As in years past, this Mother's Day weekend will be filled with lots of good music. The Susquehanna Music & Arts Festival (SMAF) in Maryland, the Folk Project's Backstage Festival in New Jersey, and the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) in North Carolina all take place May 9-11. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Many fans of bluegrass, roots and Americana music will be heading to Driftwood, Texas and Wilkesboro, North Carolina in April for major festivals. Early-bird tickets are now on sale for the Old Settler’s Music Festival and Merlefest. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) stages its 16th annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival, April 1-5, in Nashville. The songwriters’ festival, which takes place at nine venues throughout Music City USA, also coincides with NSAI’s Spring Symposium, a two-day intensive seminar for writers of all genres and experience levels, that takes place at Nashville’s Millennium Maxwell House. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
The Roots Music Association will host its inaugural convention, radio seminar and music festival -- Music United ’08 -- June 27-29, at the Alfazar Shrine Conference Center in San Antonio, at the edge of the Texas Hill Country. Early-bird registration fees for those who register by March 28 are $125 for the full conference and $50 for the radio seminar only on Saturday, June 28. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Pennsylvania can be pretty cold during the wintertime. But there will be plenty of Celtic music to warm your souls. The 16th Annual Greater Philadelphia Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Music Festival takes place at the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia, Friday, Feb. 15 through Sunday, Feb. 17; while the 2nd Annual Winter Classic: a Gathering of the Celts is set for Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2 at Lehigh University's Rauch Field House in Bethlehem. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Chad & Jeremy (the psychedelic folk-rock duo who were part of the 1960s "British Invasion" of our shores), Mason Williams (former head writerfor The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and composerof “Classical Gas"), and contemporary artists The Kennedys, Zoe Lewis and Cosy Sheridan headline the 16 th Annual South Florida Folk Festival, Jan. 19-20, 2008. Presented by the Broward Folk Club, the festival, for which advanced tickets are $55, takes place at Markham Park in Sunrise (near Fort Lauderdale) and will feature two stages, a workshop/children’s area and a jam tent. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
BCMFest, Boston, Massachusetts’ annual grassroots, musician-run, winter Celtic music festival marks its fifth birthday on Jan. 11-12, 2008 with an array of Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton music and dance. More than 100 performers, a mix of established artists and new or emerging acts – including fiddlers, flutists, accordionists, guitarists, singers and other musicians, as well as dancers -- who reside in the Boston area or are active in its Celtic music community will be featured. A tribute to the 1976 release by Paul Brady and Andy Irvine, regarded as one of the landmark albums of the Celtic music revival, and an “Open Stage†for both individuals and bands also are on the docket. A month earlier, a festival sneak preview is slated for Monday night, Dec. 10 at Club Passim in Harvard Square, across the Charles River, in Cambridge. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
To kick off its 8th Annual Americana Music Festival & Conference in Nashville, Tennessee (Oct. 31-Nov. 3), the Americana Music Association, in conjunction with Great American Country, has slated a free, family-friendly opening night party at the Tennessee State Museum. Set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and open to the public, it will feature a special musical salute to Country Music Hall of Famer and multiple Grammy-winner Porter Wagoner. Among the artists expected to perform in honor of the 80 year-old ‘Wagonmaster’ are Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller... Some 1,000 artists, label executives, managers, agents, music publishers, performing rights society executives, music retailers, producers, promoters, allied professionals and music journalists are expected to converge on Nashville for three days of learning, networking and entertainment. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Long regarded by many as the “Live Music Capital of the World,†Austin, Texas plays host to some leading Irish and Scottish musicians next month. The Austin Celtic Festival, billed as “the largest gathering of Celts in central Texas,†takes place at Fiesta Gardens on the shores of Town Lake (recently renamed Lady Bird Lake) on Nov. 3 and 4. The rain or shine festival runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with performances under four covered stages. Among the artists scheduled to perform are Irish music legend Joe Burke, trad. Irish music supergroup Patrick Street (featuring Kevin Burke, Andy Irvine, John Carty and Ged Foley), Irish rock ‘n’ reelers Seven Nations, Jim Malcolm (former lead singer of Scotland’s Old Blind Dogs), and Gregory Grene (leader of New York-based jig-rockers The Prodigals) with Darren Maloney, Ed Kollar and Andrew Harkins. Regional performers include such touring notables as David Llewellyn and Ed Miller. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
Anthony da Costa, Lindsay Mac, Joe Crookston and Randall Williams have been invited to participate in the Most Wanted Song Swap and workshops at next year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, as well as in the festival's 11th annual preview tour of select venues in the Northeast next May. A 16-year-old singer-songwriter from Pleasantville, New York, da Costa was the overwhelming audience favorite during the festival’s Emerging Artists Showcase at Dodds Farm in the New York foothills of the Berkshires this summer. Da Costa, who also was a winner in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk competition earlier this year, garnered votes from more than 40% of the FRFF audience members who completed surveys in which they named their three favorite emerging artists. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
As the summer of 2007 winds down, a spate of music festivals across the U.S. are planned over Labor Day Weekend and the ensuing two weekends. Information on more than three dozen of them follows. [To read the entire article, including Web links for further information, click on the headline].
Summertime in New York State is a great time to enjoy music outdoors. For a sampling of music festivals throughout the state where you can hear some good live acoustic music during July and August, click on the headline.
