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.]
The roots music and Americana-oriented Old Settler’s Music Festival returns to the Salt Lick BBQ Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch in Driftwood, Texas, April 14-17. Now in its 24th year, the festival is not as well-known outside the state as some others in the Austin area – and that’s part of its allure. Old Settler’s Music Festival also takes place during what’s usually the height of Texas Hill Country’s wildflower season. [To read the article in full, click on the headline.]
Although most folk festivals in the U.S. happen outdoors during the summertime, at least two take place indoors on Florida’s respective coasts in January 2011: 30A Songwriters Festival and South Florida Folk Fest. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
A wide array of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Appalachian and other Celtic-inspired music and dance is on tap during the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest). Boston, Massachusetts’ annual grassroots, musician-run, winter Celtic music festival takes place Jan. 7-8, 2011. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Dec. 1 for the 34th Ann Arbor Folk Festival at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Slated for Friday and Saturday nights, Jan. 28 and 29, 2011, beginning at 6:30 p.m., the festival is a fundraiser for The Ark, Ann Arbor’s home for acoustic music. Susan Werner, a witty singer-songwriter whose music transcends genres, emcees the event that features a number of traditional and contemporary artists in folk and roots music circles. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Wine and music aficionados will gather in the Texas Hill Country over Labor Day Weekend for the 2010 Kerrville Wine & Music Festival. The annual event, pairing Texas wine tastings with performances by two-dozen singer-songwriters, takes place Sept. 3-5 at the Quiet Valley Ranch, nine miles south of Kerrville on TX Hwy 16. On Aug. 31, from 8-9 p.m. central time, www.radiofreetexas.org will broadcast a performance by Uncle Lucius live from the Tin Roof Steakhouse in Boerne, TX to promote the Wine & Music Festival. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
AcousticMusicScene.com will host pre-arranged song swaps during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 22-25. The festival takes place at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, New York, located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. For the third year in a row, AcousticMusicScene.com joins with Tribes Hill (a nonprofit organization uniting musicians of the Hudson Valley region and their patrons in support of a music community coming together to celebrate human experience through song) to jointly present late-night song swaps during Falcon Ridge. Dinner-break sing-alongs & jams and an informal Thursday afternoon session on PR for independent recording artists also are slated. [To read the entire article, including a schedule of activities, click on the headline.]
Nearly two-dozen talented contemporary folk, blues and Americana artists will converge on Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday, June 6, for the WUMB Music Fest. [To view the entire illustrated article, click on the headline.]
Dave Rawlings, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ryan Bingham and Patty Griffin scored the most nominations for the Americana Music Association’s 2010 Honors and Awards. Fellow Americana singer-songwriters Emmylou Harris and Todd Snider announced the nominees May 12 during a reception in Nashville, Tennessee. Nominees in additional categories will be announced over the next several months, while the winners will be named September 9 during the association’s ninth annual awards and honors show at the historic Ryman Auditorium. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
Most of the lineup for MerleFest is now set, and early-bird ticket prices for one of America’s most popular roots-oriented music festivals are available through April 6. Celebrating the music of the late instrumental virtuoso Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson, the “traditional-plus” music festival features sounds of the Appalachian region and beyond -- ranging from bluegrass and Americana to old-time, country and roots music. It takes place April 29 – May 2 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. [To view the entire article, click on the headline.]
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.]
The third annual DelFest at the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland does not take place until next Memorial Day Weekend. But bluegrass patriarch and nine-time International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Entertainer of the Year Del McCoury joined IBMA Broadcaster of the Year Katy Daley yesterday on WAMU’s “Bluegrass Country” to announce the initial lineup for the event and take calls from fans. [To read the entire article, click on the headline.]
