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.]
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 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
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.
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.]
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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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
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.]
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.
New Music Gets Right to the Heart; Spans Folk, Rock, Roots and
Long Island
Featuring original songs by Iadanza, Traveling Salesman is a heart-opening – sometimes foot-stompin’ – album that spans the genres of folk, rock, roots and
The submissions deadline for the 2008 International Songwriting Competition has been extended to Dec. 1. Entries must be postmarked or uploaded online on or before that date. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Jeff Black, Alison Brown, Casey Driessen (of the Sparrow Quartet), Robby Hecht, Jars of Clay, Gretchen Peters, and The Silver Seas are among the more than 30 local and nationally touring artists slated to perform on three stages during The Americana Folk Festival on Nov. 1 at Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, Tennessee, The park is situated in the hills of middle Tennessee, 30 minutes west of Nashville. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Jeff Ellis of Huntington, West Virginia; Jacob & Lily of Winnipeg, Manitoba; Kangero of Brooklyn, New York; Kelleigh McKenzie of Rosendale, New York; and Rose Polenzani of Somerville, Massachusetts were named as winners of the 2008 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, presented by Folk Alliance. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
