Long Island AcoustiCalendar for November 2007

With dozens of concerts, coffeehouses, jam sessions and open mics scheduled throughout Long Island this month, acoustic music fans have reason to give thanks. You can “elect” to go out and hear some veteran local artists who have been plying their craft on LI for years and/or such touring artists as Paul Geremia, Patty Larkin, Tom Rush and Hans Theessink. [To see the calendar listings for November and select listings for the first half of December 2007, click on the headline].

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Singer/Songwriter Showcasers Sought for NJ Folk Festival

All songwriters who have not previously performed at the New Jersey Folk Festival are eligible to apply for its 14th Annual Singer/Songwriter Showcase. Six “winners” will be afforded the opportunity to perform 20-minute sets during the annual day-long festival on Saturday, April 26, 2008, at the Douglas campus of Rutgers, the State University, in New Brunswick. Each showcase performer also will receive a $50 honorarium and be included in the printed program. Singer-songwriters should submit three songs containing original lyrics and music by the featured performer (no covers), along with lyric sheets. The application deadline is December 15, and entries may be sent in on CD, cassette tape or via Sonicbids. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Crooked Still Announces Change in Lineup

Rushad Eggleston, the inventive 28-year-old cellist with Crooked Still, will play his last show with the popular alternative bluegrass band at The Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts, on Nov. 18. The 2003 Berklee College of Music graduate and Grammy nominee, whose improvisational riffs on the cello have played an integral role in helping Crooked Still bend the boundaries of traditional music since its inception in the summer of 2001, is being replaced by multi-instrumentalist Tristan Clarridge. Young old-time fiddler Brittany Haas is also joining the band. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Austin Celtic Festival on Tap, Nov. 3-4

Long regarded by many as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” Austin, Texas plays host to some leading Irish and Scottish musicians next month. The Austin Celtic Festival, billed as “the largest gathering of Celts in central Texas,” takes place at Fiesta Gardens on the shores of Town Lake (recently renamed Lady Bird Lake) on Nov. 3 and 4. The rain or shine festival runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with performances under four covered stages. Among the artists scheduled to perform are Irish music legend Joe Burke, trad. Irish music supergroup Patrick Street (featuring Kevin Burke, Andy Irvine, John Carty and Ged Foley), Irish rock ‘n’ reelers Seven Nations, Jim Malcolm (former lead singer of Scotland’s Old Blind Dogs), and Gregory Grene (leader of New York-based jig-rockers The Prodigals) with Darren Maloney, Ed Kollar and Andrew Harkins. Regional performers include such touring notables as David Llewellyn and Ed Miller. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Nov. 15 Deadline for NSAI Song Contest Entries

The 8th Annual NSAI Song Contest is seeking entries from songwriters in all music genres through Nov. 15. Nashville Songwriters Association International members may enter for $30 per song, while the per-song fee for others is $40. The grand prize winner and five finalists will receive a single-song publishing contract form one of a half-dozen major Music Row publishers. Bart Harbison, NSAI’s executive director, believes this will “create an opportunity for the aspiring songwriter to build relationships with top-notch songwriters, publishers, publishers and music industry executives that would normally take years to establish.” In addition, the grand prize winner will receive mentoring sessions (including song critiques, industry advice and instruction on the craft of songwriting) from three top songwriters. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Documentary Film Focuses on Jug Band Music

Jug band music, which had its origins among African Americans in the urban South who often played homemade instruments like washboards & empty liquor jugs (poor man’s tubas) during the early 20th century, peaked in popularity during the ragtime era (1920s & 30s), and played an influential role on some of the leading names in folk and rock music in later years, is the focus of a new documentary film entitled “Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost.” Written and directed by lawyer, businessman, music and film buff Todd Kwait, the historical retrospective will be screened at Woodstock, New York’s Bearsville Theater on October 13, as part of the Woodstock Film Festival. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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SONiA & disappear fear do the Tango

The tango is a dance that originated in Argentina. It is also the name of the latest album by SONiA & disappear fear and represents their “dance with the world.” Featuring 13 songs sung in Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and English, Tango has a very different aural feel from smoky-voiced, Baltimore-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Sonia Rutstein’s previous recordings, both solo and with disappear fear. Its Latin and Middle Eastern rhythms and instrumentation — featuring the indigenous sounds of djembes, tin whistles, violins and acoustic guitars — punctuate and lend new textures to her impassioned music. Included are several songs whose folk-rock melodies will be familiar to those who have come to know and love SONiA’s music over the past 20 years. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Jud Caswell Wins Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest

Maine’s Jud Caswell, a 2006 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Contest winner and first-place recipient in last year’s Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest, continues to garner well-deserved recognition for his well-crafted songs, which he delivers in a warm & resonant voice, aided by his solid fingerstyle guitar-playing. On the heels of releasing Blackberry Time and winning the Plowshares Singer-Songwriter Contest in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania earlier this year, Caswell captured top honors in the Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest at the 2007 Sisters Folk Festival in Sisters, Oregon on Sept. 8. [To read the entire article, click on the headline]

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Voices of the Future Contest Open to Young Entrants

Youth between the ages of 13 and 17 are invited to enter the 2nd Annual Voices of the Future Songwriting Competition, which was created to encourage and facilitate growth for young aspiring songwriters who reside in the continental U.S. Entrants will be evaluated on the basis of creativity, originality and artistry. A panel of music industry professionals will judge the submitted songs based purely on the quality of the writing and will select three winners, all of whom will be awarded two passes to the 2008 Nor-East’r Music & Arts Festival that takes place in Michigan in June, along with the opportunity to perform their winning songs on the main stage. In addition, the first place winner will be awarded a full scholarship with registration for two (the winner and a chaperone) to Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in Harbor Springs, Michigan, in November 2008. [For more details, click on the headline].

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Wanda Fischer’s ‘Hudson River Sampler’ Marks its 25th Anniversary on WAMC/Northeast Public Radio

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].

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Boston’s WUMB Folk Radio Turns 25

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].

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LI Music Hall of Fame to Induct Arlo Guthrie & Jean Ritchie

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].

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