Erin Ash Sullivan, a Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter, has been named as the winner of the 2025 Heyman Rising Artist Award. Focus Music established the award in 2022 in honor of the late Reba and Vic Heyman, two stalwart supporters of the folk music community. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article.]
Bluegrass Sings Paxton (Various Artists) was the top album, while Tom Paxton’s classic “I Can’t Help But Wonder (Where I’m Bound)" -- featuring the folk icon and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award-winner himself and the noted female bluegrass ensemble Della Mae -- was the month’s most-played song on folk radio during September 2024. House of Hamill and Kate McDonnell were the month’s most-played artists. So say charts compiled by Folk Alliance International based on radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in folk-based music on the radio. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article, view a couple of videos, and see FAI's monthly top albums, songs and artists charts.]
Music fans will flock to the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut, July 26-28, for the 36th annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. A Pre-Fest Day of Tastings & Farm Market and Thursday Night Music Stage on July 25 precede the festival. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article previewing the festival.]
Aztec Two-Step 2.0, The Ebony Hillbillies, The Gaslight Tinkers, Tracy Grammer, Alice Howe & Freebo, David Jacobs-Strain & Bob Beach, Joe Jencks, Lucy Kaplansky, Stephen Kellogg, Nerissa & Katrina Nields, Ellis Paul, Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Livingston Taylor, Tempest, Richard Thompson, Tony Trischka, and Annie Wenz are among the artists slated to perform during the 35th annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 28-30, 2023 at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut – preceded by a Pre-Fest Day of Tastings & Farm Market and Thursday Night Music Stage on July 27. [Click on the headline to continue reading this festival preview.]
SolarFest -- slated for July 15-16, 2023 in Brandon, Vermont -- is again hosting a Singer-Songwriter Showcase following a hiatus of several years. It’s free to enter and open to all artists who write and perform original music and are not currently signed to a major recording label.
For more than a quarter of a century, lovers of Celtic music, crafts and culture have gathered each August at a park along the shores of Lake Huron in Goderich, Ontario for the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival. Like a number of other music festivals forced to cancel or postpone over the past 17 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival’s organizers have arranged an online festival in its place. Featuring pre-recorded musical performances and live hosts, the 2021 Celtic Roots Virtual Festival will stream on Friday, August 6 from 7-11 p.m. EDT and on Saturday, August 7, from 1-5 p.m. EDT. [Click on the headline to continue reading about this virtual festival and a few workshops that precede it.]
After going completely virtual last year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival has adopted a hybrid model for its 33rd year and will be considerably shorter than in previous years. A one-day only festival with full pandemic precautions and both socially distanced in-person and livestream options is set for Saturday, July 31, 2021 at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut.
Long Island-based Americana band Quarter Horse headlines the 15th annual Huntington Folk Festival on Saturday, July 17, at Heckscher Park, located off Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue, in Huntington, New York. Opening for the group on the park’s [Harry] Chapin Rainbow Stage at 8 p.m. that evening will be The Honey Dewdrops, a husband-and-wife Americana duo. Extending from 1-10 p.m EDT., with a dinner break from 6-7:30 p.m., the free event is co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council as part of the 56th Huntington Summer Arts Festival. The evening concert will also be livestreamed. [Click on the headline to continue reading this festival preview and to view the complete schedule.]
Old Friends by Gathering Time was the top album on folk radio in September 2020 and features seven of the month’s top 25 songs, while the folk-rock harmony trio was the month’s most-played artist. James Lee Baker’s “100 Summers” edged out Scott Cook’s “Say Can You See” for the top song. So say charts compiled by Folk Alliance International based on radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion group for DJs and others interested in folk-based music on the radio. [To continue reading this article and to view the monthly top albums, songs and artists charts, click on the headline.]
Over the span of more than 30 years, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival has drawn thousands of music lovers to Hillsdale, New York in the foothills of the Berkshires near the tri-state corner of NY, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prompted the cancellation of this year’s festival, a virtual one will take place online in its place over the same extended weekend – Thursday, July 30 - Sunday, August 2, 2020. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Scott Cook, Zoe Mulford and South for Winter have been invited to participate in the Most Wanted Song Swap at this summer’s Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. They were chosen in balloting by 2019 festival attendees from among 24 artists/bands who performed in last year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase. [To continue reading this article -- that also includes several video links, as well as information on applying for this year's Emerging Artist Showcase -- click on the headline.]
Twenty-four artists/acts have been selected to perform in The Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on Friday afternoon, August 2, 2019, from noon to 4:30 p.m. [To continue reading this article -- including information about the showcase and the festival itself -- click on the headline.]
