The inaugural class of winners in the Unsigned Only music competition has been named. Winners were selected in nine categories – including Folk/Singer-Songwriter – from among nearly 7,500 entries worldwide. [To read the article in full, click on the headline.]
Shawn Colvin's All Fall Down returns to the #1 position on the Roots Music Report folk radio airplay chart this week, while Kin - Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell, a collection of songs penned by The New York Times' best-selling author and the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, tops the roots country chart. [To view the Folk and Roots Country Top 50 albums charts, click on the headline.]
Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian/Folkways) continued to top the Roots Music Report folk radio airplay chart last week, while Old Gold, the new release from Signature Sounds' recording artists Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers moved into the #1 position on the roots country chart. [To view the latest Folk and Roots Country Top 50 albums charts, click on the headline.] Editor's Note: These charts are being posted several days later than usual since I was at the Philadelphia Folk Festival over the weekend. Included on last week's charts are albums by several artists who appeared at the festival: Carsie Blanton, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three.
“The Banjo: Southern Roots, American Branches” will be explored during s series of free lectures and panel discussions presented by The Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. The symposium, extending from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will be followed in the evening with a 7:30 p.m. concert showcasing the banjo at the campus’ Memorial Hall featuring Tony Trischka, Riley Baugus with Kirk Sutphin, and Don Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]
Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian/Folkways), last month's most-played album on folk radio according to FOLKDJ-L, also continues to top the Roots Music Report folk radio chart this week. Sun Midnight Sun (Nonesuch), the sophomore release by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, returns to the #1 position on the roots country chart. [To view the latest Roots Music Report Folk and Roots Country Top 50 albums charts, click on the headline.]
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle and the Dukes, Mary Gauthier, Tracy Grammer, John Hiatt, Brother Sun, The Holmes Brothers, Little Feat, Mark Erelli, Lori McKenna, Atwater-Donnelly, Paul Thorn, Lucinda Williams, rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, The HillBenders, Red Clay Ramblers, Roosevelt Dime and Spuyten Duyvil are among the dozens of artists and acts slated to perform during the 51st annual Philadelphia Folk Festival, August 17-19, at the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. The festival is produced and presented by the nonprofit Philadelphia Folksong Society. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]
Hundreds of folk & bluegrass music lovers are expected to gather at the New City Volunteer Ambulance Corps (200 Congers Road, New City, New York) on Sunday afternoon, August 26, 2012 for the third annual picnic, singing party, and jam hosted by the Borderline Folk Music Club of Rockland County and co-sponsored by AcousticMusicScene.com. The free event, for which people are expected to bring a cold potluck dish for six, is set for 12-6 p.m. in the outdoor grassy area adjacent to the parking lot. [To read the article in its entirety, click on the headline.]
The music of Woody Guthrie dominated the folk radio airplay charts in July, as we marked the centennial of the birth of America's "Dust Bowl Troubadour." Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian/Folkways)was the top album of the month on folk radio, according to charts compiled by Richard Gillmann from radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in all folk-based music on the radio. Four of the collection's songs were reportedly among the five most-played by folk DJs during July, while Bob Dylan's "Song to Woody" was #2. [To view the top albums and songs charts for July 2012, click on the headline.]
Shawn Colvin's All Fall Down returned to the #1 position on the Roots Music Report folk radio airplay chart last week, while Sun Midnight Sun, the sophomore release by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek tops the Roots Country chart. [To view the latest Folk and Roots Country Top 50 albums charts, click on the headline.]
AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of late-night song swaps and mini-showcases during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 26-29, in partnership with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie.. Now in its 24th year, Falcon Ridge takes place at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, NY -- located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. [ To read about the festival and see the late-night schedules, click on the headline.]
Entries are currently being accepted for the International Acoustic Music Awards. Now in its ninth year, the competition promotes excellence in acoustic music performance and artistry. Awards will be presented in eight categories: Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group/Duo, Folk/Americana/Roots, AAA/Alternative, Instrumental, Bluegrass/Country, and an Acoustic Open Genre category. An overall Grand Prize winner also will be named. [To read this short article, click on the headline.]
Fittingly, as we celebrate his birthday, Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection (Smithsonian Folkways), a 150-page large-format book with three CDs containing 57 tracks (including 21 previously unreleased performances), topped the Roots Music Report folk radio chart this week. Willie Nelson's Heroes continued in the #1 position on the roots country chart. [To view the current Folk and Roots Country Top 50 albums charts, click on the headline.]
