Wanda Fischer’s passion for folk music extends a lifetime. “I kind of go way back with folk music,†says the veteran folk radio DJ, whose weekly Saturday evening program, The Hudson River Sampler, marks its 25th anniversary on WAMC/Northeast Public Radio this month. [To read the entire interview-profile, click on the headline].
WUMB Folk Radio, a non-commercial station licensed to the University of Massachusetts, begins its 25th year on the air on September 19 -- just days after the 10th annual Boston Folk Festival, which it presents. Beginning at 6 a.m. that day, every half-hour will include a three-song set of the three top folk songs played on WUMB each year, from 1982 to 2007 (to date). Throughout the day, a number of celebrity well-wishers also are expected to join on-air hosts Dick Pleasants and Dave Palmater in sharing memories of the station through the years. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Arlo Guthrie and Jean Ritchie are among the two dozen individual musicians, groups and organizations with connections to Long Island slated to be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame during gala ceremonies October 21 at Queens College’s Kupferberg Center for the Arts on Kissena Boulevard in Flushing. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Anthony da Costa, Lindsay Mac, Joe Crookston and Randall Williams have been invited to participate in the Most Wanted Song Swap and workshops at next year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, as well as in the festival's 11th annual preview tour of select venues in the Northeast next May. A 16-year-old singer-songwriter from Pleasantville, New York, da Costa was the overwhelming audience favorite during the festival’s Emerging Artists Showcase at Dodds Farm in the New York foothills of the Berkshires this summer. Da Costa, who also was a winner in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk competition earlier this year, garnered votes from more than 40% of the FRFF audience members who completed surveys in which they named their three favorite emerging artists. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
While the outdoor festival season on Long Island begins to draw to a close in September, there will be plenty of good live acoustic music to enjoy indoors this fall. A listing of more than 100 concerts, coffeehouses, jam sessions and open mics that are scheduled in September and October follows. A number of acoustic music happenings during the first half of November also are included. [To see the listings, click on the headline].
Little Toby Walker, who called Huntington home until moving to New Jersey recently, continues to garner fans and well-deserved buzz beyond the New York metropolitan area and on both sides of the Atlantic for his fine Delta blues and ragtime guitar playing. But until this month, he had not played one of America’s oldest and most legendary folk festivals. Wearing his trademark hat, a colorful short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, he made his Philadelphia Folk Festival debut earlier this month. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s annual “World of Bluegrass†is slated for October 1-7, 2007 in Nashville, Tennessee. Featured events include an International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, a four-day IBMA Business Conference and a three-day Bluegrass Fan Fest. Mandolin player and vocalist Sam Bush hosts the 18th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, which takes place Thursday night, October 4 at the Grand Ole Opry House... The IBMA Business Conference, October 1-4 at the Nashville Convention Center/Renaissance Hotel will feature an array of artist showcases, an exhibit hall with more than 100 booths, professional development seminars, and plenty of opportunities for informal networking... More than 60 bluegrass artists are scheduled to perform and greet their fans during Bluegrass Fan Fest, October 5-7 at the Nashville Convention Center/Renaissance Hotel. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Nine finalists have been chosen for the 2007 Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. Finalists in the adult category include Kevin Connolly, Marie Duprey, Reg Espinola, George O'Connor and Larry Pitt. The youth finalists are Matt Borrello, Sarah Borrello, Holly Howes and Casey Sullivan. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
It’s been more than 25 years since Harry Chapin left us. But many Long Islanders (and others across the country and the world) are still “Wild About Harry.†On Monday night, August 27, at Eisenhower Park’s Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater, many talented Long Island artists will come together to pay tribute to the late singer-songwriter and humanitarian for whom the theater is named. Chapin, who resided in Huntington Bay, was on his way to perform a free concert at the theater one summer night in 1981 when he died in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway. His music and his giving, community spirit live on. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
As the summer of 2007 winds down, a spate of music festivals across the U.S. are planned over Labor Day Weekend and the ensuing two weekends. Information on more than three dozen of them follows. [To read the entire article, including Web links for further information, click on the headline].
An impressive lineup of artists will come together at St. Paul, Minnesota’s historic Fitzgerald Theater on Sunday, September 9, for A Tribute to Bob Feldman: Celebrating a Life in Music. Proceeds from the 7 p.m. concert will benefit the Bob Feldman Redwood Forest Fund to be disbursed to organizations engaged in efforts to conserve the Redwoods that the late founder and president of Red House Records so loved. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Short descriptions of more than 20 bluegrass festivals taking place across the U.S. between mid-August and mid-September 2007 follow, along with Web links for further information. [To see the entire post, click on the headline].
