The official showcases take place Thursday-Saturday evenings from 7- 10:15 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. In addition, the conference will include late-night guerilla showcases hosted by AcousticMusicScene.com and others from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Also on the agenda are daytime informational seminars and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, one-on-one and group mentoring sessions, the SERFA Awards, an exhibit hall, and plenty of opportunities to learn, share and network –- including during built-in afternoon breaks in the programming.

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

SERFA (https://www.serfa.org) exists to promote, develop and celebrate the diverse heritage of roots and indigenous music, dance, storytelling and related arts in the southeastern United States. Its annual conference is a primary means of doing that. Its move to Chattanooga this year, following consecutive years at the Montreat Conference Center, a beautiful and tranquil spot nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, was necessitated by a growing number of attendees.

“We will miss Montreat, but we outgrew the lovely setting,” noted Don Baker, president of SERFA’s board of directors. “We are very excited to be in the vibrant city of Chattanooga, where we have been welcomed with open arms.” Citing the board’s desire for SERFA to broaden its horizons and be more inclusive, Baker expressed pleasure with the cultural and racial diversity of its new conference home.

Apart from an opening reception at the Songbirds Guitar Museum on Wednesday evening, May 15, all of the conference activities will take place on one level of The Chattanoogan hotel.

Ellis Paul to Deliver Keynote Address

Ellis Paul has played more than 5,000 shows – gracing stages at the Newport Folk Festival, Carnegie Hall, and clubs and coffeehouses the world-over. A prolific songwriter, he’s penned more than 500 songs. “His songs are literate, provocative and urbanely romantic.” (Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe). He’s recorded and released 20 albums, while his music has also been featured in a number of Hollywood film soundtracks – including several by the Farrelly Brothers – as well as commercials, documentaries and TV shows.

“Despite his success and sense of history, Mr. Paul remains an artist with his eye on the future and an interest in discovering the transformative potential in his music.” – The New York Times

SERFA Awards to be Presented

Separately and together, Norman and Nancy Blake have created some 40 albums. They began recording together in 1974 – although Norman had already played on recordings by such notable artists as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and John Hartford by that time. The Blakes’ musical experiences together and separately have encompassed 1950s bluegrass, classical music, session work in Nashville, he Aeroplane Band, and very traditional southern music.

A co-founder of the Fiddle Puppets (1979 — which developed into/was transformed into Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble 15 years later – Eileen Carson has been a pioneer in bringing percussive dance to performing arts sages, folk festivals, and the general public. Mark Schatz has played bass with such notable artists as John Hartford, Claire Lynch, Tim O’Brien, and Tony Rice as well as he bands Nickel Creek and Spectrum.

Fletcher Bright, who died in 2017 at age 86, was part of the Dismembered Tennesseans band for 70 years and hosted legendary jam sessions. He also led the Three Sisters Festival.

J.T. Gray has owned the Station Inn, Nashville’s preeminent bluegrass club, since 1981. Besides being responsible for a 165-seat venue, he is a bassist and previously toured with Jimmy Martin.

Workshops and Panel Discussions Organized by Tracks

More than 40 workshops and special events during the conference will be organized by tracks: Activism, Business, Media, Performing and Recording, Presenting, Roots and Sources, Songwriting, and Special Events. Workshops and panel discussions will delve into such topics as Americana Blues and the Africa-American Folkloric Tradition, The Art of Co-Writing, Claw hammer Banjo, Elements of a Compelling Interview, Fair Trade Music, Folk Music and Social Responsibility, House Concert Roundtable, How to be a Storyteller in Song, How Not to Think Like a Guitarist and Still be One, How Presenters Choose Artists, Reinterpreting the Music of Charlie Poole, 300+ Years of Banjo, Vocal Technique for the Touring Musician, and Women’s Empowerment in the Folk Music World. Also slated are a Community Sing, peer group meetings, Yoga, and a Women’s Song Circle.

