News – Northeast U.S.
AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of late-night song swaps and mini-showcases during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 26-29, in partnership with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie.. Now in its 24th year, Falcon Ridge takes place at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, NY -- located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. [ To read about the festival and see the late-night schedules, click on the headline.]
Huntington Folk Festival Set for July 22, 2012; Free Event in NY Extends from Noon to Night

Huntington Folk Festival Set for July 22, 2012; Free Event in NY Extends from Noon to Night

The seventh annual Huntington Folk Festival is slated for Sunday, July 22, 2012. The free event will extend from 12 noon into the late evening at Heckscher Park, Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue, in Huntington, New York. AcousticMusicScene.com and Acoustic Live! in New York City and Beyond will host unplugged showcases during the afternoon, while the artists who are part of this year's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Most Wanted Tour will perform on the Chapin Rainbow Stage in the evening. [To read the article and view the showcase schedules, click on the headline.]

Two Music Festivals in July Have Mass. Appeal

A couple of music festivals of note take place in Massachusetts in July: the Greater New Bedford Summerfest, July 6-8, along the cobblestoned streets of the old whaling city, and the Green River Festival featuring music, hot air balloons and more at the community college campus in Greenfield, July 14-15. [To read the full article previewing these festivals, click on the headline.]

2012 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists Showcase Lineup Set; 24 Acts to Perform on July 27

Twenty-four artists/bands have been selected from among hundreds of applicants to perform in the Emerging Artists Showcase during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, New York on Friday afternoon, July 27, 2012, from noon to 4:30 p.m. [To read the full article, see the list of showcasing artists, and learn more about the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and the FRFF Most Wanted Tour, click on the headline.]

A Musical Tribute to Woody Guthrie, Artist Showcases Set for June 2 at UMass-Boston

The Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) invites the public to attend a 75-minute, hootenanny-style Musical Tribute to Woody Guthrie and a series of 15-minute artist showcases that will take place on Saturday, June 2, from 3-7 p.m., at the Lipke Auditorium on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus. These special events, for which $10 tickets will be available at the door, are part of a day-long mini-conference featuring workshops and panel discussions that the nonprofit organization is hosting to give artists, presenters, DJs, agents and others engaged in the folk music scene a small taste of what takes place during its annual conference in The Catskills each fall. Proceeds from the events will be shared with WUMB, Boston’s NPR Music...
Richard Meyer, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Editor, 1952-2012

Richard Meyer, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Editor, 1952-2012

Richard Meyer, a singer-songwriter who also was an integral part of the folk music scene in New York’s Greenwich Village during the 1980s and 1990s as a booker for the Speakeasy and longtime editor of Fast Folk Musical Magazine (1986-1997), died May 14, 2012 at age 59. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]
Remembering Pete Fornatale: A Pioneering New York Radio DJ

Remembering Pete Fornatale: A Pioneering New York Radio DJ

The folk, folk-rock and singer-songwriter communities lost one of their most ardent champions and promoters last week with the passing of Pete Fornatale, a pioneering New York radio DJ, who introduced me and many others to some wonderful artists whose music has become the soundtrack of our lives. [To read the full article -- including reflections from artists who knew Pete and excerpts from an interview I did with him in 1989 -- click on the headline.]

Singer-Songwriters Flock to Cape May, New Jersey, March 30-31

The maddening crowds of summer won’t be there, but several hundred performing artists and others engaged in the music business are expected to converge on the historic Victorian-lined New Jersey seaside resort community of Cape May, March 30-31, for the fifth annual Singer-Songwriter Cape May conference. AcousticMusicScene.com co-creator Glen Roethel will be among the more than 150 showcasing artists, while editor & publisher Michael Kornfeld will be among the panelists discussing "Publicity, Marketing and Social Media for Independent Artists." {To read a short preview of the conference, click on the headline.]

NERFA Hosts Two One-Day Mini-Conferences This Spring

Based on the success of its first one-day mini-conference in Massachusetts last April, which drew more than 175 people, the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) has scheduled two such events for this spring in different parts of the region. One is slated for Saturday, May 5, at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center in Bethesda, Maryland, while the other is set for Saturday, June 2, at the University of Massachusetts-Boston campus. Early-bird registration and showcase application deadlines are quickly approaching for both events. [To read the full article, click on the headline].

Dick Kniss, Bassist for Peter, Paul and Mary, 1937-2012

A memorial services was held in Saugerties, New York on Sunday for Dick Kniss, a bassist who accompanied Peter, Paul and Mary for decades and co-wrote "Sunshine On My Shoulders” with John Denver. Kniss died Jan. 25 of pulmonary disease. He was 74. [To read the short article in its entirety, click on the headline.]

Music Festival Impresario George Wein Honored by APAP

Music festival impresario George Wein, founder of the Newport Folk Festival, received the Award of Merit for Achievement in Performing Arts from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) on Jan. 9. The award is bestowed on an individual whose genius, energy and excellence have defined or redefined an art form for today’s audiences. [To read the article in its entirety, including comments from George Wein, 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.]