Long Island Bluegrass Festival Set For August 16

The Long Island Bluegrass Festival will take place at Tanner Park on Kerrigan Road, near the Great South Bay, in Copiague, NY on Saturday, Aug. 16, from noon-8 p.m. Presented by the Babylon Arts Council and the Town of Babylon, the festival will be headlined by Dan Paisley & the Southern Grass and also will feature performances by Buddy Merriam & Back Roads, James Reams & the Barnstormers, Too Blue, Acoustic Electrix, Free Grass Union, Michael Daves and Blue Detour. Now in its sixth year, the family-friendly festival -- for which admission is $10 for adults and free for children under 12 -- also will include workshop tents, plenty of opportunities for jamming, music and activities for children, crafts, and a food court. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Aaron Espe is Emerging Artist for Four Corners Folk Festival

Aaron Espe has been selected as Sonicbids Emerging Artist for the 2008 Four Corners Folk Festival that takes place in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, August 29-31. Espe, a young folk-pop singer-songwriter who hails from the upland wilds of northern Minnesota, was chosen from among a field of more than 300 entrants. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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AcousticMusicScene.com Joins with Tribes Hill to Host Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

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. 

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

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Long Island AcoustiCalendar for July 10-August 30, 2008

Summer is in full swing on Long Island, with lots of outdoor concerts and festivals. Indoor concerts, open mic nights and jam sessions also abound. Warm weather and some hot acoustic music remain in the forecast. Click on the headline for a run-down of nearly 150 summertime acoustic music happenings from Brooklyn to the East End.

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Entry Deadline Nears for Mountain Stage NewSong Contest

July 21 is the application deadline for entering the regional live rounds of the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, presented by Folk Alliance. The submission deadline for the general round – open to anyone from anywhere without respect to geography – is September 1. Now in its seventh year, the contest is open to performing songwriters in all musical genres. Cash and other prizes and opportunities will be awarded. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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It’s Music Festival Time In Michigan

Among the music festivals of note taking place in Michigan this summer are Blissfest, the Flint Folk Music Festival, the Great Lakes Irish Music Festival, the Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival, Bluegrass in the Park, Riverfolk, and the Great Lakes Folk Festival. (For capsulized information about each of these festivals, as well as web links, click on the headline.]

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Music Festivals Abound in New England in July

Here’s a look at a few music festivals taking place in and around New England in July: Greater New Bedford Summerfest (July 4-6 in New Bedford, Massachusetts), Green River Festival (July 17-19 in Greenfield, Massachusetts) and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (July 24-27 in Hillsdale, New York). In addition, bluegrass festivals are slated for July 4-6 in Stafford Springs, Connecticut; July 19 in South Hadley, Massachusetts; and July 31-August 3 in East Hartford, Connecticut. [For details on these six festivals, click on the headline.]

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Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame Inducts 10

Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson are among the inaugural class of inductees in the new Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The two nationally known artists from the greater Blue Ridge Mountains region, which extends from north Georgia to northwestern Virginia, were honored during ceremonies June 13 at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College (home to Merlefest). The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame was created in 2006 as a project of the Wilkes Heritage Museum and the nonprofit Old Wilkes, Inc. Through exhibits, interactive displays and an annual celebration of inductees, the Hall of Fame seeks to educate visitors, while defining and interpreting the rich musical heritage and traditions of the Blue Ridge Mountains area and musicians in all genres from the region who have contributed to it. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Huntington Summer Arts Festival Features Acoustic Music

Among the more than 50 free outdoor performances during the 43rd Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival that gets under way on Friday, June 20, and runs through Sunday, August 17 at Heckscher Park (Prime Avenue and Main Street/Route 25A, Huntington) are quite a few featuring talented touring and local acoustic music artists. Among those slated to grace the Chapin Rainbow Stage are such notables as Tom Paxton, Janis Ian, Aztec Two-Step and Christine Lavin. The performances, presented by the Town of Huntington and produced by the Huntington Arts Council, are set for 8:30 p.m. (except for Tuesday night family performances, which start at 7:30 p.m.). Bring folding chairs or blankets. [To see the descriptive listings for 10 evenings of music this summer, click the headline.]

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Old Songs Festival Set for June 27-29 in Altamont, NY

The 28th annual Old Songs Festival takes place June 27-29, at Altamont Fairgrounds in Altamont, New York. Produced by Old Songs, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in the New York State Capitol Region that seeks to keep traditional music and dance alive through this event, as well as twice monthly concerts, monthly dances and educational programs, the festival will feature an array of folk, Celtic and multicultural musicians. This year’s music will range from the acoustic blues guitar riffs of Scott Ainslie to the Indian vibes of Galitcha, the traditional Quebecois sounds of Le Vent du Nord, and the fine fiddling and step-dancing of the Ottawa Valley’s April Verch and her band. Also featured will be such talented singer-songwriters as Joe Jencks and Si Kahn, the eclectic string band Walt Michael & Co., American folk and blues traditionalists Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, the Scottish quintet Malinky, Irish singer and instrumentalist Andy Irvine, and the Irish fiddle and guitar duo of Liz Carroll and John Doyle, among others. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Tribes Hill Honors WFUV’s John Platt

Tribes Hill, a nonprofit organization in New York’s lower Hudson Valley region that seeks to unite and encourage a diverse group of musicians and their patrons to find community both personally and musically, has conferred honorary lifetime membership on John Platt, host of Sunday Breakfast on WFUV-FM in New York. Platt, who has hosted the show since the spring of 1997, was honored during Tribes Hill’s annual meeting and hootenanny, June 14, at Hammond House in Valhalla. He shares this “special status” with Pete Seeger, the organization’s only other lifetime member. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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