News Capsules for and about the Acoustic Community in the Northeastern U.S.
The Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) hosts a special one-day mini-conference on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the First Universalist Society in Franklin, MA (home of the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse). [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Chuck E. Costa, a talented singer-songwriter from Madison, CT, has been named as Connecticut’s State Troubadour for 2011-2012. He succeeds Lara Herscovitch, the state troubadour for 2009-2010. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
The Newport Folk Festival, which has been held in or near the coastal Rhode Island resort city since 1959, is returning to its original roots as a nonprofit event, along with its older sibling, the Newport Jazz Festival. Both will now be produced under the umbrella of he newly formed Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. George Wein, 85, a pioneer among producers of outdoor festivals, will remain at its helm and, with his staff, continue to steer the folk festival that is set for July 29-31 at Fort Adams State Park. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary fame) and other artists who share his concern about social justice through their songs will be part of a day-long series of social change music programming at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire on Saturday, Jan. 22. Dartmouth partners with the Public Domain Foundation, a nonprofit organization launched by Stookey more than 30 years ago to encourage the making and use of music for social change, to present nearly 10 hours of programming in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Hundreds of musicians and music lovers from Connecticut, the rest of New England and beyond are expected to converge on Hartford, Jan 28-30 for the People’s Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle (PMN)’s 2011 Winter Gathering. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].
More than 130 acts, from solo artists to full bands, will be selected to showcase at various venues over two nights during the fourth annual Singer-Songwriter Cape May music business conference set for March 25-26 in the historic Victorian-lined New Jersey seaside resort community. The deadline for singer-songwriters in all genres to submit showcase applications has been extended until Jan.28. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Dick Pleasants has been a mainstay on radio in Boston, Massachusetts and environs for forty years and has provided support for numerous artists and folk music venues during that time. As he prepares to retire, a number of his musical friends will pay tribute to him during “A Pleasant(s) Evening at Sanders” on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Sanders Theater on Harvard University’s campus in Cambridge. Proceeds from this special celebratory event will benefit WUMB’s capital campaign. A room in the new WUMB studios and offices will be named after Pleasants. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
A wide array of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Appalachian and other Celtic-inspired music and dance is on tap during the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest). Boston, Massachusetts’ annual grassroots, musician-run, winter Celtic music festival takes place Jan. 7-8, 2011. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Folksinger, songwriter, author and musicologist Oscar Brand has been inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. Brand, 90, who has written more than 300 songs (ranging from bawdy ballads to songs of social commentary), recorded some 100 albums, serves as curator of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and hosts what is now the oldest continuous radio show in history (Folksong Festival on New York’s WNYC), was among the third class of inductees honored during a gala event, Nov. 16, at Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
The board of directors of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) elected a slate of officers for the forthcoming year during the organization’s annual conference at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 11-14. Cheryl Prashker and Michael Kornfeld were re-elected as president and vice president, respectively, while Dianne Tankle was elected treasurer. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
RUNA, a Celtic vocal and instrumental ensemble from the Philadelphia area, was the top winner in the 2010 Montgomery Bucks Music Awards held Nov. 8 at the Triumph Brewing Company in New Hope, Pennsylvania. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
More than 700 performers, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk music societies and clubs, and others actively engaged in traditional and contemporary folk music will converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 11-14, 2010, for the16th annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. AcousticMusicScene.com will have a major presence as it hosts afternoon and late-night song swaps, a CD release party and wine tasting, its popular Midnight Hoot and a new Midday Hoot. [To view the entire article and a printable flyer with the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule, click on the headline.]
