The Woody Guthrie Center will honor singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez with the 2020 Woody Guthrie Prize during this year’s virtual edition of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Baez, who has performed at the festival numerous times, is slated to accept the award on August 16 in recognition of her groundbreaking career and impact on humanitarian causes over the span of 60 years.
Thousands of people won’t be descending on Okemah, Oklahoma, Woody Guthrie’s hometown, this month due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the nonprofit Woody Guthrie Coalition hosts a virtual festival the week of the iconic songwriter, singer, poet and activist’s birthday, July 14-19, 2020 – in place of the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. The free virtual WoodyFest may be streamed via Facebook, YouTube and Twitch, as well as Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Play, Roku, and Folk Music Notebook's website and Facebook page.
Although the 34th Green River Festival that features music and hot air balloons has been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, festival organizers have partnered with Northampton, Massachusetts-based radio station 93.9 The River (WRSI.com) to present Green River Festival On The Air, July 10-12, 2020. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article that also includes information about Signature Sounds' The Parlor Room Home Sessions online.]
Old Songs, a three-day festival celebrating traditional music and dance, usually held at the Altamont Fairgrounds in upstate New York on the last weekend in June, is partnering with Folk Music Notebook, the 24/7 internet folk radio channel created and curated by veteran folk DJ Ron Olesko, to present a virtual festival, June 26-28, 2020. The audio-only event will feature new performances by artists who would have been at this year’s festival, along with archival recordings from past festivals. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic prompted the postponement of the 25th annual Kate Wolf Music Festival until next June. However, you can enjoy a series of live streaming and pre-recorded concert sets from a number of the artists who were slated to perform at the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California from the comfort of your own home, June 25-28, 2020. [To continue reading this article and to view the artist lineup and schedule, click on the headline.]
A number of artists will celebrate the life and legacy of American music legend Doc Watson on social media during the week of May 25-29, 2020 under the auspices of MerleFest, one of America’s premiere music festivals. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
DelFest will stream performances from previous editions of the festival launched by Del McCoury, an acclaimed bluegrass musician, and members of his extended family, May 21-May 24, 2020 -- the originally scheduled festival weekend. Called DelFest At Home and celebrating musical highlights from DelFests past that have taken place in western Maryland for more than a decade, the free online event will showcase the festival’s namesake and his family, along with other notable bluegrass artists and jam bands. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Although the annual Kerrville Folk Festival won’t be taking place in late May- June on the Quiet Valley Ranch campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, “virtual concerts” featuring nearly 40 of the artists who were booked to perform during it will be streamed from the festival’s website and its Facebook page on three successive Saturdays in late May-early June. Meanwhile, 24 songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2020 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Contest for Emerging Songwriters that organizers hope will take place Oct. 9 and 10 during the 49th annual Kerrville Folk Festival that has been tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 8-18. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
The Americana Music Association is now accepting applications from artists and bands interested in showcasing their talents during the 21st annual AMERICANAFEST -- a six-day festival and conference celebrating American roots-inspired music that takes place in Nashville, Tennessee in mid-September. The showcase submissions deadline is Friday, March 6. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Donna the Buffalo, an Americana roots band, headlines CT Folk’s 14th annual Connecticut Folk Festival & Green Expo. The daylong event takes place Saturday, Sept. 7, in New Haven’s Edgerton Park. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Thousands of music lovers are expected to converge on Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, near bucolic Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, Aug. 15-18, for the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival that will feature more than 100 artists and acts on eight stages. Now in its 58th year, the family-friendly event, produced and presented by the Philadelphia Folksong Society, is the longest continuously running outdoor music festival in North America. [To continue reading this article -- which includes audio and video links -- click on the headline.]
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III headlines the 14th Annual Huntington Folk Festival on Saturday, July 27, at Heckscher Park, located off Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue, in Huntington, New York. Opening for Wainwright on the park’s [Harry] Chapin Rainbow Stage at 8 p.m. that evening will be his daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche. Extending from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with a dinner break from 6-8 p.m., the free event – co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council – is part of the 54th Huntington Summer Arts Festival. [To continue reading this article and see the complete festival schedule, click on the headline.]
