Appearing in this year’s Emerging Artist Showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance): Answer the Muse, James Lee Baker, Suzie Brown, Wes Collins, Scott Cook, Corner House, Karen Dahlstrom, Sarah Eide, Roger Street Friedman, GoldenOak, Hawthorn, Lara Herscovitch, Kaiti Jones, Travis Knapp, Grace Morrison, Mosa, Zoe Mulford, Karyn Oliver, The Promise is Hope, River Run, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Ellen Shae, Deborah C. Smith, and Dan Weber. Named as alternates were South for the Winter, Shawna Caspi, Jim Allyn, and Banjo Nickaru. Although there is no compensation for showcasing artists, each will receive full admission, on-site camping and meals for the festival, plus one guest pass per act.

The Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se, although the audience is surveyed as to which showcase artists they’d like to see return the following year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap. This year’s Most Wanted Song Swap will feature Quarter Horse, Solebello and Justin Farren.

An opportunity to be seen and heard in a large amphitheater setting, with hundreds of folk fans, presenters, agents, media and other music industry professionals in attendance, the showcase was open to all performing artists who have not previously showcased their talents at Falcon Ridge in the last two years and who will not be appearing on its stages in any other capacity this year. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges looked for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material that need not be original. This year’s judges were Bruce Swan and Louise Baker from Baker Booking and WPKN (Bridgeport, CT) working as a team, Bruce Martin from Blues Café in Southbury, CT, and Pam Robinson from The Folk Project and curator of he New Jersey Uke Fest.

Artists slated to perform during the festival – in addition to those in the Most Wanted Song Swap — include Michael Allman & the Mile High Band, Annie & the Hedonists, Bettman & Halpin, BoDeans, Buddy System, Jim & Madeline Christensen, Emma’s Revolution, The Gaslight Tinkers, The Ivy Vie Players, Martyn Joseph, Stephen Kellogg, Low Lily, G,eorge Marshall with Wild Asparagus, Crys Mathews, Pamela Means Band, Mid-City Acres, Beth Molaro, Mustard’s Retreat, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Patti O’Brien Melita, Pete’s Posse, Kerri Powers, Paul Rosenberg, Rowan Brothers, Ryanhood, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Storycrafters, Tame Rutabaga, Andrew VanNorstrand, Kathryn Wedderburn, and Annie Wenz. The Falcon Ridge House Band — featuring Rad Lorkovic, Mark Dann and Eric Lee –also will be on hand to accompany a number of other artists.

Those camping at Falcon Ridge and staying up through the early morning hours can enjoy an array of informal jams, mini-showcases and after-hours song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience at the Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, Pirate Camp and elsewhere. Singer-songwriters Terry Kitchen and Tony Kearney host the Nite Owl Swap and Nite Owl Hoot.

More information can be found and tickets for the festival may be ordered at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Editor’s Note: I have attended the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival each summer almost since its inception. It was an honor to serve as an Emerging Artist Showcase judge last year. For nearly a decade, I also arranged and hosted late-night song swaps at Falcon Ridge under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com in partnership with Tribes Hill and, later, Pirate Camp. While I continue to camp with friends at Pirate Camp, I have enjoyed visiting various campsites and checking out a number of artists who are new to me over the past several years.

Scheduled to perform (in order of performance) at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country on Saturday, May 25, from 1-4 p.m., are Scott Sean White (Terrell, TX), Lynne Hanson (Ottawa, Ont, Canada), Lisa Bastoni (Northampton, MA), John Louis (Minneapolis, MN), Cari Ray (Nashville, TN), Angela Parish (Los Angeles, CA), Jordi Baizan (Houston, TX), Lyndy Butler (Hurricane, UT), Nancy Beaudette (Shirley, MA), Aaron Smith (Harrison, AR), Tia McGraff (Port Rowan, Ont, Canada), Scott Mulvahill (Nashville, TN), Liv Greene (Washington, DC), D.B. Rielly (New York, NY), Katy Vanderwood (Minneapolis, MN), and Eric Kilburn (Acton, MA).

New Folk Finalists slated to perform on Sunday afternoon, May 26, include Michael Braunfeld (Philadelphia, PA), Avery Hill (Portland, OR), Amanda Pascali (Houston, TX), Claudia Gibson (Wimberley, TX), Daniel Neihoff (Paducah, KY), Rick Frydman (Lawrence, KS), Hope Dunbar (Utica, NE), Karen Dahlstrom (Brooklyn, NY), Beth Snapp (Kingsport, TN), Sophie Buskin (Brooklyn, NY), James Wyatt Martin (Austin, TX), Clementine Volker (Holland), Gordon & Christy McLeod (Garland, TX), Alice Howe (Newton, MA), Kyle Donovan (Boulder, CO), and Sarah Jane Nelson (Star City, AR).