A Wisdom of the Elders session — to be moderated by Art Menius, SERFA’s executive director — will feature Norman and Nancy Blake (described above) and music industry veteran David Wilkes. Among other things, Wilkes was active in New York’s folk scene for six decades, managed the iconic The Bitter End in NYC’s Greenwich Village, was a music publisher, and served as vice president of A&R for the influential folk label Vanguard Records and as manager or co-manager for such artists as Emmylou Harris, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Josh White, Jr. He also owned the Coffee House Circuit — which booked Havens, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, and John Denver. Still active as a manager and agent, Wilkes also is the U.S. representative for the Canadian folk-world music group Sultans of String.

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be one-on-one mentoring sessions, yoga, an exhibit hall, communal meals, and, of course, a lot of music. Grady Ormsby of Down East Folk Arts will host several open mics.

Official and Guerilla Showcases Abound

Slated to present official showcases on Thursday, May 16, are (in order of appearance) Crossing the Caney, Andy Cohen, Rod Abernethy, Grace Morison, Wolf and Clover, Antonio Andrade, Boomtown Trio, Karyn Oliver, and Resonant Rogues. Friday’s official showcase lineup features David Davis and the Warrior River Boys, Carolann Solebello, Frank and Allie Lee, Belle Plaine, Grant Peeples, Amy Speace, Twin Kennedy, Wyatt Easterling, and Ben Van Winkle. Saturday’s showcase artists include After Jack, Nancy Beaudette, Nicholas Edward Williams, Deidra McCalla, The Currys, Cary Morin, Flint & Feather, Eric Brace Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz, and Ginger Cowgirl.

Here’s a link to listen to a sampler featuring 23 of the official showcase artists/acts: https://noisetrade.com/serfaartists/serfa-showcase-artists-2019

Following the official showcases (as well as on Wednesday overnight), late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various rooms for several hours. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at the SERFA Conference for the past eight years, will host late-night showcases on Thursday, May 16, overnight. These will primarily take the form of song swaps.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

11:00: Todd Hoke and Jeff Talmadge

11:30: O Canada: Nancy Beaudette, Flint & Feather and Twin Kennedy

12:00: Women of Note: Deidre McCalla, Kate Mills and Grace Morrison

12:30: Guys of Note: Wyatt Easterling, Brian Ashley Jones and Dennis Warner

1:00: Songswarm: Nancy Dillon, Ruby Lovett, Taylor Pie

1:30: Long Island Sounds: Joe Iadanza and Hank Stone

Here’s a link to view a couple of Ruby Lovett videos — including a recent one for her song, “A Father’s Love,” that appears on her new album entitled It’s A Hard Life. Taylor Pie accompanies her, while AcousticMusicScene.com‘s Michael Kornfeld and singer-songwriter Nancy Dillon also can be seen at the bonfire: https://www.rubylovett.com/videos.

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Editor’s Note: In addition to hosting AcousticMusicScene.com showcases, I will moderate and participate in a panel discussion entitled Recording Promotion Demystified. I will also again be a mentor offering advice and counsel on various aspects of public relations and strategic communications. An elected board member of Folk Alliance International, I also serve as board president for the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA). I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011.

A number of booking agencies whose rosters include folk and roots artists were among the more than 300 exhibitors in the large EXPO Hall. The conference also featured networking opportunities galore, daily plenary sessions and keynote speakers, an awards ceremony, a town hall on the artist as activist, and a wide array of professional development workshops and forums.

The theme for 2019 was The Power of WE and highlighted the collective strength and the influence of the performing arts in the world. As Mario Garcia Durham, APAP’s president and CEO, noted in welcoming conference attendees: “At APAP, we celebrate both the impact of our work and the opportunity for each one of us to draw energy, ideas and inspiration from it. Our strength as an industry comes from the everyday efforts of individuals in this field, and our collective power – The Power of WE – that fuels us as performing arts professionals.”

Showcases of Note Took Place at the Host Hotel and at Venues Around New York City

More than 1,000 showcases (music, dance, theater, comedy, and more) took place both at the New York Hilton Midtown, the conference hotel, and at venues throughout Manhattan. A few also were set in other New York City boroughs.

