IBMA Brings a ‘World of Bluegrass’ to Nashville in October

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].

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2007 Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest Finalists Chosen

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.]

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LI Artists Pay Tribute to Harry Chapin, August 27

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].

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Festivals Set for Labor Day Weekend Thru Mid-September 2007

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].

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Recording Artists Stage Tribute to Red House Records Founder

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].

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Fiddler’s Green Festival Performances Stream Online on BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Folk Club’ with Colum Sands

For eight days and seven nights in late July, Rostrevor, a scenic village in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains overlooking Carlingford Lough on Northern Ireland’s County Down Coast, was home to the 21st Annual Fiddler’s Green International Festival... Upcoming editions of “Folk Club,” a weekly program on BBC Radio Ulster hosted by Colum Sands, will feature recorded performances from the festival. These include singer Cara Dillon and her band (August 11), former DeDanann fiddler Frankie Gavin and Hibernian Rhapsody (August 18), and Belfast-born singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy (August 25). Streaming on the Web at www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radioulster/folk_club, each of the shows will be archived for seven days following the initial broadcast and can be accessed using the BBC Radio Player. Also archived is a performance by The Sands Family, featuring Colum’s brother Tommy, from last year’s festival. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Senators Vow to Push for Internet Radio Equality Act

U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), chief sponsors of the “Internet Radio Equality Act” in the Senate, are vowing to press forward with it if webcasters and SoundExchange, the performance rights organization, have not reached a compromise agreement with respect to royalty rates by Labor Day. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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LI’s Steve Robinson is Memphis-Bound

Steve Robinson will represent the Long Island Blues Society in the solo/duo category at the 2008 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee next January. The 58 year-old Massapequa Park-based singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist bested several other talented Long Islanders (Bob Westcott, Phil Minissale, Dan Freedman, and Josh Allen & Junior Allen) for this coveted honor during a competition held in Patchogue on Sunday afternoon, August 5. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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BBC Streaming Good Music Online from Across the Pond

Americans can enjoy some fine acoustic music from across the U.K. via the Internet, using the BBC Radio Player. Most of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s traditional and contemporary folk, Celtic and country music programs are streamed online and archived for seven days following their initial broadcast. They can be accessed by keying in www. bbc.co.uk/music/folkcountry/ on your web browser. [To read the entire article, including information on current and upcoming guests and special features on several radio programs, click the headline].

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Tommy Makem, 1932-2007

Tommy Makem, a singer-songwriter and storyteller who played a major role in popularizing Irish folk music in America, as well as in his native Ireland, died of lung cancer Wednesday at his Dover, New Hampshire home. Widely regarded as the godfather of Irish music, Makem, 74, regaled audiences with traditional Irish songs and stories for more than half a century, as well as his own ballads like “Four Green Fields” and “Gentle Annie,” sung in his rich baritone, while accompanying himself on the banjo and tin whistle. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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Steve Forbert Headlines Huntington Folk Festival, Aug. 11

The 2nd Annual Huntington Folk Festival is slated for Saturday, August 11, 2007, beginning at 5 p.m., on the Chapin Rainbow Stage at Heckscher Park, Prime Avenue and Route 25A in Huntington Village. Steve Forbert, a folk-rock singer-songwriter best known for his 1979 album Jackrabbit Slim and its sprightly hit single “Romeo’s Tune,” headlines the free festival that is jointly presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council. Beaucoup Blue, a Philadelphia-based father & son acoustic blues & roots duo, opens for Forbert. Preceding them will be three on-stage song swaps, featuring artists from New York and New England. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

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