Four songwriters have been named as finalists in the Avalonfest ’09 Performing Songwriter Competition. Rhobb Elliott of North Carolina, Robyn Kay of New York, David Kleiner of Pennsylvania, and Steve Warner of West Virginia will strut their stuff on the festival’s Mountain Stage on Friday afternoon, August 7.
AcousticMusicScene.com will host late-night song swaps during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 23-26, and artist showcases at the Huntington Folk Festival, August 1. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Sounds from the Emerald Isle – including bagpipes, bodhrans, button boxes, fiddles and more -- abound this summer, with a number of Irish music festivals taking place across the U.S. Here’s a glimpse at a few, with web links for a dozen more. [To view the entire article, click on the headline.]
A couple of music festivals of note take place in Massachusetts in July: the Greater New Bedford Summerfest, July 4-5, along the cobblestoned streets of the old whaling city, and the Green River Festival features music, hot air balloons and more at the community college campus in Greenfield, July 17-18. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Two major music industry business conferences of note to the acoustic music community are slated for the fall in Nashville, Tennessee. The Americana Music Association’s 10th Annual Americana Music Festival & Conference returns to the “Music City,” September 16-19, while the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s World of Bluegrass is set for September 28-October 4. Early-bird registration opened this month for both events. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
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.]
2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage to the new world on the Half Moon up the river that bears his name. Two festivals will pay tribute to that this month – the 2009 Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival and the Old Songs Festival. [To read more about these upcoming festivals, click on the headline.]
Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport hosts its 30th Annual Sea Music Festival, June 11-14, and WPKN Radio (WPKN 89.5 FM in Bridgeport, CT and WPKM 88.7 FM in Montauk, NY) will broadcast live from the event that annually draws more than 5,000 people to hear performers from maritime cultures around the world carry on classic musical traditions of the golden age of sail. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
With summer approaching, the festival season will soon be in full swing in the Northeast. There will be plenty of banjos, fiddles and high-lonesome harmonies in New England. Among the bluegrass festivals taking place in the region early in the summer are the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival (May 28-31) and both the Blistered Fingers Family Bluegrass Festival and the Jenny Brook Family Bluegrass Festival (June 18-21). [To read the entire article, including artist lineups for the festivals, click on the headline.]
During the summer, the Santa Monica Pier in Southern California is teaming with people who flock there to leisurely stroll and soak up the laid-back beach atmosphere, partake of an array of dining and entertainment choices, bask in the sun and cool ocean breezes, and enjoy often fabulous sunsets. On the weekend of June 6 and 7 there’s even more to lure acoustic music fans to the famous pier. That’s when the inaugural LA Acoustic Music Festival takes place. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Thirty-two songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2009 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 23 and 24, as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Fifty years after launching the first Newport Folk Festival, George Wein, 83, a pioneer among producers of outdoor music festivals, will return to steer another one this summer at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Following months of negotiations, the Newport City Council last night approved a permit for what will be called George Wein’s Folk Festival 50. Slated for July 31-August 2, the event will feature several notable established folk artists who performed during the festival’s early years, as well as some more contemporary singer-songwriters and musicians. Tickets go on sale May 6 at www.folkfestival50.com. [To read the article in its entirety, click on the headline.]
