Aztec Two-Step 2.0, The Ebony Hillbillies, The Gaslight Tinkers, Tracy Grammer, Alice Howe & Freebo, David Jacobs-Strain & Bob Beach, Joe Jencks, Lucy Kaplansky, Stephen Kellogg, Nerissa & Katrina Nields, Ellis Paul, Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Livingston Taylor, Tempest, Richard Thompson, Tony Trischka, and Annie Wenz are among the artists slated to perform during the 35th annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 28-30, 2023 at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut – preceded by a Pre-Fest Day of Tastings & Farm Market and Thursday Night Music Stage on July 27.
The popular festival, which will feature four stages of music, officially kicks off on Friday, July 28 at noon. That’s when 15 artists/acts have been invited to perform in the 2023 Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase on the festival’s Mainstage. Appearing in this year’s showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance) are Sandy Cash, Katie Dahl, Leslie Evers, The Honey Badgers, Eric Kilburn, Latin Americana, Chris LaVancher, Juliet Lloyd, Carol Ann Montag, Halley Neal, Kevin Neidig, Noble Dust, Andy Sydow, and Tiffany Williams. Kemp Harris is the first alternate. 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 Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se during the festival, 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. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges looked for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material. This year’s judges were Susan Forbes Hansen (a folk DJ on WWUH and WHUS in Connecticut), Bruce Martin (from Blues Café in Southbury, CT) and Barbara Shiller (former president of CT Folk). “This year’s judges all said [that] it was extremely difficult to choose the final slate,” said Anne Saunders, the festival’s artistic director. “The level of talent and quality of the submissions was all pretty high — and much of it from newbies they did not know previously. We do so love when that happens.”
Phil Henry, Grace Morrison, Sam Robbins, and Erin Ash Sullivan will showcase their talents during this year’s Most Wanted Song Swap. In addition,the four are participating in a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Presents The “Most Wanted” Tour leading up to the festival. They will showcase their talents at SolarFest in Brandon, VT (July 15), Club Passim in Cambridge, MA (July 16), The Listening Booth in Lewes, DE (July 21), Moore Music in Rockville, MD (July 22), and Earp’s Ordinary in Fairfax, VA (July 23).
During the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, an Activities 4 Kids program, Circle of Song acoustic stage, Family Stage and Workshop Stage also will begin on Friday afternoon, July 28, while evening Mainstage performances and nightly dancing are slated to follow the daytime programming. Mainstage performances extend until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights (followed by late-night musical revelry at the campgrounds featuring informal jams, artist showcases and song circles). Sunday’s musical festivities wrap up at 6 p.m. For those camping on the fairgrounds, there will be some late-night musical revelry featuring an array of informal jams, artist showcases and song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience.
“We are very happy to be bringing back both DANCE and our Thursday Tastings and Farmers Market program,” said Saunders. While acknowledging that both will be smaller than in the pre-pandemic years when the festival took place on a farm in upstate New York, she noted “but that’s as expected; the important thing is that they are back.” So too will be a full array of craft and food vendors.
Prior to the start of the actual festival, the aforementioned Pre-Fest Tastings & Farmers Market will take place on Thursday afternoon, while a Thursday Night Music Stage will be hosted by Scotten Jones (a co-founder of the Lounge Stage that hosted live music on Thursdays for many years) and Kathy Sands-Boehmer of Harbortown Music beginning at 4 p.m. Artists slated to appear include Lisa Bastoni, Marc Douglas Berardo, Joe Crookston, Kirsten Maxwell, No Fuss and Feathers, Rod Picott, RaSkull Flagg, Robinson & Rohe, Rachael Sage, Tom Smith, and Rachel Sumner.
[Here’s a link to a Spotify playlist that Kathy Sand-Boehmer compiled featuring songs by artists who are part of the Thursday Night Music Stage lineup.
Three-day festival tickets are $240 with camping or $165 without camping. Single -day tickets also are available for $60. All three-day tickets include Pre-Fest Thursday admission, while tickets for Pre-Fest Thursday also can be purchased for $20 at the gate. Children 12 and under will be admitted free, while tickets are heavily discounted for teens. The campgrounds will open by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26. More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at falconridgefolk.com.
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