January 4: As he has for the last two years, composer, banjoist and producer Jayme Stone curated an eclectic roots music showcase at the host hotel that extended from the late afternoon into the evening. Called the Secret Agents APAP Showcase, it featured a number of notable, primarily self-managed touring artists. As Stone told AcousticMusicScene.com last January, he sought “to create a space for independent roots/world music artists to have their music heard by performing arts center directors and festival programmers. My goal was to make the cost slightly more affordable for artists and to create an opportunity for underrepresented artists to have a seat at the table. Most of the artists at our showcase do not have agents, which is rare at this conference.”

Kicking off the musical festivities was Eleanor Dubinsky, a soulful NYC-based singer songwriter, and her ensemble. Although I’d seen and previously been impressed by Dubinsky’s singing and song stylings in solo and duo performances, having an ensemble backing her added a whole new dimension to her performance. Next up, Stone debuted his New Art-Pop Project. Among the artists joining him on that was Moira Smiley, herself a gifted songwriter and vocalist, who, accompanied by her group, VOCO, had her own short showcase immediately afterwards entitled The Voice is a Traveler.

“2019 was my first time at Wavelengths, and that was a revelation to experience the small, fierce like-minded group of people interested in traditional arts,” she said, expressing appreciation to the pre-conference’s organizers for screening her promo video for her The Voice Is A Traveler show. In my view, it was the best of a number of short videos and video clips screened. As for the Secret Agents Showcase, Smiley said: “I love [them] for their absolute weirdness of variety. It reminds you how many worlds of entertainment here are – some intersecting not-one-bit with your own! Yet we’re all here making our dough with these sights and sounds.”

Also part of the Secret Agents Showcase were Taarka, a Colorado-based adventurous Americana trio whose sound is a blend of bluegrass, folk, gypsy jazz, and soul; American samba band Os Clavelitos; the energetic Northeastern Brazilian party music of accordionist Rob Curto’s Forro For All; and the joyous Brazilian bluegrass sounds of Matuto (fronted by Clay Ross), among others.

The evening’s musical gumbo also included the jazzy Brazilian Americana sounds of Max Hatt & Edda Glass; Hen’s Teeth, a cross-continental duo with Janie Rothfield (Staunton, VA) and Nathan Bontrager (Cologne, Germany); DuoDuo Quartet comprised of percussive dancer Nic Gareiss with harpist Maeve Glichrist, plus cellist Natalie Haas (who frequently performs with Alasdair Fraser) with her husband-guitarist Yann Falquet (from the Quebecois folk group Genticorum) – all of whom have toured internationally for years; Jenna Moynihan & Mairi Chaimbeaul, a fiddle and harp duo; and Mark Kilianski & Nate Sabat featuring a guitarist and songwriter from the duo Hoot & Holler and the bassist and songwriter from Mile Twelve, a Boston-based bluegrass band. Each of the preceding artists (with the exception of Simien) also joined Waldman in kicking-off the evening’s musical festivities with renditions of “Cluck Old Hen.” A welcome and unexpected highlight of the evening was Waldman’s pairing of harpists Gilchrist and Chaimbeaul for a tune as a twin-harp interlude between sets.

Although some parts of the roots music variety show’s format have remained the same, “it’s always evolving, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes a little more dramatically,” Waldman noted. “O stage, I’ll sometimes mention a quote I’ve learned as a writer: no surprise to writer, no surprise to reader, which means if a writer is surprised what he or she is writing, which happens, it’s almost guaranteed the reader will be surprised. I think that’s a good thing. It means extra energy. I try to bring that mindset to the show, and have actively encouraged collaborations, which brings an element of the unknown. If the musicians are not 100% sure what’s going to happen next, the audience won’t know either.”

The same lineup of artists who performed at Don’t Tell Mama also showcased their talents the previous night at Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theater. “One of the evolutions in the show was [that] we began booking Thursday night at the Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, which served not only as a public event (on Friday we only market to APAP attendees), but also as a run-through for Friday,” said Waldman.

