Festival Focus
New Music Seminar and New York Music Festival, June 17-20, 2012

New Music Seminar and New York Music Festival, June 17-20, 2012

New Music Seminar, the granddaddy of American music conferences, returns to New York, June 17-20. In addition to a number of daytime panels, workshops, intensives and keynotes at Manhattan’s Webster Hall, an accompanying NMS New York Music Festival will feature four nights of performances in 17 New York City venues. These include three nights of acoustic music showcases at The Living Room, hosted by Folk Alliance International. {To read the full article, click the headline.]

Six Winners Named in 2012 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition

Five songwriters and a songwriting duo have been named as winners in the 2012 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. Edie Carey (Chicago, IL), Nicolette Good (San Antonio, TX), Whit Hill (Nashville, TN), Korby Lenker (Nashville, TN), Alicia McGovern (Salt Lake City, Utah), and The Sea The Sea (a contemporary duo featuring Connecticut Sate Troubadour Chuck E. Costa and West Virginia's Mira Stanley) were selected from among 32 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts on May 26 and 27 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day event that continues through Sunday, June 10, at the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country. [To read the full article, click on...

2012 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Finalists Named

Thirty-two songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2012 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 26 and 27, as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Finalists Named in 2012 Wildflower! Performing Songwriter Contest

Ten finalists have been named in the 2012 Wildflower! Performing Songwriter Contest. Each will perform two songs on the Singer Songwriter Stage during the 20th annual Wildflower! arts and music festival in Richardson, Texas, just a few minutes north of Dallas. Billed as North Texas’ largest music festival, it takes place, May 18-20. [To read the article, click on the headline.]

Old Settler’s Music Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary, 4/19-22

The roots and Americana-oriented Old Settler’s Music Festival returns to the Salt Lick BBQ Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch in Driftwood, Texas, April 19-22. Although now in its 25th year, the festival is not as well-known outside the state as some others in the Austin area – and that’s part of its allure. Old Settler’s Music Festival also takes place during what’s usually the height of Texas Hill Country’s bluebonnet and wildflower season. [To view a short preview of the festival, click on the headline.]

San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival Now Under Way

The 13th Annual San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival began yesterday and runs through February 19. Musical performances, dances, workshops and jam sessions abound, along with a Saturday night old-time square dance. [To read the article, click on the headline.]

Celtic Music Fills Harvard Square During BCMFest, Jan. 6-7, 2012

A wide array of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Appalachian and other Celtic and Celtic-inspired music and dance is on tap during Boston’s annual Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), Jan. 6-7, 2012. The grassroots, musician-run, family-friendly winter Celtic music festival takes place at three venues in Harvard Square that are all within easy walking distance of one another – a change from previous years when not all the events took place in Cambridge. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Warren Hellman, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Founder, 1934-2011

Warren Hellman, a San Francisco-based financier and philanthropist who founded and funded the city’s nationally renowned Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and toured earlier this year with his band, The Wronglers, died Dec. 18 from complications of leukemia. He was 77. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Americana Music Festival & Conference Set for Oct. 12-15

The Americana Music Association’s 12th annual Americana Music Festival and Conference, Oct. 12-15, is expected to draw some 1,000 artists, label executives, managers, agents, music publishers, music retailers, producers, promoters, music journalists and other industry professionals to Nashville this week for several days of learning, networking and musical entertainment.. Those numbers may swell to more than 15,000 as fans come out to experience the Festival’s musical events – including nighttime musical showcases and the professional trade association’s 10th Annual Honors & Awards show. [To read a short article previewing the event, click on the headline.]

Board of Advisors Named for Newport Folk Festival

The Newport Folk Festival, which, earlier this year, returned to its original roots as a nonprofit event, has taken another step that organizers say will help ensure that it “remains a significant, viable, and influential institution for years to come.” To further advance the dialogue with both established and emerging artists, the Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. announced the creation of its Newport Folk Festival Board of Advisors. Named to the panel were Gillian Welch, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, and Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Celtic Classic Returns to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Sept. 23-25, 2011

The 24th annual Celtic Classic highland games & festival is set for September 23-25 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Presented by the nonprofit Celtic Cultural Alliance, the free event is a celebration of the Irish, Scottish and Welsh cultures and heritage and will feature four stages of continuous entertainment. {To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Philadelphia Folk Festival Celebrates Its Golden Anniversary

avid Amram, Roy Book Binder, David Bromberg, Arlo Guthrie, Levon Helm, Jorma Kaukonen, Tom Paxton and Tom Rush are among the music luminaries slated to perform during the 50th annual Philadelphia Folk Festival, August 18-21, 2011. Joining them at the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, for the longest continually running festival of its kind will be a number of up-and-coming touring artists like Dan Bern, Justin Townes Earle, David Wax Museum, the Canadian female duos Dala and Madison Violet, and Philly’s own Hoots and Hellmouth, as well as many other locally-based artists. [To read the full article, including comments from veteran folk-DJ, festival co-founder and emee Gene Shay, click on the headline.]