Named as alternates were Joanna Howeron & Mike Cross (Austin, TX), Leah Gams Johnson (Nashville, TN), Arlon Bennett (Tappan, NY), and Lisa Nicole Grace (Edmonton, Alb, Canada).

After performing, six songwriters will be selected as 2019 New Folk Winners by songwriters Joe Crookston, Ellis Delaney and Rebecca Loebe who are serving as judges. The six, to be announced during the evening concert on May 26, will receive cash honorariums and other prizes, as well as the opportunity to return the following weekend to each perform 20-minute sets during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Award Winners concert at the festival on Sunday, June 2.

Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk Concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles and is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to receiving cash awards and additional performance opportunities, being named as a New Folk Award Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

‘New Folk is our way of finding new, exciting, excellent songwriters from around the world,” said Dalis Allen, producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival. “Our line-up every year is full of artists who have remained a part of the festival long after their first introduction in the competition.”

Besides concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe and kayak trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, yoga, beer and wine seminars, a Young Artists Performance Incubator, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a three-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops. The festival runs for 18 straight days – Thursday, May 23– Sunday, June 9.

The theme for the evening concert is Generations. Performing on the park’s Chapin Rainbow Stage at 8:30 p.m. will be Sarah Lee Guthrie and The Mammals (featuring Mike & Ruthy). Talented artists in their own right, Sarah Lee is the daughter of Arlo Guthrie and granddaughter of Woody Guthrie, while Ruth Ungar is the daughter of Jay Ungar (a noted fiddler and composer of the folk classic “Ashokan Farewell’). A special on-stage song swap — NERFA Presents Young Folk: Alice Howe and Mike Tedesco – is set for 8 p.m. [NERFA is an acronym for Northeast Regional Folk Alliance, a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International.]

Prior to the evening concert, Michael Kornfeld, who is president of both FMSH and NERFA and editor & publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com, and Joe Pszonek of Joltin Joe’s Radio Nowhere Internet Radio (streaming @ radionowhere903.com), will host unplugged showcases and song swaps from 1-6 p.m. These will take place near canopy tents on the upper lawn area overlooking the stage and will feature more than three-dozen artists/acts from New York and several other states. The day’s musical festivities begin with an open mic at noon.

The afternoon lineup includes Jeremy Aaron, Clint Alphin, Alexis von Aulock, Emily Barnes, Tucker Bickell, Bill Buttner, Chris J. Connolly, Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers, Karen Dahlstrom, Folkapotamus, Marci Geller, Cosby Gibson & Tom Staudle, He-Bird, She-Bird, Gina Holsopple, Alice Howe, Josh Joffen, Susan Kane, Judy Kass, Colleen Kattau, Rorie Kelly, Ray Lambiase, Mara Levine, Lori Llyn, Annie Mark, Kirsten Maxwell, Stuart Markus, Catherine Miles and Jay Mafale (The YaYas), Lois Morton, Emily Mure, Nico Padden, Steven Pelland, Katherine Rondeau, John Sonntag, Hank Stone, Christine Sweeney, Sweet Little Bloodhound, Toby Tobias, and The Whispering Tree.

Festivalgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets and a picnic supper (or walk into Huntington Village and enjoy a meal at one of its many restaurants).

The Huntington Folk Festival highlights a folk and Americana weekend at Heckscher Park that also features concerts by Long Island-based indie folk-rock band Miles to Dayton (Friday July 28) and The Sweet Remains, a nationally touring act with harmonies reminiscent of CSN, The Eagles and Simon & Garfunkel (Sunday, July 30). The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington, presented by the Huntington Arts Council, and sponsored in part by the New York State Council for the Arts, the County of Suffolk and Canon U.S.A.

Having drawn more than 300 entries in the Folk/Acoustic category, contest organizers opted to split the category in half with different judges for each one. Karen Dahlstrom, a New York-based singer-songwriter who also is part of the group Bobtown, took Gold in one of them for her song “The Miner’s Bride,” while Shenandoah Valley-based Kipyn Martin captured the Gold in the other for “Dance Across The Sky.” Martyn’s song also was the Silver winner in the Open category, in which Anna Dagmar and Kevin Wansor took the Gold for “Cutest Nudist.”

Here’s a list of winners, finalists and those receiving honorable mention for songs entered in the contest’s folk/acoustic category:

Gold: Karen Dahlstrom – “The Miner’s Bride”
Silver: Rebecca Rego – “Bury My Body”
Finalists: Mary Gordon Hall – “Fine Start of the season,” Carolyn Fischer – “The Lucky Ones,” and Katie Larson (The Accidentals) – “The Silence”
Honorable Mention: Laura Baron and Paula Monks – “A Little Note,” Lynn Hollyfield – “Because of You” and “Winter’s Gift,” Madeline Clark – “Change My Mind,” David Glaser – “Concrete River,” Daniel Weber – “Goodbye To Day,” Laura Zucker – “Home,” Jamie Kallestad and Ben Cosgrove – “Many Rivers East,” and Mike P. Ryan – “Sidewalk Romance.”

