Many of the winners in the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy -- including those in the recently renamed and expanded American Roots Music field -- were announced online prior to televised ceremonies on January 31 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. [To view the full article and see the list of winners, click here.]
The nationally renowned Cactus Café on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin may be closing later this year. Citing a desire “to minimize the impact of budgetary reductions on students and to protect student core services,” the Texas Union board of directors on Friday announced plans to “phase-out” the intimate live music venue that has attracted a wide array of local, regional, national and international touring acoustic artists since it opened in February 1979. The board's plans are slated to take effect in August. [To view the full article, click on the headline.]
The second annual Irish Music Awards were presented by the Irish Music Association on January 27 at O’Malley’s Pub in Weston, Missouri. Harpist and singer Orla Fallon, formerly of Celtic Woman and Anuna, won awards in all four categories in which she was nominated. Irish folk musician Donal Lunny -- who has been a part of such groups as Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts and Mozaik, played on a number of Christy Moore albums, and has produced albums for other artists -- was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. [To see a complete list of award recipients, click on the headline.]
Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To see the current Folk Top 50 album chart, click on the headline.]
Beaucoup Blue is a gifted father and son roots-Americana duo from Philadelphia with a growing repertoire of rousing blues and soulful songs. Kathy Sands-Boehmer posed a few questions to them recently.
[To read Kathy's Q & A interview with Beaucoup Blue, click on the headline.]
Bluegrass pioneer Lester Flatt, who died in 1979, is best known for having been a lead singer and guitarist with Bill Monroe back in the 1940s and for the two decades he spent with banjoist and fellow Bluegrass Boys alum Earl Scruggs as Flatt and Scruggs – a partnership that produced such bluegrass classics as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” The U.S. House of Representatives, on Jan. 26, agreed to a sense resolution recognizing Flatt’s invaluable contribution to American art and the indelible legacy he left on bluegrass music. [To see the full text of the resolution, click on the headline.]
David Francey is one of Canada’s most revered folk poet-singers. As Kathy Sands-Boehmer notes, his songs and stories resonate with audiences from all over the world. [To read Kathy's recent Q & A interview with David Francey, click on the headline.]
Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To see the current Folk Top 50 Chart, click on the headline.]
February 1 is the entry deadline for the annual Music2Life Songwriting Contest. Established in 2000, the songwriting contest is sponsored by the Public Domain Foundation, a nonprofit organization launched by Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul & Mary) more than 30 years ago to encourage the making and use of music for social change. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Canadian folksinger-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, who performed with her sister Anna as the McGarrigle Sisters for three decades, has died at age 63. Besides being an acclaimed and award-winning artist in her own right, McGarrigle was the mother of artists Rufus and Martha Wainwright through her previous marriage to singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. McGarrigle, who had been battling a rare form of cancer, died at her Montreal home on Monday night, January 18. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To view the current folk radio airplay chart, click on the headline.]
The Boston Bluegrass Union hosts the 25th annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, February 12-14, at the Sheraton Framingham in Framingham, Massachusetts. The indoor festival, located 18 miles west of Boston, will feature regional and nationally touring bands, more than 40 master classes and workshops (for which pre-registration is required), directed slow jams and plenty of picking opportunities throughout the weekend. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
