XM Satellite Radio Puts The Village on “Vacation”

In this guest commentary, Ron Olesko, host of WFDU-FM's long-running folk music radio programs "Traditions" and "The Session" and president of the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, expresses dismay over the recent decision by the management of XM/Sirius Radio to give its folk music channel a "vacation" for the holiday season. "I'm hoping that this is just a simple error in judgment," writes Olesko, and "that satellite radio can set itself on the right track once again and live up to the promise that created the need." Maintains Olesko, "Should the merger [of XM and Sirius] turn their offerings into a mirror of the commercial mess that has passed for terrestrial radio in recent years, we will have missed what may be our best opportunity to showcase creativity." [To read Ron Olesko's commentary in its entirety, click on the headline.]

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Tribes Hill Slates Winter Solstice Concert, Dec. 14

An interfaith holiday celebration in song will be presented by Tribes Hill, a lower Hudson Valley collective of singer-songwriters and their patrons, at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York, on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m. Tickets, priced at $20, are available at www.tarrytownmusichall.org, as well as at the theater box office. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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AcousticMusicScene.com Group Launched on LinkedIn

As part of our ongoing efforts to forge connections and build community for performers, presenters and fans of folk, roots, singer-songwriter and other acoustic music styles, we have launched an AcousticMusicScene.com Group on LinkedIn. A professionally-oriented online social network, LinkedIn currently has more than 30-million members around the world. The new AcousticMusicScene.com Group supplements our online publication by providing you with opportunities to connect with others who share your musical interests, view rich professional profiles from AcousticMusicScene.com Group members, and exchange ideas and information via a discussion forum on LinkedIn. {To read this posting in its entirety, click on the headline.]

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Finalists Named for Independent Music Awards

Finalists for the eighth annual Independent Music Awards were announced on Nov. 19. Produced by Music Resource Group, publishers of The Musician’s Atlas, the Independent Music Awards feature more than 50 music and design categories and were open to any indie-label release or self-produced, self-distributed recording released between July 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2008. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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NSAI Extends Song Contest Deadline

The submission deadline for the 9th Annual Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Song Contest has been extended to Dec. 10. The contest, open to aspiring songwriters in all music genres, is presented by CMT. NSAI members may enter for $35 per song, while the per-song fee for others is $45. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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AcousticMusicScene.com to Have Major Presence at NERFA Conference, Nov. 13-16, in the Catskills

AcousticMusicScene.com will host a multi-CD release party and international wine tasting during this weekend’s Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York.  Some 600 folk music aficionados – including performers, presenters and promoters – are expected to gather for three jam-packed days and nights of music, informative panel discussions and workshops, a large trade show-like exhibit hall, and lots of informal conversation and networking, Nov. 13-16.

Slated for Saturday, Nov. 15, from 2:30-4 p.m. and open only to those registered for the conference, the AcousticMusicScene.com event will feature performances by New York-based folk harmony trio Gathering Time, folk rock singer-songwriter Joe Iadanza, inventive world musicians the Guy Mendilow Band, and singer-songwriter and AcousticMusicScene.com co-creator Glen Roethel.  The artists plan to accompany each other on a few songs for the very first time, making for a very special and unique event. 

[To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Mieka Pauley Wins New York Songwriters Circle Contest

Mieka Pauley, a 27 year-old singer-songwriter from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was named the grand prize winner in The New York Songwriters Circle’s 2008 Songwriting Contest. Pauley, whose musical style combines elements of soul, blues, rock, acoustic and alternative, performed a stripped-down acoustic version of “All the Same Mistakes” during live finals held before a panel of music industry judges and fans, Nov. 5 and 6, at The Bitter End in Manhattan’s West Village. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Boston Globe Drops Folk Music Writer Scott Alarik

Scott Alarik, the longtime principal folk music writer for the Boston Globe, has been dropped from the daily newspaper's pages as part of a restructuring of its arts section. A contributing writer for the Boston Globe since 1986, Alarik has been professionally engaged in the folk music community for nearly 40 years -- both as a music journalist and a singer-songwriter. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Folk DJs to Sing During Upcoming NERFA Conference

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On November 13, Folk DJs Graham & Barbara Dean and Wanda Fischer will lift their own voices in song during an AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York.

[To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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MerleFest 2009 Lineup Announced

MerleFest, one of America’s most popular Americana music festivals, has announced its 2009 artist lineup. Celebrating the music of the late instrumental virtuoso Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson, the “traditional-plus” music festival – featuring traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region -- takes place April 23-26 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival Set for Nov. 22

The David Grisman Quintet and The Avett Brothers headline the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival. Set for Saturday, November 22, from noon to 11 p.m., at the Congress Theater, the festival also will feature more than a dozen other acts – both homegrown and touring musicians – with musical styles ranging from bluegrass and blues to roots and jam-band. Early-bird general admission tickets are $31. A portion of the proceeds will support the research efforts of the Chicago-based Save Tiny Hearts Foundation, which seeks to help eradicate congenital heart defects in children. For more information and to order tickets, visit www.cbgbfestival.com.

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‘Traveling Salesman’ Doesn’t Sell His Soul

New Music Gets Right to the Heart; Spans Folk, Rock, Roots and Americana Genres

Joe IadanzaLong Island -based folk-rock singer-songwriter Joe Iadanza composes and delivers deeply personal and inspiring original music. On his recent debut studio release, Traveling Salesman, Iadanza’s soaring poetic vocals and percussive fingerstyle guitar grooves are accented by the musical talents of a unique group of classically-trained, jazz-schooled and folk-versed musicians.

Featuring original songs by Iadanza, Traveling Salesman is a heart-opening – sometimes foot-stompin’ – album that spans the genres of folk, rock, roots and Americana. It is imbued with what one British music critic called a “European jazz” feel that harkens back to a bygone era. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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