AcousticMusicScene.com and Tribes Hill (a nonprofit organization uniting musicians of the Hudson Valley region and their patrons in support of a music community coming together to celebrate human experience through song) will jointly present late-night artist showcases and song swaps during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.  The festival takes place July 24-27 at Dodds Farm in Hillsdale, New York, located in the foothills of the Berkshires near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

Now marking it 20th anniversary, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival has an impressive lineup of artists slated to perform on the Main Stage and workshop stage throughout the weekend, along with a Friday afternoon Emerging Artists Showcase, a swingin’ dance tent, children’s music and activities, and an array of crafts, food and other vendors.  But the fun doesn’t end there. One of the true  highlights of Falcon Ridge, for those who opt to camp on-site and stay up through the wee hours of the morning, are the impromptu jams and the after-hours song circles and short artist showcases. These late-night sessions – including the Nite Owl Song Swap hosted by singer-songwriter Terry Kitchen, those put on by the folks associated with Budgiedome, and AcousticMusicScene.com – Tribes Hill Song Swaps —  help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience.

AcousticMusicScene.com co-creators and Tribes Hill members Michael Kornfeld and Glen Roethel will host late-night music under a big white canopy tent on top of the hill on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, beginning shortly after the Main Stage quiets for the night.  Bring your instruments, voices and ears, and join us. An open song swap will be preceded by about an hour of pre-arranged artist showcases and semi-circle rounds each evening.

Some of the artists who will strut their stuff at the AcousticMusicScene.com – Tribes Hill tent also will be performing on the Main Stage and other stages during the festival.

Among the nearly 50 acts on four stages during the four-day  festival will be Crooked Still, Eddie From Ohio, Bill Evans’ Soulgrass, The Folk Brothers (David Massengill & Jack Hardy), Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Vance Gilbert, Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka, Tracey Grammer, The Horse Flies, Janis Ian, Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, Patty Larkin, Lowen and Navarro, Lori McKenna,  Guy Mendilow Band, Nerissa & Katrina Nields, Nightingale, Railroad Earth, Red Molly, The Sevens, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience, Chris Smither, The Strangelings, Dar Williams, and the audience’s choices for the top four “Most Wanted to Return” acts from last year’s Emerging Artist Showcase – Anthony da Costa, Joe Crookston, Lindsay Mac and Randall Williams [Photos of whom, taken during the Falcon Ridge Preview Tour, appear in the Photo Gallery section of this site.] 

Scheduled to perform in this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase on Friday afternoon, July 25, from 12-4:30 p.m., are (in order): Jenee Halstead, Ashleigh Flynn, The Low Anthem, Kate Sawicki, Robby Hecht, Gretchen Witt, Michael Tiernan, Lucy Wainwright-Roche, Brad Colerick, Carrie Elkin, Blue Moose & the Unbuttoned Zippers, Abi Tapia, Emily Mure, Rj Cowdery, Danny Schmidt, Brooke Brown Saracino, Blind Willies, Anne Heaton, Amy Speace, Luke Brindley, Juliana Finch, Ian Fitzgerald, and Erin Sax Seymour.

For more information on the festival, visit www.falconridgefolk.com.