Gold: Kipyn Martin – “Dance Across The Sky”
Silver: Tom Goss – “Illuminate The Dark”
Finalists: Eric Scott and Mike Stacey – “Break Me Open,” Tom Manche – “He Calls Me Man,” and Carolyn Fischer – “The Sextant”
Honorable Mention: Brittany Jean Valint – “Arms & Legs,” Andrew Hardin and Jeannie Burns – “Down The Deep Well” and “Gentle Rain,” Carolyn Fischer – “Fifteen Years Ago,” Brad Colerick – “Late Winter Snow,” Becky Warren – “Louie and Rosalee,” Karen Dahlstrom and Kenny Siegal – “One More Time,” Daniel Rauchwerk (The Lords of Liechtenstein) – “The Last To Die,” and Christopher Mark Jones – “The Trapper’s Wife

Winners also were named in eight other categories. Of particular note to readers of AcousticMusicScene.com, Cathy Fink captured the Gold in the Children’s category for “Twins,” while Frank Solivan, lead vocalist, mandolinist and fiddler for 2014 International Bluegrass Music Association Instrumental Group of the Year Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, won Gold awards in the Country/Bluegrass and Instrumental categories for “Cold Spell” and “Chief Taghtanic” respectively.

The first place (Gold) winners will receive cash awards. The top winners in each category also will be invited to perform during the awards gala and, along with the contest’s overall winners, will be included in a winners’ compilation CD sponsored by Oasis CD Manufacturing. A list of winners, finalists and honorable mention recipients in all categories may be found online at www.saw.org, along with information about the gala for which tickets are available.

Established in 1979, the Songwriters’ Association of Washington (SAW) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to further excellence in songwriting through hosting educational programs and providing networking and performance opportunities for its members. SAW hosts open mics and showcases, workshops on the art and business of songwriting, and monthly Songwriter Exchange peer critique sessions. It also publishes a monthly e-newsletter.

Headlining this year’s festival and performing on the [Harry] Chapin Rainbow Stage at 8:30 p.m. will be Bobtown. Drawing on field hollers, gospel music, folk songs, pop melodies and bluegrass harmonies, Bobtown reinvents American choral music for the 21st century to create a unique and compelling blend of voices and instruments that move gracefully between elegy and celebration.

A hootenanny-style musical tribute to Pete Seeger at 8 p.m. and an afternoon of unplugged showcases and song swaps, from 12 noon to 6 p.m., featuring artists from the New York metropolitan area and beyond, will precede the concert. Hosting the latter near canopy tents will be Acoustic Live! in New York City and Beyond and AcousticMusicScene.com. Artists slated to perform include Mark Allen Berube, Emma Brooke, Robert Bruey, Mya Byrne, Brad Cole, Julie Corbalis, Karen Dahlstrom, Christine DeLeon, Honor Finnegan, Marci Geller, Craig Greenberg, Loretta Hagen, Jenai Huff, Josh Joffen, Susan Kane, Judy Kass, Libby Koch, Lisa Jane Lipkin, Alex Mallett, Gerry McKeveny, My Dad’s Truck, Matt Nakoa, Kat Quinn, Eugene Ruffolo, Paul Sachs, Dylan Sneed, Toby Tobias, Robinson Treacher, Villa Palagonia, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes, Wool & Grant, and The YaYas.

Co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington (ww.fmsh.org) and the Huntington Arts Council (www.huntingtonarts.org), the Huntington Folk Festival is part of the 49th Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival presented by the Town of Huntington and produced by the Huntington Arts Council and sponsored in part by the New York State Council for the Arts, the County of Suffolk and Canon USA.

Attendees are advised to bring lawn chairs or blankets and to consider bringing a picnic supper or venturing into nearby Huntington Village for dinner

More information about the Huntington Folk Festival, including the complete schedule and directions to the park, appears online at www.fmsh.org. The afternoon showcase schedules also are posted below.

