chart – Is It For You?

Conference attendees included performing artists, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk DJs, and others actively engaged in contemporary and traditional folk music. They enjoyed and were inspired by jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, song swaps/in-the-rounds, open mics and informal jam sessions, a children’s concert, informative panel discussions and workshops, one-on-one mentoring and peer group sessions, communal meals, an exhibit hall, a community meeting with NERFA’s board of directors, a community sing, a welcoming party, a 25th anniversary celebration, and lots of opportunities for schmoozing and networking.

Singer-Songwriter Noel Paul Stookey was the conference’s keynote speaker. He and his daughter, Liz Stookey Sunde, also are the founders of Music to Life, a national nonprofit organization that connects activist artists of all genres with the resources they need to revitalize their communities through music. As part of a new partnership with NERFA, Music to Life presented NERFA’s inaugural Activist Artist of the Year Award to singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey, who also participated in a panel discussion moderated by Stookey-Sunde entitled Start A Creative Revolution! Using The Arts To Start Creative Change.

Courtney Rodland, NERFA’s conference director, presented the organization’s first Lifetime Achievement Award to Dianne Tankle, NERFA’s founder and its conference director from its inception until stepping down last fall.

NERFA (www.nerfa.org) is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. NERFA’s geographic boundaries extend from the eastern provinces of Canada south to the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to my NERFA board colleagues for their ongoing commitment and dedication to our organization and the community that we serve, and for re-electing me to another term as president during our reorganization meeting that took place just prior to the start of the conference. It was my pleasure to present NERFA’s first Creator of the Year Award to Ron Olesko, as well as to participate on two panels and host late-night showcases under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com during the conference.