The Future of Music Coalition's third annual D.C. Policy Day is set for May 25, while the national nonprofit education, research and advocacy organization also co-presents a six-hour seminar entitled "Musicplus: Skill Building for Musicians" in Oakland, California on May 16. Both events are free and will be webcast. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Albums by Carolina Chocolate Drops and Ruth Moody retain the #1 and #2 spots on this week's Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, while Storyhill's Shade of the Trees moves up to #3. Rounding out the top ten are albums by Mary Gauthier, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jakob Dylan, Nathaniel Rateliff, Mumford & Sons, Anais Mitchell and Red Molly. The latest Folk chart, based on spin totals reported by music directors and folk DJs, is posted on AcousticMusicScene.com with permission. [To see the current Top 50 Folk Album Chart, click on the headline.]
Songwriters interested in performing during Avalonfest in West Virginia in mid-August are invited to enter the festival’s annual songwriting competition. June 15 is the deadline for submission of two songs that have not previously been released for sale on CD, on the Web or any other media. [For more information, click on the headline.]
A grand prize winner and winners in 21 categories have been selected from among nearly 15,000 entries in the 2009 International Songwriting Competition. [To read the article, click on the headline.]
Carolina Chocolate Drops' album Genuine Negro Jig retains the top spot on this week's Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, while Ruth Moody's The Garden and Red Molly's James are in the #2 and #3 positions. The latest Folk chart, based on spin totals reported by music directors and folk DJs, is posted on AcousticMusicScene.com with permission. [To see the current Top 50 Folk Album Chart, click on the headline.]
In a popular music landscape where today’s talented singer-songwriters are often ignored, it’s a little miracle to listen to radio stations — usually small, publicly-run or independent — that promote songwriters who might fall between the cracks. Among the many wonderful DJs out there supporting independent singer-songwriters in markets across the U.S., one of the most well-known and well-listened to is John Platt, host of “Sunday Breakfast” on New York’s WFUV. Sharon Goldman recently elicited his thoughts about the singer-songwriter scene for her blog, Songwriting Scene. Her Q & A interview with him is reprinted here with permission. [To read the Q &A with John Platt, click on the headline.].
Why is writing a good bio so important for singer-songwriters? What are the biggest challenges of writing one, especially if you’re writing it about yourself? What are the qualities of a really good bio? What are the different ways you can use them in publicity and in marketing yourself? AcousticMusicScene.com’s Michael Kornfeld, a communications and PR strategist, recently responded to these and other questions posed to him by singer-songwriter Sharon Goldman for Songwriting Scene, a blog for songwriters about songwriting. That interview is re-posted here with permission. [To read the article, click on the headline.]
Jakob Dylan's Women and Children and Anais Mitchell's Hadestown move up to the #2 and #3 positions, respectively, this week on the Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, while Carolina Chocolate Drops' Genuine Negro Jig remains #1. The latest Folk chart, based on spin totals reported by music directors and folk DJs, is posted on AcousticMusicScene.com with permission. [To see the current Top 50 Folk Album Chart, click on the headline.]
Rounder Records, a leading American roots music label that is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary, has been acquired by the Concord Music Group. The Massachusetts-based independent label has released more than 3,000 albums in such genres as bluegrass, Americana, Cajun & Zydeco, folk, singer-songwriter and children’s music. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Fourteen finalists were named this week in the 2010 Philadelphia Songwriters Project Songwriting Contest. The contest, which was open to performing songwriters in all genres and had love songs as its theme this year, drew nearly 600 submissions from 22 states and seven countries. [To read the article, click on the headline.]
Carolina Chocolate Drops' album Genuine Negro Jig retains the top position on the Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart this week, while Red Molly's James climbs into the second position and Mumford & Sons' Gentlemen of the Road remains number three. The latest Folk chart, based on spin totals reported by music directors and folk DJs, is posted on AcousticMusicScene.com with permission. [To see the current Top 50 Folk Album Chart, click on the headline.]
Thirty-two songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2010 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. Chosen from among 800 submissions from around the world, the finalists will perform the two songs they submitted during the New Folk Concerts slated for Saturday and Sunday afternoons, May 29 and 30, as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
