Little Toby Walker, who called Huntington home until moving to New Jersey recently, continues to garner fans and well-deserved buzz beyond the New York metropolitan area and on both sides of the Atlantic for his fine Delta blues and ragtime guitar playing. But until this month, he had not played one of America’s oldest and most legendary folk festivals. Wearing his trademark hat, a colorful short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, he made his Philadelphia Folk Festival debut earlier this month. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

It’s been more than 25 years since Harry Chapin left us. But many Long Islanders (and others across the country and the world) are still “Wild About Harry.” On Monday night, August 27, at Eisenhower Park’s Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater, many talented Long Island artists will come together to pay tribute to the late singer-songwriter and humanitarian for whom the theater is named. Chapin, who resided in Huntington Bay, was on his way to perform a free concert at the theater one summer night in 1981 when he died in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway. His music and his giving, community spirit live on. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

Steve Robinson will represent the Long Island Blues Society in the solo/duo category at the 2008 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee next January. The 58 year-old Massapequa Park-based singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist bested several other talented Long Islanders (Bob Westcott, Phil Minissale, Dan Freedman, and Josh Allen & Junior Allen) for this coveted honor during a competition held in Patchogue on Sunday afternoon, August 5. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

The 2nd Annual Huntington Folk Festival is slated for Saturday, August 11, 2007, beginning at 5 p.m., on the Chapin Rainbow Stage at Heckscher Park, Prime Avenue and Route 25A in Huntington Village. Steve Forbert, a folk-rock singer-songwriter best known for his 1979 album Jackrabbit Slim and its sprightly hit single “Romeo’s Tune,” headlines the free festival that is jointly presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council. Beaucoup Blue, a Philadelphia-based father & son acoustic blues & roots duo, opens for Forbert. Preceding them will be three on-stage song swaps, featuring artists from New York and New England. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

Summer is here, and with it comes an array of outdoor festivals and concerts, in addition to many indoor concerts, coffeehouses and open mic nights. Besides plenty of homegrown talent, a number of notable performers will be visiting the Island this summer. The folk-rockin’ duo Aztec Two-Step and veteran acoustic blues guitarist John Hammond play Bay Shore’s Boulton Center, as do The Roches with their impressive song craft and delightful three-part harmonies. The rootsy Americana trio Red Molly makes a couple of LI appearances. Folk-rock singer-songwriter Steve Forbert headlines the 2nd Annual Huntington Folk Festival that also features the father & son acoustic blues & roots duo Beaucoup Blue and several song swaps. Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder headline the 5th annual Long Island Bluegrass Festival in Copiague, and talented Canadian fiddler April Verch plays the Long Island Fiddle Festival in Stony Brook. Living folk icons Richie Havens and Tom Rush play the new Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, while Tom Paxton, a former Long Islander and one of America’s finest folksingers and topical songwriters, returns to Albertson’s Clark Botanic Garden. The Friends of the Arts Long Island Summer Festival in Oyster Bay features such entertaining performers as Randy Newman, The Indigo Girls, Rosanne Cash & The Flatlanders. Acclaimed German fingerstyle guitarist Peter Finger plays a free lunchtime concert in Bay Shore, and rootsy alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams brings her “West” tour east to the Brookhaven Amphitheater. Within close proximity for many Long Islanders, New York City’s River to River Festival, the Roots of American Music Festival outside Lincoln Center, the 2007 Pleasantville Music Festival in the Westchester County community of that name and a wonderful weekly series of free acoustic concerts at Ridgefield, Connecticut’s Ballard Park also beckon. [To see the calendar listings, click on the headline].

