2008 Music to Life Contest Winners Perform at Kerrville

Ten artists from across the U.S. were named as finalists in the 2008 Music to Life Songwriting Contest and had an opportunity to share their original songs of social and political significance during the recently concluded Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country. Performing songwriters included grand prize award winners Ellen Bukstel and Nick Annis (who co-wrote “By My Silence”), Randy Browning (“Radical Rags”), Ellen Bukstel (Tikkun Olam, Repair the World”), Ellis (“City on Fire”), Jon Fromer (“Welcome”), Rachael Kilgour (“Cheap Grace”), Lisa Rogers (“Jesus and Jesus”), Eugene Ruffolo (“Dear Father”), Amy Speace (“The Weight of the World”), and Amy Carol Webb (“Raise Your Hand”). The Music to Life contest is sponsored by the Public Domain Foundation, a nonprofit organization launched by Noel Paul Stookey more than 30 years ago to encourage the making and use of music for social change. The foundation seeks to foster awareness of issues, provide funds for causes of social concern, enhance the capacity of music to effect social change, and build community through shared values and global understanding. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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WFDU Rebroadcasts Stan Rogers Documentary, June 1

Highly influential Canadian folksinger-songwriter Stan Rogers died 25 years ago, June 2, in an airplane fire while en route home after performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country. On Sunday, June 1,in recognition of this sad anniversary, WFDU-FM in Teaneck, New Jersey will rebroadcast “Remembering Stan Rogers,” a radio documentary that Ron Olesko, host of its long-running “Traditions” program, produced in 2003. The three-hour music-filled documentary, airing from 3 to 6 p.m. ET at 89.1 FM in the New York City area and online at www.wfdu.fm, takes a look at Stan Rogers’ life and music. It features, as Olesko puts it, “full songs, not just snippets,” interspersed with commentary from his family and friends (including producer & musician Paul Mills and musician Grit Laskin), and Rogers himself. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Long Island AcoustiCalendar for June Through Mid-July 2008

Warm weather and some hot acoustic music are in the forecast for Long Islanders this summer, including a number of outdoor concert series and festivals. More than 125 concerts, open mics and jam sessions set for June through mid-July appear in this installment of the Long Island AcoustiCalendar. [To see the listings, click on the headline.]

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2008 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Named

Six songwriters were named as 2008 New Folk Winners after performing, along with 26 other finalists, in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Concerts, May 24-25, at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds at the Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country. This year's winners were RJ Cowdery of Columbus, Ohio; Robby Hecht of Nashville, TN; Betty Soo of Austin, TX; Devon Sproule of Charlottesville, VA; CJ Watson of Nashville, TN; and Hans York of Seattlle, WA. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Folksinger, Storyteller, Railroad Tramp Utah Phillips Dead at 73

Utah Phillips, a seminal figure in American folk music, who performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents for 38 years, died Friday, May 23, of congestive heart failure in Nevada City, California. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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42nd Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival Set For June 14-21 in Indiana Town that was his Second Home

More than 50 bands and performing artists are slated to appear over eight days during the Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, June 14-21, in Bean Blossom, Indiana. There’s also bound to be plenty of informal pickin’ at the campgrounds. Now in its 42nd year, the oldest, continuous running bluegrass festival in the world is expected to draw thousands of music lovers from near and far to a small rural town in Southern Indiana’s Brown County that the Father of Bluegrass considered to be his second home. Bean Blossom was cited as one of “10 Top Places to Hear Authentic American Music” in USA Weekend’s May 16-18 issue. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Continue Reading42nd Bill Monroe Memorial Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival Set For June 14-21 in Indiana Town that was his Second Home

Irish Festivals Springing Up Across the Northeast, Midwest

Several Irish festivals will be taking place in the Northeast and Midwest over the next few weeks. These include the 31st Annual East Durham Irish Festival in New York's Catskill Mountains, May 24-25; the 22nd Annual Gaelic Park Irish Fest outside Chicago, May 23-26; and both the Fairfield County Irish Festival in Trumbull, Connecticut and the 15th Annual Riverfront Irish Festival in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, June 13-15. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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David Hein Wins 2008 SMAF Songwriting Contest