While I was enjoying the music at Don’t Tell Mama, the Americana Music Association sponsored a showcase concert at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side featuring singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty with special guests Oshima Brothers, while Smithsonian Folkways recording artists Anna & Elizabeth (who have previously been part of Waldman’s roots music variety shows) shared their innovative, modern arrangements of old-time Appalachian music at Joe’s Pub; The Klezmatics played Irridium, a midtown jazz club; and the Seamus Egan Project (featuring one of the most influential artists in contemporary Irish music) showcased at the New York Hilton, as did Switchback, the Celtic and Americana duo of Brian Fitzgerald and Martin McCormick. A multimedia concert by Seamus Egan’s seminal band Solas was a highlight of a previous APAP Conference.

January 5: My Saturday afternoon is traditionally filled with Celtic showcases at the hotel, and it would have been this year had I not opted to remain on Long Island to emcee a concert that I’d helped to arrange. Among the artists who showcased their talents at the New York Hilton Midtown that day were ebullient New York-based jig-rockers The Prodigals and their alter egos Acoustic Micks; Cherish The Ladies, the all-female Irish band fronted by Joannie Madden; Philadelphia-based Celtic roots band RUNA; and the young Irish trad trio Socks in the Frying Pan (from County Clare), whom I saw the next day.

Also showcasing their talents at the hotel on Saturday afternoon were Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches and Sam Reider & Human Hands. Natalia Zukerman performed excerpts from The Women Who Rode Away, a multimedia show melding her talents as a songwriter, painter and storyteller. William Florian, formerly of The New Christy Minstrels, presented a taste of Those Were The Days: The Spirit and the Songs of the 1960s.

Tamara Kater of Toronto, Ontario- based Mavens Music Management reports that the showcase was well attended, with more than 100 people in the audience – about half of whom had APAP connections. “APAP is always rewarding, especially with the concurrent content of Wavelengths and GlobalFEST,” said Kater. “It’s inspiring and rewarding to meet such an array of presenters and artists all in one place, within a few days. Seeing the venues of New York and so many performances in such a compact amount of time is always a brilliant way to start off the new year.”

Also that evening, booking agency Madison House hosted a showcase at City Winery featuring Canadian singer-songwriter Rose Cousins, American singer-songwriter Willie Nile, and Madagascar-born singer-songwriter ad environmental activist Razia Said. Down at Rockwood Music Hall, The Blue Dahlia featuring Dahlia Dumont, a Brooklyn gal now living in Paris, who pens and sings songs in both English and French, appeared. Among the artists who showcased their talents at New York Hilton were Emmet Cahill (star of PBS’ Celtic Thunder) and the Jen Chapin Trio featuring the soulful urban folk singer-songwriter, her husband Stephan Crump on acoustic bass, and Jamie Fox on electric guitar.

January 6: Isle of Klezbos, a swinging all-female Klezmer sextet shared a bill and some members with the octet Metropolitan Klezmer (now celebrating its silver anniversary) as they performed some vintage instrumentals and Yiddish songs during Sunday brunch at City Winery. Although I enjoyed this last year, I skipped it this time. I also missed singer-songwriter Ellis Paul’s short early morning “Hero In You” showcase, during which he presented 15-minutes of excerpts from an award-winning educational program for children based on his CD and book of the same name that inspires youngsters to dream big.

I enjoyed several showcases that were part of Celebrate Our FOLK at Connolly’s Pub – Restaurant (Connolly’s Klub 45). The highlights were Kaia Kater and Kittel & Co.

Fronted by Jeremy Kittel — a virtuosic violinist, fiddler and composer — Kittel & Co. is an acoustic trio/string band with folk and jazz sensibilities whose sound also has Celtic, bluegrass and classical influences. Its recent release, Whorls, debuted at #1 on the Billboard bluegrass chart, while Kittel’s piece “Chrysalis” is among the nominees for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition.

Also on the bill were singer-songwriter Ashley Davis, Making Movies (a Kansas City, MO-based band whose music defies easy categorization and whose set I missed, although I’ve previously seen the band at a Folk Alliance International conference held in its hometown), and the previously mentioned Socks in the Frying Pan.