There will be plenty of good, free acoustic music in Islip this summer thanks to the Islip Arts Council and its artistic director, Amy Tuttle. This summer’s series of free Sunday afternoon concerts at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River will feature several LI-based acoustic artists and Red Molly, the rootsy female Americana trio that’s been drawing a lot of buzz here and elsewhere, while a series of Tuesday Brown Bag Concerts at the Bay Shore Bandshell on Main Street will include noted German guitarist Peter Finger, as well as several more local performers. Both series have taken on more of an acoustic bent since Tuttle (who also serves as an officer of both the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame) joined the Islip Arts Council’s staff in September 2005. “Every single act has some acoustic element in it” this summer, she said, noting that both series are “geared primarily to acoustic musicians and to those who write original material and perform original stuff.” [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

There's no shortage of good acoustic gigs scheduled on Long Island this June. In addition to some fine local performers, a number of touring artists will be visiting our shores. Scott Ainslie plays and sings the blues in Garden City (June 1). Bluegrass veterans and six-time IBMA winners Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver play Brooklyn (June 1). Pat Humphries and Sandy O, better known as Emma's Revolution, bring their songs of social conscience to Huntington (June 8). Ian Tamblyn, a mainstay on the Canadian folk scene for three decades, makes a rare U.S. appearance in Stony Brook (June 10). Living bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys play Brooklyn (June 22). The Roches showcase their songcraft and delightful three-part harmonies in Bay Shore( June 23). Red Molly, the rootsy female Americana trio, makes two LI appearances this month in Great River and St. James (June 24 and 29, respectively). Aztec Two-Step, the harmonic duo of Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman, comes to Bay Shore, June 30. For information on these and other artists performing on Long Island in June, as well as a preview of summer festivals on and near LI, click the headline.

Acoustic artists from near and far will be performing at a number of festivals on Long Island this summer. These include the 2nd Annual Acoustic Long Island Summer Festival in St. James (June 29), a new Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue (July 13-15), Babylon Village Bayfest (July 25), the 2nd Annual Huntington Folk Festival (August 11), and the 5th Annual Long Island Bluegrass Festival in Copiague (August 18). [To see the entire article, click on the headline].

The growing popularity of Acoustic Long Island, Dave and Rob Dircks’ wonderful weekly coffeehouse series in St. James, that also ranks as the top acoustic music podcast on iTunes, has prompted the brothers to expand their live venue to hold about 100 people comfortably. After percolating for more than 18 months at Cool Beanz, a cozy coffeehouse in a strip shopping center, the series has moved just a bit further down Route 25A to a larger space within the historic Deepwells Mansion (circa 1845), a Suffolk County-owned treasure situated just west of Moriches Road. [To read the entire article, click on the headline].

Little Toby Walker, Tom Griffith and Bob Koenig have new CDs out this month... NYC CD release party slated for Johnny Cuomo... Former LIer Arlon Bennett to make Acoustic Long Island appearance in May... Glen Roethel is a finalist in Susquehanna Songwriting Contest... and LI artists offer quality music for children, too. [To read the entire article, click on the title in red above].

Newsday readers are learning what many on the local acoustic music scene have known for some time now: Dave and Rob Dircks’ wonderful weekly Acoustic Long Island series at Cool Beanz in St. James is garnering increased interest from performers and fans alike, and the buzz extends far beyond Long Island. Acoustic Long Island is much more than just a Wednesday night open mic at a cozy coffeehouse - as much fun as that is. As Steven Snyder’s March 20 Part 2 cover story declares, it’s “Long Island’s Podcast Hit.” {Click on the title in red to read more about "Acoustic Long Island" and about a "Long Island Blues Boy" who is starting to gather steam and notice].

With the advent of spring, a lot of good acoustic music is sprouting on Long Island -- with artists ranging from perennial favorites to blossoming newcomers. In addition to a number of talented local singer-songwriters and musicians, visiting acoustic artists performing on Long Island this spring include Scott Ainslie, Gordon Bok, Guy Clark, Slaid Cleaves, Judy Collins, Emma’s Revolution, Steve Forbert, Colin Hay, The Kennedys, King Wilkie, Patty Larkin, Christine Lavin, Terence Martin & Dan Bonis, Michelle Shocked, Livingston Taylor, We’re About 9, Dar Williams and Jesse Colin Young -- and, from Canada: Eve Goldberg, Gordon Lightfoot, Jory Nash, Ian Tamblyn and Lucie Blue Tremblay. [Click on the title in red to see the calendar listings].