Canadian singer-songwriter David Hein's music is a bit hard to pigeon-hole, and the themes of his songs are certainly not run-of-the-mill. Descriptive words like eclectic, quirky, entertaining, high-energy, original acoustic folk-rock spring to mind. Add award-winning to that list. Hein was named the winner of the 2008 Susquehanna Music & Arts Festival (SMAF) Songwriting Contest in Darlington, Maryland on May 9. He won over the judges with his cleverly worded, intimate ballad "Subway Sparrow" (which also was also the runner-up for best song of the month in February on songwriteruniverse.com) and enticed many in the audience to sing along on the refrain of the more up-tempo, rapid-fire-paced "Jetpack." [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Bob Childers, Godfather of Red Dirt Music, Dies at 61

Family, friends and fans of Bob Childers, an influential figure in Oklahoma's "Red Dirt" music circles, gathered in Oklahoma City on Sunday to celebrate the life and memory of the prolific and much-covered songwriter. Childers -- whose music was a blend of country, folk and roots-rock that drew inspiration from another revered Oklahoman, Woody Guthrie -- died April 22, following a long battle with lung disease. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Long Island AcoustiCalendar for May-Early June 2008

A lot of good live acoustic music is on tap for Long Island listeners during May. Siobahn Quinn and Michael Bowers, a talented Virginia-based duo, play the Garden Stage in Garden City on May 2. The Folk Music Society of Huntington brings four truly gifted emerging artists (Joe Crookston, Anthony da Costa, Lindsay Mac and Randall Williams) to the Congregational Church in Centerport on May 3 as part of the Falcon Ridge Preview Tour (See the article about the tour that graces AcousticMusicScene.com’s home page). Canadian singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers makes a return visit to the University Café in Stony Brook on May 4. Top-notch Philadelphia-based father and son acoustic blues and roots duo Beaucoup Blue perform in the Babylon Village Arts Council’s free concert series at Astoria Savings Bank in Babylon, May 8. Dar Williams, one of the most engaging and gifted performers on today’s acoustic music scene, makes a return visit to the Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington on May 9. Arlo Guthrie brings his Solo Acoustic Tour to Bay Shore’s Boulton Center on May 10, while Michael Johnathon, singer-songwriter and host of the syndicated “WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour” performs nearby for The Eclectic Café. We’re About 9, a stellar trio from Maryland, brings its original contemporary acoustic songs and nice harmonies to the Our Times Coffeehouse in Garden City on May 16. Former Long Islander Arlon Bennett brings his “Summer’s Voice” to the Folk Music Society’s Hard Luck Café series in Centerport on May 17, while folk-rock singer-songwriter Steve Forbert plays Bay Shore’s Boulton Center that evening. Later in the month, talented Toronto-based singer-songwriter David Celia performs for Acoustic Long Island in St. James on May 21 and The Song Box house concert series in Seaford on May 24. The Kennedys, Pat Wictor and LI’s own Johnny Cuomo pay tribute to Bob Dylan on his 67th birthday at Stony Brook’s University Café on May 24. Noted acoustic blues guitarists Stefan Grossman and Tokio Uchida ply their craft at the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor in Brooklyn on May 30. Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega is at the Inter-Media Art Center (IMAC) in Huntington on May 31. [For more information on these and many other live music choices on Long Island in May, as well as the first week in June, click on the headline.]

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Roots Music Association Cancels Conference in June and Looks To Reschedule Inaugural Event for Later This Year

Organizers of the Roots Music Association (RMA)'s inaugural convention, radio seminar and music festival -- Music United '08 -- are looking to reschedule the event that had been slated for June 27-29. "We had been planning for months to hold the event at the Shrine Convention Center in San Antonio [Texas]," wrote Robert Bartosh in an April 22 e-mail notice to association members that also appears on the RMA's website. "However, due to recent developments, these plans are no longer feasible and we plan to reschedule the event for later this year at another location close to San Antonio." [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Falcon Ridge Preview Tour Plays 23 Northeast Venues in May

Performing songwriters Joe Crookston, Anthony da Costa, Lindsay Mac and Randall Williams – emerging artists who were voted “most wanted to return” by 2007 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival attendees – help the festival inaugurate its 20th anniversary year during a 23-show preview tour in May. The tour, which kicks off May 1 at the venerable Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, makes stops at notable coffee houses, theaters, clubs and house concert series across the East Coast. [To read the entire article and see the tour schedule, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingFalcon Ridge Preview Tour Plays 23 Northeast Venues in May