Americana Music Association Presents Honors and Awards
Levon Helm was named Artist of the Year, while Alison Krauss & Robert Plant were named Duo/Group of the Year and their critically-acclaimed Raising Sand was tapped as Album of the Year during the Americana Music Association's 7th Annual Honors & Awards Show at Nashville's Historic Ryman Auditorium last night.
Americana Music Association members also voted Buddy Miller (who led the band for the three-hour program) as Instrumentalist of the Year, Mike Farris as New Emerging Artist of the Year, and "She Left Me for Jesus" by Hayes Carll and Brian Keane as Song of the Year.
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Americana Music Association to Honor Joan Baez, Sept. 18
Joan Baez is slated to receive the “Spirit of Americana†Free Speech Award during the Americana Music Association’s Seventh Annual Honors and Awards Ceremony, to be held Sept. 18 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Past recipients of the Spirit of Americana Award, which recognizes and celebrates artists who have ignited discussion and challenged the status quo through their music and their actions, also have included Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples, Judy Collins and Charlie Daniels.
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Erik Darling, 1933-2008
Erik Darling, a singer, guitarist and banjo player, who replaced Pete Seeger in The Weavers 50 years ago and was part of the folk music revival of the 1950s to early 1960s, died of Lymphoma on August 3. Darling, who also was a member of The Tarriers and The Rooftop Singers, as well as a solo artist and an accompanist on recordings by other notable folk artists, was 74.
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NoDepression.com to Re-Launch in Late September
When No Depression, which billed itself as “The Last Alt. Country (Whatever That Is) Bimonthly†ceased publication earlier this year, its owners vowed to continue a web presence. Now comes word that plans for a major overhaul of NoDepression.com are well under way this summer, with a new site set to be launched in late September.
NoDepression.com, which will be edited by the magazine’s founding co-editor Peter Blackstock, will include regular blogs by many of the magazine’s most frequent contributors, including Blackstock and fellow founding co-editor Grant Alden, according to a news release issued this week on their behalf.
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Artie Traum, 1943-2008
Renowned songwriter and guitarist Artie Traum, who, along with his older brother, Happy, was a major figure and a pioneer in the 1970s acoustic music scene, has died. Cancer that spread to his liver claimed his life at the age of 65, although his family reports that Traum was not in appreciable pain, and he had performed publicly until May. Traum grew up in the Bronx, New York and was inspired by the Greenwich Village folk scene in the late 1950s – particularly such artists as Pete Seeger, The Weavers and The Tarriers. He was drawn into folk music by his brother, Happy, four years his senior, who survives him. As a harmony duo, they frequently performed at coffeehouses in...
Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame Inducts 10
Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson are among the inaugural class of inductees in the new Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The two nationally known artists from the greater Blue Ridge Mountains region, which extends from north Georgia to northwestern Virginia, were honored during ceremonies June 13 at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College (home to Merlefest).
The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame was created in 2006 as a project of the Wilkes Heritage Museum and the nonprofit Old Wilkes, Inc. Through exhibits, interactive displays and an annual celebration of inductees, the Hall of Fame seeks to educate visitors, while defining and interpreting the rich musical heritage and traditions...
2008 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners Named
Six songwriters were named as 2008 New Folk Winners after performing, along with 26 other finalists, in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Concerts, May 24-25, at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds at the Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country.
This year's winners were RJ Cowdery of Columbus, Ohio; Robby Hecht of Nashville, TN; Betty Soo of Austin, TX; Devon Sproule of Charlottesville, VA; CJ Watson of Nashville, TN; and Hans York of Seattlle, WA.
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Folksinger, Storyteller, Railroad Tramp Utah Phillips Dead at 73
Utah Phillips, a seminal figure in American folk music, who performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents for 38 years, died Friday, May 23, of congestive heart failure in Nevada City, California.
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Bob Childers, Godfather of Red Dirt Music, Dies at 61
Family, friends and fans of Bob Childers, an influential figure in Oklahoma's "Red Dirt" music circles, gathered in Oklahoma City on Sunday to celebrate the life and memory of the prolific and much-covered songwriter. Childers -- whose music was a blend of country, folk and roots-rock that drew inspiration from another revered Oklahoman, Woody Guthrie -- died April 22, following a long battle with lung disease.
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Roots Music Association Cancels Conference in June and Looks To Reschedule Inaugural Event for Later This Year
Organizers of the Roots Music Association (RMA)'s inaugural convention, radio seminar and music festival -- Music United '08 -- are looking to reschedule the event that had been slated for June 27-29.
"We had been planning for months to hold the event at the Shrine Convention Center in San Antonio [Texas]," wrote Robert Bartosh in an April 22 e-mail notice to association members that also appears on the RMA's website. "However, due to recent developments, these plans are no longer feasible and we plan to reschedule the event for later this year at another location close to San Antonio."
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Falcon Ridge Preview Tour Plays 23 Northeast Venues in May
Performing songwriters Joe Crookston, Anthony da Costa, Lindsay Mac and Randall Williams – emerging artists who were voted “most wanted to return†by 2007 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival attendees – help the festival inaugurate its 20th anniversary year during a 23-show preview tour in May. The tour, which kicks off May 1 at the venerable Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, makes stops at notable coffee houses, theaters, clubs and house concert series across the East Coast.
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Winners Named in 9th Annual Great American Song Contest
Dave Murphy, an Americana singer-songwriter, captured first place in the contemporary acoustic/folk category of the ninth annual Great American Song Contest for his song "Chesapeake." Winners in nine categories were named earlier this month.
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