FAI Folk Radio Charts – March 2025

Lucy Kaplansky had the top album (The Lucy Story: Unreleased and Rare Tracks 1976-2023) and was the most-played artist on folk radio during March 2025, while “Which Side Are You On?” by Artists for Action was the month’s 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. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view the top albums, songs and artists charts that are posted monthly with permission.]

Continue ReadingFAI Folk Radio Charts – March 2025
Read more about the article AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Pesky J. Nixon and friends (including Caitlin Canty) played the AcousticMusicScene.com tent in 2014 and will again this year. (Photo: Jake Jacobson/asharpereye.com)

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of late-night song swaps during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 30-August 2, in partnership with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy more than a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie. [To continue reading this preview of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and see the complete schedule for the AcousticMusicScene.com tent @ Pirate Camp, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingAcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

It’s Music Festival Time in New York State

Music festivals abound in New York State in late June. Among those of note are Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival (June 20-21 in Croton-on-Hudson), Old Songs Festival (June 26-28 in Altamont), American Roots Music Festival at Caramoor (June 27 in Katonah) and Rockland-Bergen Music Festival (June 27-28 in Tappan). To continue reading this article, which also includes information about the Huntington and Falcon Ridge Folk Festivals that take place later in the summer, click on the headline.

Continue ReadingIt’s Music Festival Time in New York State
Read more about the article AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Photo courtesy of Richard Cuccaro (Acoustic Live in New York City & Beyond)

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com hosts a series of late-night song swaps during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 31-August 3, in partnership with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy more than a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie. [To continue reading this festival preview and see the schedule for the AcousticMusicScene.com tent, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingAcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Read more about the article AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Music at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Stuart Kabak and AcousticMusicScene.com's Michael Kornfeld at Pirate Camp in 2012 (Photo: Michelle Diano)

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Music at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of late-night song swaps, mini-showcases and open song circles during the 25th annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, August 1-4, in partnership with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie. [To read the full article, which includes a preview of one of the Northeast's most popular music festivals and a complete schedule for the AcousticMusicScene.com tent @ Pirate Camp, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingAcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Music at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Showcases at NERFA Conference, Nov. 8-11, 2012

Some 800 performing artists, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk DJs, and others actively engaged in traditional and contemporary folk music will converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 8-11, 2012, for the 18th annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. AcousticMusicScene.com will again have a major presence as it hosts afternoon and late-night song swaps, and its popular Midnight Hoot at the close of the conference’s first day. A Midday Hoot the next day, introduced in 2010, will afford more artists opportunities to be heard. [To read the full article and see the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedules, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingAcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Showcases at NERFA Conference, Nov. 8-11, 2012
Read more about the article AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Elli (Photo: Jake Jacobson)

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of late-night song swaps and mini-showcases during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 26-29, in partnership with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie.. Now in its 24th year, Falcon Ridge takes place at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, NY -- located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. [ To read about the festival and see the late-night schedules, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingAcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Late-Night Song Swaps at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Read more about the article Richard Meyer, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Editor, 1952-2012
Richard Meyer (Photo by Teddy Lee)

Richard Meyer, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Editor, 1952-2012

Richard Meyer, a singer-songwriter who also was an integral part of the folk music scene in New York’s Greenwich Village during the 1980s and 1990s as a booker for the Speakeasy and longtime editor of Fast Folk Musical Magazine (1986-1997), died May 14, 2012 at age 59. [To read the full article, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingRichard Meyer, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Editor, 1952-2012

Festivals Set in the Northeast Over Independence Day Weekend

A couple of music festivals of note in the Northeast take place during the first weekend in July -- one along the cobblestoned streets of the old whaling port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the other at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York. [To read the article, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingFestivals Set in the Northeast Over Independence Day Weekend

Jack Hardy, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Founder, 1947-2011

Jack Hardy, a singer-songwriter who played a pivotal role in the New York folk/songwriting scene for several decades and influenced and inspired many other songwriters, died on March 11. His death at age 63 sent shockwaves through the folk community, with many posting short remembrances and tributes on Facebook -- the social networking platform. [To read the article in its entirety, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingJack Hardy, Singer-Songwriter and Fast Folk Founder, 1947-2011

Quick Q & A with John Gorka

John Gorka is widely considered one of the top male singer-songwriters on the contemporary folk scene. Since being named a Kerrville New Folk Winner in 1984, he has become a popular fixture on the coffeehouse and festival circuit, and a number of other notable artists have recorded and/or performed his songs. He is part of a new folk trio called Red Horse with Eliza Gilkyson and Lucy Kaplansky, whose Red House Records debut will be released on July 13. With his rich, soulful baritone, Gorka delivers his own well-crafted songs in a way that prompted Rolling Stone to call him “the preeminent male singer-songwriter of the new folk movement.” Ever self-effacing, Gorka has professed to “consider myself to be an aspiring folk singer, not an accomplished one.” His legion of fans – including Kathy Sands-Boehmer, who posed a few questions to him recently – would disagree. [To read Kathy's Quick Q & A with John Gorka, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingQuick Q & A with John Gorka

Philadelphia Folk Festival Set for Next Weekend

Buskin & Batteau, The Decemberists, John Flynn, The Folk Brothers, Sara Hickman, Sonny Landreth, Marcy Marxer and Cathy Fink, the Del McCoury Band, Ellis Paul, Rebirth Brass Band, Tom Rush, Jill Sobule, Tony Trischka and the Derek Trucks Band are among the dozens of acts slated to perform during the 48th annual Philadelphia Folk Festival, August 14-16, at the Old Pool Farm near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Featuring an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary music, as well as dance, crafts, an array of children’s activities in the shady Dulcimer Grove, and a unique late-night scene (with jamming into the wee morning hours in the 40-acre campgrounds), the Philadelphia Folk Festival is the longest continuously running U.S. festival of its kind. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]

Continue ReadingPhiladelphia Folk Festival Set for Next Weekend