Afternoon Showcase Schedules

Acoustic Live!
Emcee: Richard Cuccaro

1:00 Lisa Jane Lipkin
1:15 Jenai Huff and Eugene Ruffolo
1:30 Karen Dahlstrom
1:45 Susan Kane
2:00 Chris Fuller
2:15 Mark Allen Berube
2:30 Judy Kass
2:45 Mya Byrne
3:00 The YaYas
3:15 Wool&Grant
3:30 Brad Cole
3:45 Marci Geller
4:00 Paul Sachs5
4:30 Libby Koch
4:15 David Goldman
4:45 Robinson Treacher
5:00 Honor Finnegan
5:15 My Dad’s Truck
5:30 Gerry McKeveny
5:45 Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes

AcousticMusicScene.com
Emcee: Michael Kornfeld:

12:00 My Dad’s Truck

12:15 Julie Corbalis, Toby Tobias, Dylan Sneed, Robinson Treacher

1:00 Mya Byrne, Brad Cole, Wool & Grant

1:30 Alex Mallett, Kat Quinn, Villa Palagonia

2:00 The YaYas

2:15 Kerrville New Folk Winners: Honor Finnegan, Josh Joffen, Matt Nakoa, Paul Sachs

3:00 The Wisch List: Robert Bruey, Jenai Huff and Eugene Ruffolo

3:45 Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes

4:00 Women’s Voices: Karen Dahlstron, Christine DeLeon, Judy Kass

4:30 All Keyed-Up: Marci Geller, Craig Greenberg , Lisa Jane Lipkin

5:00 Americana-Roots Country: Emma Brooke, Susan Kane, Libby Koch

Editor’s Note: I am president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington, an all-volunteer nonprofit presenting organization, and coordinate this annual festival in partnership with the Huntington Arts Council.

Alternates include Aengus Finnan, Libby Koch, Guillermo Serpas, Daniel Makins, Emily Herring and Ashlee Rose. These six artists will showcase their talents following a pool party on Thursday night. Charlie Stewart emcees.

In addition to the official showcases, various artists, presenters and others will host afternoon and late-night showcases in their hotel rooms; while singer-songwriter Butch Morgan will host open mics by the pool. A number of informative seminars and panel discussions are being planned for the daytime hours, while attendees also can visit the exhibit hall.

Although the conference begins Thursday evening with an open mic by the pool, a meet and greet and open mic for early arrivers will take place the previous night at Threadgill’s North. The conference concludes on Sunday with a brunch, followed by SWRFA’s popular song assignment performances. All artists who are registered for the conference are given a random song topic to write during the weekend and perform on Sunday afternoon.

Following the conference, from 4-10 p.m, a Be-Bob-Alooza supporting Austin singer-songwriters takes place at Nutty Brown Café & Amphitheater. Featured performing artists at the event, for which admission is $10, include Brian Batch of Alpha Rev, Will Taylor & Strings Attached, The Belle Sounds, Albert & Gage, Danny Britt & Marvin Kykhuis, and Austin singer-songwriters Charlie Faye, Michael Fracasso, David Halley, Tommy Elskes, and Doster & Cheevers.

Although focused on the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, the SWRFA Conference draws people from throughout the U.S. and Canada. SWRFA (www.swfolkalliance.org) is part of the larger Folk Alliance International, an association that seeks to foster and promote multicultural, traditional and contemporary folk music, while strengthening and advancing organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.

Scheduled to perform (in order of performance) at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country on May 25. are Ben Bochner (Eugene, OR), Daniel Makins (San Angelo, TX), Adrianne Lenker (Andover, MN), Marina (League City, TX), Mark Philpot (Fort Worth, TX), Allie Farris (Nashville, TN), Andrew Delaney (Dallas, TX), Anna & The Underbelly (Portland, OR), Arlon Bennett (Tappan, NY), B. Sterling (Austin, TX), Bethel Steele (Boston, MA), Tommy Byrd (Austin, TX), Davey O. (Buffalo, NY), Hope Schneir (Camarillo, CA), Doug Kent (Houston, TX) and Ed Romanoff (Brooklyn, NY).

New Folk Finalists slated to perform on May 26 include Ellis (Minneapolis, MN), Honor Finnegan (New York, NY), John Natiw (Canton, MI), Julie Jean White (Dallas, TX), Eric Bettencourt (Portland, ME), Karen Dahlstrom (Brooklyn, NY), Lizzy Ross (Chapel Hill, NC), Mary McAdams (Des Moines, IA), Paul Sachs (New York, NY), Terry Holder (Olympia, WA), Steve Chizmadia (Peekskill, NY), The Sparrowmakers (Austin, TX), Twangtown Paramours ( Nashville, TN), Wes Collins (Chapel Hill, NC), Zach Kibodeaux (Kyle, TX) and Bill Valenti (Bend, OR).

After performing, six songwriters will be selected as 2013 New Folk Winners by judges Nels Andrews, Aengus Finnan and BettySoo. The six will perform in the New Folk Award Winners Concert on Sunday, June 2, and will receive cash honorariums and other prizes, as well as the opportunity to participate in the New Folk Concerts Fall Tour culminating with the opening slot on the 2013 Rice Fest stage. Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles and their fans.

Now in its 42nd year, year, the Kerrville Folk Festival is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a three-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops.

The Kerrville Folk Festival runs for 18 straight days – Thursday, May 23– Sunday, June 9. For a complete festival schedule and additional information, visit www.kerrville-music.com.