Latest News

Kate McGarrigle, Canadian Folksinger-Songwriter, 1946-2010

Canadian folksinger-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, who performed with her sister Anna as the McGarrigle Sisters for three decades, has died at age 63. Besides being an acclaimed and award-winning artist in her own right, McGarrigle was the mother of artists Rufus and Martha Wainwright through her previous marriage to singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. McGarrigle, who had been battling a rare form of cancer, died at her Montreal home on Monday night, January 18. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, 01-15-10

Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To view the current folk radio airplay chart, click on the headline.]

Joe Val Bluegrass Festival Near Boston Set for Feb. 12-14

The Boston Bluegrass Union hosts the 25th annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, February 12-14, at the Sheraton Framingham in Framingham, Massachusetts. The indoor festival, located 18 miles west of Boston, will feature regional and nationally touring bands, more than 40 master classes and workshops (for which pre-registration is required), directed slow jams and plenty of picking opportunities throughout the weekend. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

South Florida Round Up Set for January 17

The Broward Folk Club hosts a one-day special event featuring nine continuous hours of music on Sunday, January 17. Called the South Florida Round Up, and held in place of a South Florida Folk Festival this year, the event is set for noon to 9 p.m. at The Round-up, 9020 West State Road 84 in Davie, Florida. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, 01-08-10

Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To view the current folk radio airplay Top 50 chart, click on the headline.]

Showcase Deadline Nears for Singer Songwriter Cape May

More than 130 acts, from solo artists to full bands, will be selected to showcase at 15 venues over two nights during the third annual Singer Songwriter Cape May music business conference set for March 26-27, 2010 in the historic Victorian-lined New Jersey seaside resort community. January 14 is the deadline for singer-songwriters in all genres to submit showcase applications. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart, 01-01-10

Roots Music Report compiles weekly radio airplay charts for various roots-related genres. These are based on spin totals reported by music directors and DJs from more than 400 terrestrial and Internet radio stations. The latest Folk chart is posted here with permission. [To view the current folk radio airplay chart, click on the headline.]

Long Island AcoustiCalendar for January-Early February 2010

Detailed listings for more than 120 concerts, open mics, jam sessions, workshops, and other musical happenings slated to take place during January and early February in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk appear in this installment of AcousticMusicScene.com’s Long Island AcoustiCalendar. Editor's Note: Links to websites and online calendars covering other parts of the New York metropolitan area, the Northeast and beyond appear in the Regional Calendars section of AcousticMusicScene.com.

Nominees Named for Irish Music Awards

Online voting continues through January 8 on nominees in 17 categories for the second annual Irish Music Awards presented by the Independence, Missouri-based Irish Music Association. Harpist and singer Orla Fallon is nominated in four categories, while Luka Bloom, Martin Hayes, The High Kings, Van Morrison and The Wolfe Tones each received two nods. [To see the list of nominees, click on the headline.]

Boston Celtic Music Fest Set for Jan. 8-9, 2010

The annual Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), now in its seventh year, returns to its roots January 8 and 9 with a “back-to-basics” focus on dyed-in-the-wool core traditions of Celtic music and those who help keep the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Celtic music and dance traditions alive. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Tim Hart, Steeleye Span Founder, 1948-2009

Tim Hart, who founded the seminal British folk-rock group Steeleye Span with Maddy Prior forty years ago, died on December 24. He was 61 and had been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer a year ago. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Vic Chesnutt, Singer-Songwriter, 1964-2009

Vic Chesnutt, a prolific songwriter and independent recording artist who was a favorite of critics and fellow musicians, died on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, in an Athens, Georgia hospital. He was 45 and had been in a coma following an apparent overdose of muscle relaxants earlier in the week. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]