Later in the evening, Kater shared a bill at Rockwood Music Hall as part of Quicksilver Productions, Lost Buffalo Artists & Smithsonian Folkways Present: The Women of Folkways with label mates The Bright Siders (featuring singer-songwriter and percussive dancer Kristin Andreassen – formerly of Uncle Earl – and Brooklyn-based child psychiatrist Dr. Kari Groff who create music that helps children and families have meaningful conversations about emotions) and Lula Wiles (a Boston–based, harmonious trio made up of Isa Burke, Eleanor Buckland, and Mali Obamsawin, whose Smithsonian Folkways debut, What Will We Do, is released Jan. 25 and who I had the pleasure of introducing at a couple of festivals).

Among the artists showcasing their talents at the New York Hilton in the evening were The Everly Set: Sean Altman and Jack Skuller Celebrate The Everly Brothers and Sultans of String, award-winning genre-bending world music instrumentalists from Toronto. Vanaver Caravan, a troupe of dancers and musicians, presented nearly half an hour of excerpts from Turn Turn Turn Turn, a show featuring more than 20 of Pete Seeger’s most celebrated songs and timed to coincide with the centenary of the late folk icon’s birth. Li, who describes his music as urban folk, did not impress this writer, while a Folk Legends showcase featuring two former members of The Kingston Trio was cancelled due to illness.

Also during the conference, Sage Artists shared excerpts of Call Mr. Robeson: A Life, With Songs, while cast members from Lonesome Traveler: The Concert performed short musical excerpts from the show, along with narration that helps tell the story of American folk and folk-rock music from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan and beyond. Artists in various other musical genres also showcased their talents, while comedy, dance and theatrical showcases also were part of the mix.

Since there were no folk or roots music showcases of note on January 7, and the conference closed with a plenary session on the morning of January 8, I did not venture into NYC those days.

About the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)

Based in Washington, DC, APAP is a nonprofit national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it. The next APAP Conference is set for Jan. 10-14, 2020 in New York City. More information on the organization may be found on its website: www.apap365.org.

Some 800 performing artists, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk DJs and others actively engaged in contemporary and traditional folk music will converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 12-15, 2015, for the 21st Annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. AcousticMusicScene.com will again have a major presence as it hosts afternoon and late-night song swaps, in addition to its popular Midnight Hoot at the close of the conference’s first day.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the NERFA Conference, and many presenters and folk DJs do scout out new artists and those whom they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections, building community, and attending workshops and seminars to learn about options to further careers, promote the music, and attract audiences and listeners.

Taking center stage during this year’s conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges, each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set in the resort’s theater on Friday and Saturday nights. Slated to perform on Friday are Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys, Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore, The Young Novelists, Robert Jones & Matt Watroba, Les Poules a Colin, Shun Ng and John Flynn. Saturday’s Formal Showcase lineup features Mile Twelve, Pat Donohue, Sultans of String with Anwhar Kurshid, Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme, Ken Whiteley & The Beulah Band, Cosy Sheridan, and Don White & Christine Lavin.

After the formal showcases, attendees will shuffle between four conference rooms to catch short sets by 40 additional artists who were selected by a different set of judges. Performing in quad showcases on Friday night are Scott Ainslie, Mari Black, Susan Cattaneo, Cricket Tell the Weather, The Early Mays, Efrat, Friction Farm, Jan Krist and Jim Bizer, David Massengill, Kate McDonnell, Mist Covered Mountains, David Myles, The Nields, Rant Maggie Rant, Dave Rowe, Amy Soucy, Spuyten Duyvil, Jim Trick, Letitia Vansant & the Bonafides, and Dan Weber. Saturday’s Quad Showcase artists include Eric Andersen, Marc Allen Berube, Michael Braunfeld, Meghan Cary, Shawna Caspi, Joe Crookston, Durham County Poets, Angela Easterling, Jane Fallon, Gathering Time, Lynne Hanson, Jacob Johnson, Sharon Katz & the Peace Train, Evie Ladin Band, Mamalama, Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt, Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio, Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers & Wendy Ramsay, Lindsay Straw and Carla Ulbrich.

