Although most folk festivals in the U.S. happen outdoors during the summertime, at least two take place indoors on Florida’s respective coasts in January 2011: 30A Songwriters Festival and South Florida Folk Fest. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Dick Pleasants has been a mainstay on radio in Boston, Massachusetts and environs for forty years and has provided support for numerous artists and folk music venues during that time. As he prepares to retire, a number of his musical friends will pay tribute to him during “A Pleasant(s) Evening at Sanders” on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Sanders Theater on Harvard University’s campus in Cambridge. Proceeds from this special celebratory event will benefit WUMB’s capital campaign. A room in the new WUMB studios and offices will be named after Pleasants. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
A wide array of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Appalachian and other Celtic-inspired music and dance is on tap during the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest). Boston, Massachusetts’ annual grassroots, musician-run, winter Celtic music festival takes place Jan. 7-8, 2011. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Submissions are now being sought for the 19th annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, hosted by MerleFest, one of America’s most popular Americana music festivals. Open to aspiring songwriters who derive no more than 50% of their income from songwriting or music publishing, the contest deadline is February 18, 2011. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
The Grascals, Dailey & Vincent and Rhonda Vincent & The Rage top the list of nominees in the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) 37th Annual Bluegrass Music Awards. Winners will be announced during an awards show on February 6 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee that caps the organization’s national convention, February 3-6. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
David Greely's self-released Sub du Sud jumped into the #1 position on the Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart this week, while Jonathan Byrd's Waterbug release Cackalack moved into the #2 spot. Albums by Clare Burson, Peter Stampfel and Baby Gramps, and Eleanor Murray follow. [To view the current Folk Top 50 album chart, click on the headline. In light of the holidays, there will not be another chart until January.]
Hawksley Workman, Amelia Curran and Drew Jacobs are among the winners in the 15th Annual USA Songwriting Competition. Workman and Curran, of Toronto, Canada, captured first place in the Folk category for their co-write “The Mistress,” while Jacobs of Latham, New York, took top honors in the Novelty/Comedy category for “”I’m Allergic to My Job.” The Overall Grand Prize went to Rock/Alternative category winners Alannah Myles and Nancy Simmonds, of Toronto, for “Give Me Love.” [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Tim O'Brien's Chicken & Egg tops this week's Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart. Following it are albums by Clare Burson, Peter Cooper, Bob Dylan and De Temps Antan. [To view the Folk Top 50 albums chart, click on the headline.]
Peter Cooper's The Lloyd Green Album continues to top the Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart this week, followed by albums by Clare Burson, Bob Dylan, David Greely and De Temps Antan. [To view the Folk Top 50 albums chart, click on the headline.]
Nominees in more than 100 categories have been named for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, to be broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011 on CBS. [To read the article, including a list of nominees in select categories, click on the headline.]
Entries are now being sought for the 2011 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29, during the 39th Annual Kerrville Folk Festival. The first 800 entries received via the mail or online by March 15, 2011 will be accepted. 32 finalists will be selected in April to perform the following month at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country. Six will be named as 2011 New Folk Winners. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Dec. 1 for the 34th Ann Arbor Folk Festival at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Slated for Friday and Saturday nights, Jan. 28 and 29, 2011, beginning at 6:30 p.m., the festival is a fundraiser for The Ark, Ann Arbor’s home for acoustic music. Susan Werner, a witty singer-songwriter whose music transcends genres, emcees the event that features a number of traditional and contemporary artists in folk and roots music circles. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
