Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s ‘Most Wanted’ Emerging Artists Named

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].

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Long Island (NY) AcoustiCalendar for September-October 2007

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].

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Toby Walker Makes His Philadelphia Folk Festival Debut

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].

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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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