Following the juried showcases each evening (as well as on Friday afternoon), AcousticMusicScene.com will join dozens of presenters, performers and others in hosting guerilla showcases in their hotel rooms that extend through the early morning hours. Open mics, informal jam sessions, private showcases, thematic song circles and round-robin song swaps round out the musical mix. It’s not unusual to see musicians staking out other areas of the hotel and jamming until 5 a.m.


AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot Features Artists and Singing Folk DJs


An overflow crowd will likely again descend on the AcousticMusicScene.com room (1506) on Thursday overnight for its popular Midnight Hoot. Following the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase and extending from 11:45 p.m. to 3 a.m., the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged, round robin song swap featuring several singing folk DJs (Barbara and Graham Dean, Wanda Fischer and Jon Stein) and some three-dozen artists/acts – each of whom will perform one song.

Now in its ninth year, the Midnight Hoot is intended to shine a spotlight on several folk DJs who also enjoy singing, while providing them, presenters and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time.

A house band comprised of Mark Dann (bass), Efrat (violin), Marshal Rosenberg (percussion), Brad Yoder (various instruments) and Jason Rafalak (mandolin) also will be there for anyone who desires accompaniment.

The musical festivities in the AcousticMusicScene.com room will wrap up on Saturday overnight with an extended “O Canada” song swap. Carrying their instruments and the maple leaf, a number of talented Canadian artists will march into the room shortly before 2 a.m. singing their national anthem.

Schedules for the AcousticMusicScene.com showcases appear below. There will be a carpeted wooden platform stage and stage lights courtesy of Stuart Kabak. Blue Point Brewing Company (Patchogue, NY) is providing craft beers.

Thursday Night
11:45 p.m. – 3 a.m. – AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot

Featuring one song by each of the following (not listed in order of appearance)

Folk DJs: Graham & Barbara Dean, Wanda Fischer and Jon Stein

Artists: Annika Bennett, Marc Douglas Berardo, Chelsea Berry, Mark Allen Berube, Robert Bobby Duo, Meg Braun, Kate Callahan, Greg Cornell and the Cornell Brothers, Pat Donohue, Efrat, Gathering Time, Generations: Mike & Aleksi Glick, Sam Gleaves, Sonya Heller, Jacob Johnson, Stuart Kabak, Rachael Kilgour, Erika Kulnys, Mara Levine, Lowell Levinger (Banana from The Youngbloods), Rob Lytle, Kirsten Maxwell, Dennis McDonough, Emily Mure, Dan Navarro, Hugh O’ Doherty, Jim Photoglo, KJ Reimensnyder-Wagner, The Royal Yard, Ben Shannon, Carolann Solebello, Amy Soucy, Hank Stone, Jim Trick, Mark Wahl, Dan Weber, Emily White, Brad Yoder and Jason Rafalak

House Band: Mark Dann (bass), Efrat (violin), Marshal Rosenberg (percussion), Brad Yoder (various instruments) and Jason Rafalak (mandolin)

Friday Afternoon

12:00 Pirate Camp: The Royal Yard (sea chanteys)

12:15 Pirate Camp: Mya Byrne, Robinlee Garber, Gathering Time, Susan Kane

1:00 Pirate Camp: Stuart Kabak, Keith Kelly, Rachael Kilgour, David Massengill

2:00 Long Island Sounds: He-Bird, She-Bird, Rorie Kelly, Scott Krokoff, Hank Stone, Christine Sweeney, Robinson Treacher

3:00 The Maine Event: Caroline Cotter, Paddy Mills, Dave Rowe, Putnam Smith, Sorcha, Ashley Storrow

4:00 Keystone Staters: Michael Braunfeld, Meghan Cary: Sing Louder, The Early Mays, Mist Covered Mountains, No Good Sister, Brad Yoder & Jason Rafalak

Friday Night

11:45 Blues All Around: Scott Ainslie, Pat Donohue, Generations: Mike & Aleksi Glick, Jon Shain

