“I’ve long thought it would be wonderful and extremely appropriate to do the show in Huntington, where Harry and Sandy lived and raised their family,” said Stuart Markus, the concert’s organizer and emcee. “Harry is still held in such beloved regard by residents of the town and public officials at all levels.”

Eighteen acts — comprised of nearly three dozen of Long Island’s top musicians and songwriters — will take to the stage that bears his name to honor the late Grammy Award-winning songwriter, humanitarian and anti-hunger activist. They’ll perform his breakthrough hit, “Taxi,” his best-known song “Cat’s in the Cradle” (which topped the charts in December 1974), fan favorites like “Flowers Are Red” and “Mr. Tanner,” and some of Chapin’s more obscure songs as well. Concertgoers are asked to bring donations of nonperishable food to support Long Island Cares, Inc., the regional food bank founded by Chapin in 1980.

“All the performers are pro-caliber full-time and part-time musicians who perform regularly at local venues and/or tour on the folk circuit,” Markus said. “Throughout the two decades that we’ve been presenting the show, I’ve always encouraged them to treat the songs as their own — however they imagine them. The results have been some very creative interpretations,” he added.

Besides Markus and his folk-rock harmony trio Gathering Time, this year’s roster of performers includes Akiva the Believer, Karen Bella, John Cardone, Roger Street Friedman, Grand Folk Railroad, Robin Greenstein, Lora Kendall, Mara Levine, Vicky Liotta, Debra Lynne & Lora Kendall, Media Crime, Judy Merrick, Miles & Mafale, Matthew Ponsot, Patricia Shih & Stephen Fricker, Robin Eve, Roger Silverberg, Talya Smilowitz, Christine Solimeno, Hank Stone, Martha Trachtenberg, Frank Walker, Lisa Ann Wharton, and Judith Zweiman & Duane Michael Tucker. Jen Chapin, Harry’s daughter and a touring artist in her own right, also will perform.

Long Island Cares’ staff and volunteers will be collecting donations of non-perishable food at a tent at the entrance to the Chapin Rainbow Stage and also selling t-shirts and Harry Chapin CDs, as well as distributing literature about the nonprofit organization’s programs and services. Concertgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

Where to View the ‘Just Wild About Harry’ Concert Online

For those are unable to attend the concert in-person, it will also be livestreamed via a number of social media channels that follow. Although the concert is set for 7 p.m. ET, viewers are advised to log on earlier since there may be a few pre-show interviews with performing artists and members of the Chapin family.

Harry Chapin Fans Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/954037953400184/

Harry Chapin Foundation YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/dFZjPTrpqLo

Harry Chapin Foundation Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/488328867019092/

Harry Chapin Memories Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/835691325191299/

Harry Chapin Music Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/812448574320945/

Hey Long Island, Do You Remember…? Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/889951243173302/

I Grew Up in Huntington Township NY USA 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/1731745810691338/

Just Wild About Harry (The Harry Chapin Tribute Show) Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/1495851031039195/

L.I. Fans & Friends of Folk Music Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/1029824552128240/

Long Island Cares Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1604518290389306/

Long Live Harry Chapin Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/849747593717608/

Editor’s Note: A public relations and strategic communications professional, as well as the longtime president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington, I have been helping to promote the annual “Just Wild About Harry” tribute concerts pro bono for many years.

I still have fond memories of Harry’s concerts. Yet as much as I appreciated him as a singer-songwriter who helped to forge my love of folk and folk-rock music, I so respected him for his activism, his community involvement, and his commitment to making this “A Better Place to Be.”

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 22-24, in Hillsdale, NY

Now in its 23rd year, Falcon Ridge 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. Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, it features dozens of artists performing on several stages, a dance tent, children’s music and activities, and a wide array of crafts, food and other vendors. Artists performing this year include Brother Sun (the new trio featuring Greg Greenway, Joe Jencks and Pat Wictor), Greg Brown, Buskin & Batteau, Mary Chapin Carpenter, CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, Mary Gauthier, Tracy Grammer, Jay Mankita, Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus, Dan Navarro, Professor Louie & The Crowmatix, Red Horse (featuring Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky – each of whom also will perform solo), Red Molly, Solas, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Annie Wenz and Susan Werner.

Appearing in this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase are: Brooke Annibale, Blair Bodine, Brittany Ann, Ellen Bukstel, Lori Diamond and Fred Abatelli, Friction Farm, Bulat Gafarov, Sharon Goldman, Jason Myles Goss, ilyAIMY, Layah Jane, Devlin Miles, Louise Mosrie, My Brothers Banned, Occidental Gypsy, Karyn Oliver, Pesky J. Nixon, Grace Pettis, Paul Sachs, Putnam Smith, Split Tongue Crew, Suzie Vinnick, Gail Wade and The Whispering Tree.

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 ones 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 Barnaby Bright, The Folkadelics, Chris O’Brien and Spuyten Duyvil.

