News – Northeast U.S.
Folk Music Fills the Streets of New Bedford, July 6-7, 2013

Folk Music Fills the Streets of New Bedford, July 6-7, 2013

The New Bedford Folk Festival, formerly known as the Greater New Bedford Summerfest, is one of the Northeast’s most pleasant, refined and enjoyable music festivals. Slated for July 6-7, 2013 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the festival takes over the cobble stoned streets of this historic New England port city –which is part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Formal Showcase Artists Chosen for 2013 NERFA Conference

Fourteen artists/acts have been selected from among 200 applicants to perform in the juried Formal Showcase during the 19th Annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 7-10, 2013. [To read the article, click on the headline.]

NERFA Hosts Two One-Day Mini-Conferences

The Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) is partnering with the Rhode Island Songwriters Association (RISA) and Focus Music -- which presents and supports folk and acoustic music in the Washington, D.C. area -- to present one-day mini-conferences on June 1 and 9, respectively, in Kingston, Rhode Island and Rockville, Maryland. [To read the full article, including information on workshops and artist showcases, click on the headline.]

People’s Music Network Hosts Summer Gathering, June 7-9

Immigration is the theme of the annual Summer Gathering of the People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle (PMN), an inclusive three-day weekend of music, fun and friendship. Slated for June 7-9, 2013 at the Epworth Camp and Retreat Center in High Falls, New York -- located on 160 acres of woods and meadows, situated between the Catskill and Shawagunk Mountains – the Summer Gathering will include lots of planned and spontaneous jamming and singing of socially relevant songs, along with workshops on music for social change and musical skills. Communal meals also afford plenty of opportunities for networking [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Remembering Richie Havens, 1941-2013

I wasn’t at Max Yasgur’s Farm in 1969 when Richie Havens impressed throngs of people at the Woodstock festival. I was just a youngster then. But I did get to hear him up close and personal in the late 1970s at my alma mater, Huntington High School, in Huntington, New York. He was performing in the auditorium, along with Harry Chapin, at one of the late singer-songwriter’s many benefit concerts. Richie joined his fellow Brooklyn NY-born folksinger in heaven or wherever kindhearted gentle souls go, on April 22, after suffering a heart attack at home in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was 72. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]
Tony Denikos Wins Mid-Atlantic Song Contest

Tony Denikos Wins Mid-Atlantic Song Contest

Tony Denikos has been named the grand prize winner in the 29th Annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest produced by the Songwriters' Association of Washington. The Sykesville, Maryland-based contemporary folk-Americana singer-songwriter was honored during an awards gala on Jan. 7 at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia. Denikos was recognized for his song, “Tip of My Tongue,” which was previously named the first place (Gold) winner in the contest’s Folk/Acoustic category. [To read the article in full, click on the headline.]

Frank Christian, Singer-Songwriter and Guitarist, 1952-2012

Frank Christian, a gifted New York City-based guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for his song “Three Flights Up” that appeared on Nanci Griffith’s Grammy Award-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms album, died December 24. He was 60. [To read the full article and see a video clip, ciick on the headline.]

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Showcases at NERFA Conference, Nov. 8-11, 2012

Some 800 performing artists, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk DJs, and others actively engaged in traditional and contemporary folk music will converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 8-11, 2012, for the 18th annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. AcousticMusicScene.com will again have a major presence as it hosts afternoon and late-night song swaps, and its popular Midnight Hoot at the close of the conference’s first day. A Midday Hoot the next day, introduced in 2010, will afford more artists opportunities to be heard. [To read the full article and see the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedules, click on the headline.]
NERFA Conference Set for Nov. 8-11, 2012 in Kerhonkson, NY

NERFA Conference Set for Nov. 8-11, 2012 in Kerhonkson, NY

More than 750 people from throughout the U.S. and Canada are expected to converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, NY, Nov. 8-11, 2012, for the annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. Performers, presenters, promoters, folk DJs, agents and managers, and others actively engaged in the folk and acoustic music scene will enjoy three jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, open mics, song swaps and informal jam sessions, informative panel discussions and workshops, one-on-one mentoring and peer group sessions, a large trade show-like exhibit hall, tasty communal meals in the dining room, a welcoming party and happy hours, and lots of informal conversation and networking. [Click on the headline to read the full article.]
Connecticut Folk Festival & Green Expo, Sept. 8

Connecticut Folk Festival & Green Expo, Sept. 8

Cheryl Wheeler, the witty singer-songwriter from Massachusetts, whose songs also have been covered by a bevy of notable artists, headlines the seventh annual Connecticut Folk Festival and Green Expo, a free, day-long event that’s set for Saturday, Sept. 8, in New Haven’s Edgerton Park. [To continue reading the article, click on the headline.]

Philadelphia Folk Festival Set for Aug. 17-19

Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle and the Dukes, Mary Gauthier, Tracy Grammer, John Hiatt, Brother Sun, The Holmes Brothers, Little Feat, Mark Erelli, Lori McKenna, Atwater-Donnelly, Paul Thorn, Lucinda Williams, rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, The HillBenders, Red Clay Ramblers, Roosevelt Dime and Spuyten Duyvil are among the dozens of artists and acts slated to perform during the 51st annual Philadelphia Folk Festival, August 17-19, at the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. The festival is produced and presented by the nonprofit Philadelphia Folksong Society. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]
Borderline Folk Music Club Honors Si Kahn at Annual Picnic, Aug. 26, in Rockland County, NY

Borderline Folk Music Club Honors Si Kahn at Annual Picnic, Aug. 26, in Rockland County, NY

Hundreds of folk & bluegrass music lovers are expected to gather at the New City Volunteer Ambulance Corps (200 Congers Road, New City, New York) on Sunday afternoon, August 26, 2012 for the third annual picnic, singing party, and jam hosted by the Borderline Folk Music Club of Rockland County and co-sponsored by AcousticMusicScene.com. The free event, for which people are expected to bring a cold potluck dish for six, is set for 12-6 p.m. in the outdoor grassy area adjacent to the parking lot. [To read the article in its entirety, click on the headline.]