News Capsules for the Acoustic Community

Bess Lomax Hawes, 1921-2009

Bess Lomax Hawes, 88, a folklorist and documentary filmmaker, former member of the Almanac Singers, and National Medal of Arts recipient, died at her home in Oregon on Nov. 27. Lomax Hawes, the youngest child of renowned University of Texas folklorist John Lomax, frequently joined her father and older brother, Alan, as they ventured down south collecting seminal field recordings of traditional songs for the Library of Congress during the 1930s. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Early Registration Deadline Nears for 2010 Folk Alliance Conference

Close to 2,000 performers, presenters, promoters and others engaged in the folk and acoustic music community are expected to converge on the Marriott in Memphis, Tennessee, February 17-21, 2010, for the 22nd International Folk Alliance Conference. To take advantage of the discounted early registration rate, individuals and groups must register by December 1. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Joan Baez is Subject of Primetime TV Special

Joan Baez is the focus of an American Masters series documentary that begins airing on PBS television stations across the country on October 14 at 8 p.m. (ET). Entitled “Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound,” the documentary chronicles the private life and public career of the living folk legend who made her debut appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and returned to that stage this past August as part of her worldwide tour celebrating 50 years as a recording artist and performer. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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2009 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest Winners Named

Liz Longley, Grace Pettis, BettySoo, David Via and Reed Waddle were named as winners of the 2009 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, presented by Folk Alliance International. The contest’s international finals took place on Saturday, October 10, at the Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia -- home to the internationally broadcast “Mountain Stage” radio and TV show that has showcased more than 2000 artists since its inception in 1983. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Billboard Magazine Honors Rounder Founder

Marian Leighton Levy, a co-founder of Rounder Records, is among the 30 women who made the “Power Players” list in Billboard’s Women in Music 2009. Leighton Levy ranks #11 in the list of top female executives in the music industry that appears in the trade publication’s October 10 issue. The names were culled from nominations submitted by readers and selected by a team of Billboard editors. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Buddy Miller Wins a Slew of Americana Music Awards

Buddy Miller was the big winner during last night’s Eighth Annual Americana Music Association Honors & Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The acclaimed singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and much sought-after collaborator and sideman, was named Artist of the Year and also won Album of the Year (for Written In Chalk, with wife Julie Miller), Duo/Group of the Year (again with Julie), and Song of the Year (“Chalk,” written by Julie and performed by Buddy and Patty Griffin.) [To view the entire article and learn who the other winners were, click on the headline.]

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Upcoming Americana Music Festival and Conference in Nashville Features Keynote Interview with Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash (Photo by Deborah Feingold)Rosanne Cash will be the 2009 keynote interview subject during the Americana Music Association’s Festival and Conference on Thursday morning, September 17, at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Author and journalist Michael Streissguth, whose latest book, Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List and the Spirit of Southern Music, chronicles the making of her forthcoming album, will pose questions to the Grammy Award-winning artist, who has had more than 20 top 40 country singles over the course of her 30-year career to date. Photo by Deborah Feingold. [To view the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Sandy Paton, Folksinger and Founder of Folk-Legacy, 1928-2009

Sandy Paton, a traditional folksinger, folklorist and co-founder of Folk-Legacy, has died at the age of 80. Paton, who launched the independent label based in Sharon, Connecticut with his wife Caroline and the late Lee Haggerty in 1961, passed away on July 26.

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Report Examines ‘The State of Music Online’

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the official launch of Napster, the revolutionary file-sharing network application that led to millions of people downloading music files online and prompted many music industry observers to sound the death knell for record labels long before sales figures had shown any marked decline. In a June 15 report prepared for the Pew Internet & American Life Project and posted on its website (www.pewinternet.org), Mary Madden examines “The State of Music Online: Ten Years After Napster.” [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

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Theodore Bikel Tribute Concert at NYC’s Carnegie Hall, June 15

Acclaimed actor and folksinger Theodore Bikel, who turned 85 last month, will be feted on Monday evening, June 15, during a tribute concert at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall, where the versatile baritone made his debut in 1956. Joining him on stage will be Alan Alda, Arlo Guthrie, Noel Paul Stookey, Peter Yarrow, Tom Paxton, The Klezmatics, Judy Kaye, Susan Werner, David Amram, Beyond the Pale, Artie Butler, Patricia, Conolly, David Krakauer, Hankus Netsky, Sarah Horowitz, Serendipity 4 (featuring Bikel, Tamara Brooks, Merlima Kljuco and Shura Lipovsky), and Michael Wex. Several photos taken during a reception preceding the concert now accompany this article. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingTheodore Bikel Tribute Concert at NYC’s Carnegie Hall, June 15