However, the fun doesn’t end there. One of the true highlights of Falcon Ridge — for those who opt to camp on-site and stay up through early morning hours –are the impromptu jams, after-hours song circles and mini- showcases. These late-night sessions — including the Nite Owl Song Swap hosted by singer-songwriter Terry Kitchen, those put on by the folks associated with Budgiedome, and the AcousticMusicScene.com – Tribes Hill Song Swaps — help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience.

As in past years, the AcousticMusicScene.com-Tribes Hill late-night song swaps will take place under a big white canopy tent. It will be situated in the lower left/northeast section of the 10-acre field (lower meadow), rather than on the hill. Pre-arranged invitational song swaps each evening (or early a.m., depending on your vantage point) will be followed by open song circles to which folks are invited to bring their instruments, voices and ears. Some of the artists who will perform at the AcousticMusicScene.com – Tribes Hill tent also will be performing on the Main Stage and other stages during the festival. These include Brother Sun, Spuyten Duyvil (an eight-member Americana group that performs a lively and eclectic mix of roots music) and The Folkadelics (who, along with Spuyten Duyvil, performed in last year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase and were chosen by festivalgoers to perform in this year’s Most Wanted Song Swap).” Several of the artists slated to perform in this year’s Emerging Artists Showcase also will be featured in the AcousticMusicScene.com-Tribes Hill song swaps, while others are expected to take part in the open song circles.

The late-night music at the AcousticMusicScene.com-Tribes Hill tent kicks off on Friday overnight, beginning about 15 minutes after the music concludes for the evening on the Main Stage (just after midnight). An hour-long song swap will feature Pesky J. Nixon (who also hosts music on the “Lounge Stage” on Thursday, prior to the official start of the festival), Putnam Smith, Tribes Hill’s own Spuyten Duyvil and The Folkadelics. Swapping songs for 45 minutes on Saturday overnight will be Brother Sun, Friction Farm (the husband & wife duo of Christine Stay and Aidan Quinn), and Tribes Hill’s own The YaYas (Jay Mafale and Catherine Miles). This will be followed by a 15-minute musical tribute to Jack Hardy. A consummate singer-songwriter, co-founder of the Musicians’ Cooperative and Fast Folk Musical Magazine, and host of weekly gatherings for songwriters in his Greenwich Village apartment, Hardy played a pivotal role in the New York folk/songwriting scene for several decades and influenced and inspired many other songwriters. His passing in March at age 63 sent shock waves through the folk community,

Open song circles will follow each night, while informal, spontaneous jams and song circles may also take place under the tent throughout the weekend.

For more information on the festival, visit www.falconridgefolk.com.

Huntington Folk Festival, Aug. 6, at Heckscher Park in Huntington, NY

AcousticMusicScene.com also will have a major presence at the Sixth Annual Huntington Folk Festival that takes place on Saturday, August 6, in-Huntington, New York. Aztec Two-Step headlines the free event that extends from 11 a.m. into the late evening at Heckscher Park, Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue.

Co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council, the Huntington Folk Festival is part of the 46th Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival presented by the Town of Huntington, produced by the Huntington Arts Council, and sponsored in part by the New York State Council for the Arts and the Suffolk County Executive’s Office.

Now marking their 40th anniversary as a folk-rock duo, Aztec Two-Step (Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman) will perform two sets on the Chapin Rainbow Stage beginning at 8:30 p.m. An afternoon of unplugged showcases and song swaps featuring artists from the New York metropolitan area and New England will precede the evening concert. Hosting them near canopy tents, between 12 and 6:30 p.m., will be AcousticMusicScene.com and Richard Cuccaro’s monthly listings guide, Acoustic Live! in New York City and Beyond.

In keeping with the tradition of Folk Music Society of Huntington concerts, the festival will open with an hour-long open mic at 11 a.m. Attendees are advised to bring lawn chairs or blankets and to consider bringing a picnic supper or venturing into nearby Huntington Village for dinner.

The AcousticMusicScene.com and Acoustic Live! showcase schedules appear below. More information on the festival, including directions to Heckscher Park, can be found by visiting www.fmshny.org and clicking on the Huntington Folk Festival link.

AcousticMusicScene.com

11:00 Open Mic

12:00 Island Songwriters Showcase: Dave Anthony, Vin Crici, Tim Dillon, Suzanne Ernst,
Cathy Kreger and Denise Romas

1:00 Josh Joffen, Carolann Solebello

1:30 Arlon Bennett, Roger Silverberg, Wool & Grant

2:00 All Keyed-Up: Jeffrey Paul Bobrick, Anna Dagmar and Marci Geller

2:45 Kath Buckell

3:00 Mark Allen Berube, Honor Finnegan

3:30 Jerry DeMeo, Patti DeRosa

4:00 Meg Braun, Jason Myles Goss

4:30 Strike the Bell (Stuart Markus and Judith Zweiman)

4:45 The Whispering Tree

5:00 Mara Levine, Elaine Romanelli, The Folk Goddesses (Hillary Foxsong, Martha
Trachtenberg and Judith Zweiman)

5:45 Old-Time Jam with The Solid Citizens
(featuring members of Spuyten Duyvil and special guests)

6:25: Closing Song: Harry Chapin’s “Circle”

Acoustic Live!