12:30 A Pair of Duos: The Levins, The YaYas

1:00 Guys of Note: Marc Douglas Berardo, Rob Lytle

1:30 NYC Roots-Americana: Greg Cornell & the Cornell Brothers, Vincent Cross

2:00 Mass. Appeal: Mile Twelve, Matt Nakoa, Pesky J. Nixon, Jim Trick

Saturday Night

11:45 California-centric: Freebo, Dan Navarro, Eric Schwartz

12:30 Powerful Voices: John Flynn and Rachael Kilgour

1:00 Strings & Songs: Efrat, Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt

1:30 Harmonic Convergence: Gathering Time, Mara Levine, Kirsten Maxwell

2:00 O Canada: Bob Ardern, Amy & Rachel Beck, Shawna Caspi, Ian Foster, Fraser & Girard, Manitoba Hal, Jory Nash, Rant Maggie Rant, Suzie Vinnick, Ken Whiteley & The Beulah Band, The Young Novelists (Percussion: Cheryl Prashker)

NERFA (www.nerfa.org) is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International, a nonprofit organization that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance.

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Editor’s Note: My thanks to Stuart Kabak, with whom I partner in hosting pre-arranged late-night song swaps and open song circles under the AcousticMusicScene.com Tent @ Pirate Camp during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, for providing a carpeted wooden platform stage and stage lights for this year’s AcousticMusicScene.com showcases. Thanks also are due to him, Mira Shapiro and Hank Stone for graciously offering to host afternoon showcases, and to Amy Blake, Sybil Moser and Gary Schoenberger for the loan of folding chairs.

In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases during the NERFA
Conference, I will be assisting a few artists and offering a series of 15-minute mentoring sessions focused on artist bios and one-sheets, electronic press kits (EPKs), media relations, social media, website content, and what presenters look for when considering artists for their concert series and festivals. I also serve on the board of directors for both Folk Alliance International and NERFA.

Scheduled to perform (in order of performance) at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds in the Texas Hill Country on May 28, from 1-4 p.m., are Clint Alphin (Nashville, TN), John Brown (Winter Gardens, FL), Mary Bragg (Nashville, TN), Tom Meny (Buda, TX), Susan Cattaneo (Medford, MA), Teresa Storch (Longmont, CO), Dan Weber (Vancouver, WA), Cherie Call (Spanish Fork, UT), Becky Warren (Nashville, TN), Amy McCarley (Huntsville, AL), Chase Gassaway (Austin, TX), Aubryn (Nashville, TN), Andrew Delaney (Plano, TX), Abby Lappen (Claverack-Red Mills, NY), David Berkeley (Santa Fe, NM), and Heather Styka (Portland, ME).

New Folk Finalists slated to perform on May 29 include Hope Dunbar (Utica, NE), Drew Kennedy (New Braunfels, TX), Kerry Patrick Clark (Whitehouse, OH), Mare Wakefield (Nashville, TN), Anna Tivel (Portland, OR), Lisa Nicole Grace (Alberta, Canada), Eliot Bronson (Atlanta, GA), Amy Kucharik (Somerville, MA), Wes Collins (Chapel Hill, NC), Andy Roo Forrest (Seattle, WA), Emily Clepper (Austin, TX), Robert Smith (Roanoke, VA), Man in the Ring (Kansas City, MO), Angela Easterling (Green, SC), Candy Lee (Fayetteville, AR), and Jess Klein (Austin, TX).

Mike P. Ryan (Clifton, VA), Emily White (Chicago, IL) and Meg Braun (New York, NY) were named as alternates.

After performing, six songwriters will be selected as 2015 New Folk Winners by noted songwriters David Wilcox and Ellis Paul, who are serving as judges. The six 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 Winners concert at the festival on Sunday afternoon, May 31.

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. Being named as a New Folk Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

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, early morning yoga sessions, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a four-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops. The festival runs for 18 straight days – Thursday, May 21– Sunday, June 7. For a complete schedule and additional information, visit www.kerrville-music.com.