News – Northeast U.S.

Open Book Wins 2017 Grassy Hill Songwriting Competition at Connecticut Folk Festival

Open Book, the Cold Spring, NY-based husband-and-wife contemporary folk duo of Rick and Michele Gedney, was named the winner of the 2017 Grassy Hill Songwriting Competition following a final round featuring four artists/acts during the Connecticut Folk Festival and Green Expo at New Haven’s Edgerton Park on Sept. 9. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Connecticut Folk Festival & Green Expo Set for Sept. 9 in New Haven

Livingston Taylor headlines CT Folk’s 12th annual Connecticut Folk Festival and Green Expo. The free, daylong event is set for Saturday, Sept. 9, in New Haven’s Edgerton Park. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

AcousticMusicScene.com Co-Sponsors Borderline Folk Music Club Picnic, Aug. 27

Hundreds of folk, roots and bluegrass music fans from throughout the New York metropolitan area are expected to converge on Germonds Park in West Nyack, NY on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27, for the annual, picnic and music festival presented by the Borderline Folk Music Club and the Town of Clarkston, and co-sponsored by AcousticMusicScene.com, Folk Music Society of Huntington, The Folk Music Society of New York (aka Pinewoods Folk Music Club), and Tribes Hill. The free event, extending from noon to 6 p.m., will feature a musical tribute to Leonard Cohen, the influential and much-revered singer, songwriter and poet who died last November at age 82. [To continue reading this article on AcousticMusicScene.com, click on the headline.]

Official Showcase Artists Named for 2017 FAR-West, FARM and NERFA Conferences

Three Regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International have selected artists/acts to participate in juried official showcases during their respective annual conferences this fall. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Song Swaps During Huntington Folk Festival, July 29

Sarah Lee Guthrie and The Mammals (featuring Mike & Ruthy) will co-headline the 12th Annual Huntington Folk Festival on Saturday, July 29, at Heckscher Park, located off Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue, in Huntington, New York. Extending from 12 noon to 10:30 p.m., the free festival – co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council – is part of the 52nd Huntington Summer Arts Festival. AcousticMusicScene.com and Joltin' Joe's Radio Nowhere Internet Radio will host unplugged showcases and song swaps during the afternoon. [To read this article and see the complete schedule, click on the headline.]
Emerging Artists Showcase Performers Chosen for 2017 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in August

Emerging Artists Showcase Performers Chosen for 2017 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in August

Twenty-four artists/duos or groups have been selected to perform in the Emerging Artists Showcase during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on Friday afternoon, August 4, from noon to 4:30 p.m. [To continue reading this article -- which includes a listing of all the Emerging Artists and the complete festival lineup -- click on the headline.]

American Roots Music Festival Set for June 24

Rhiannon Giddens and Sarah Jarosz headline the seventh annual American Roots Music Festival at Caramoor – a daylong, family friendly celebration of acoustic music -- on Saturday, June 24. Set on 90 acres of gardens and Italianate architecture in Katonah, Westchester County, NY – 40 miles northeast of New York City — the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is well known for its summer music festivals. AcousticMusicScene.com is delighted to again be a Cultural Partner of the festival and will have a presence there. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

The Philadelphia Songwriters Project Names Ten Finalists in its 2017 Songwriting Contest

Finalists have been named in the 12th annual songwriting contest produced by The Philadelphia Songwriters Project. The 10 finalists have been invited to compete in a live finals showcase on Sunday afternoon, May 21, at Ardmore Music Hall in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, during which a panel of celebrity judges and the audience will select four winners and two alternates. Winners will be afforded non-compensated opportunities to perform during various festivals and concert series in the region this summer. [To continue reading this article and see who the finalists are, click on the headline.]

Entries Sought in Two Songwriting Contests

Both The Philadelphia Songwriters Project and the Rhode Island Songwriters Association (RISA) are now accepting submissions in their respective performing songwriter contests. One does not need to be a member of either organization or to live in the areas they serve in order to enter. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Maggie Roche of The Roches, 1951-2017

Maggie Roche, the eldest of three sisters in the folk-pop vocal trio The Roches, died Jan. 21 at age of 65, following a long struggle with cancer. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Arts Presenters, Performing Artists Gather in NYC in January

Arts Presenters, Performing Artists Gather in NYC in January

Several thousand people are expected to converge on New York City, Jan. 6-10, 2017 for the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP). Now in its 60th year, the global performing arts marketplace and conference will feature more than 1000 showcases (including a few-dozen featuring folk and roots music artists), nearly 400 exhibitors, networking opportunities galore, daily plenary sessions and keynote speakers, and a wide array of professional development workshops and forums. Four plenary sessions will live stream free, while Wavelengths: APAP Global Music Pre-Conference is open to the public as are some of the ticketed showcases at venues throughout the city. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Michael Kornfeld Elected President of NERFA

Michael Kornfeld, editor & publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com, was elected as president of the board of directors of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) during its annual conference at the Crowne Plaza in Stamford, CT, Nov. 10-13. Kornfeld had previously served as the nonprofit organization’s vice president. NERFA is the largest regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International, a Kansas City-based organization (on whose board he also serves) that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]