24 Chosen for Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase
Twenty-four artists have been selected from among more than 500 applicants to perform in the Emerging Artists Showcase during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on Friday afternoon, July 24. Appearing in this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase are: Nels Andrews, Mary Bragg, Bread and Bones, The Brilliant Inventions, Calaveras, K.C. Clifford, Chuck E. Costa, Coyote Grace, Driftwood Fire, Emily Elbert, John Elliott, Jenny Goodspeed, Aiden James, Colleen Katau & Some Guys, Robin Landis, Liz Longley, Kelleigh McKenzie, Angelo M, Danielle Miraglia, Alastair Moock, Claudia Nygaard, A.J. Roach & His Strange Pilgrims, Sean Rowe, and Swing Caravan. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
By Michael Kornfeld
Abbie Gardner, a gifted New York area singer-songwriter and dobro player, who also is part of the rootsy female Americana trio Red Molly, is the Lennon Award winner in the folk category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Her winning song, “The Mind of a Soldier,” now competes with the winners in the contest’s 11 other categories for the $20,000 Maxell Song of the Year Award, to be announced in July.
“I wanted to write a war song, but not from the perspective of either side, not something preachy or political, something more personal that people can relate to,” says Gardner of her award-winning song. She recalls listening to a lot of radio news reports about the war in Iraq while driving in her car and being bothered by the way in which “everyday I would usually just hear a number of how many people had died. It was just like a weather report.” “The Mind of a Soldier,” which can be heard on her MySpace page, seeks to address the human element.
[To read the entire article, click on the headline.]