Nurture the Future is this year’s conference theme. “It was something we felt needed to be communicated as our world is changing every second of the day,” says Jill Kettles, SERFA’s board president. “We aim to uphold the past, mold the present, and project it for future generations; this is not just important but vital.”

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. SERFA (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. It has produced an annual conference since 2008. This is SERFA’s third consecutive year at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.

The official showcases take place Friday and Saturday evenings, with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. Unplugged private showcases follow from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m. Also on the agenda are daytime panel discussions and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, a few thematic song circles, open mics, mentoring sessions, an awards presentation, an exhibit hall, communal meals, and plenty of other opportunities to learn, share and network –- including during built-in afternoon breaks in the programming. Informal jams and song circles also are apt to break out in the lobby and outside (weather permitting).

Rachael Sage, Award-Winning, Prolific Singer-Songwriter and Boutique Label Owner to Deliver Keynote Address

Daytime Programming Includes Workshops, Song Circles, Think Tanks, and Mentoring Sessions

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be moderated, interactive “think tanks” on House Concerts and Small Venues and Hey, What’s Your Problem, one-on-one mentoring sessions, several thematic song circles, several thematic song circles, and a Wisdom of the Elders session during the daytime hours.

Wisdom of the Elders and SERFA Awards are Among Conference Highlights

The Wisdom of the Elders conversational panel session provides a structured opportunity for conference attendees to learn from and about veteran leaders in the folk community and for the elders to talk among themselves as well. Participants this year are Scott Berwick, Wayne Erbsen and Taylor Pie.

Berwick has long been active in American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 1000 (the traveling musicians union), has been attending SERFA conferences for the past decade, and has also been involved with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the Hudson Valley Folk Guild, and the Ashokan Center, as well as an informal, weekly song circle near his home in upstate New York.

Erbsen has been engaged in traditional American music for more than 50 years as a musician, recording artist (with nearly 20 albums to his credit), professor at Warren Wilson College and the University of North Carolina at Asheville, author and publisher (who has written and published 40 books), and a public radio DJ.

A Tennessee-based traveling folk minstrel and Americana artist, Taylor Pie (Susan Taylor) helped form the Pozo Seco Singers with Don Williams in the early 1960s and has been a solo singer-songwriter and musician since the folk group disbanded. Many notable artists have covered her songs, while Pie was inducted into the Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015. Along with her friend Kathryn Harrison, she launched PuffBunny Records in 2007 to share her music and that of other artists she admires. Taylor Pie, who now handles A &R for the label, also stars in Nobody Famous, an award-winning music documentary that was screened during the 2022 SERFA conference.

Menius, who currently hosts “The Revolution Starts Now” on Hillsborough, NC-based WHUP, has hosted radio shows on four stations since 2007. The first executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), from 1985-1990, Menius also served as Folk Alliance International’s initial board president in 1990 and manager from 1991-1996, prior to serving as associate director of MerleFest for a decade and then as executive director of Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky and The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC. He’s also produced concerts, festivals and conferences and worked as a fundraiser, marketing director, emcee, stage manager, and writer.

Dom Flemons, an Arizona native and Chicago area-based musician who has earned the moniker “The American Songster” since his repertoire covers more than 100 years of American roots music, records for Smithsonian Folkways. He is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife, and rhythm bones), music scholar, actor, slam poet, record collector, and the creator, host and producer of American Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville, Tennessee. Earlier this year, he was named the grand-prize winner as well as first place honors for Best Folk/Americana Roots Album (for American Wildfire) in the International Acoustic Music Awards. In 2020, he received the prestigious United States Artists Fellowship Award in the Traditional Arts category. Two years later, he received a degree as Doctor of Humane Letters from his alma mater Northern Arizona University and was the commencement speaker at the graduation ceremony or the Class of 2022. Flemons was a founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops, a Grammy Award-winning African-American old-time string band.

Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. (jamkids.org) is the nonprofit parent organization for more than 50 afterschool programs for children ages six and up. JAM provides communities with the requisite tools and support to teach children to play and dance to traditional old time and bluegrass music. Its program model introduces music through small group instruction on instruments common to the Appalachian region and provides youth with opportunities to learn traditional music with their peers from local teaching artists and to perform in their communities and regionally.

Taylor Caffery, the longtime host of “Hootenanny Power” on WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the recipient of this year’s Kari Estrin Founding President’s Award. His weekly radio show incorporates musical styles and cultural influences from Caffery’s five decades on radio that began when he hosted his first show while in the U.S. Navy and continued with his college radio station KCSL. To that musical gumbo, he mixes in new discoveries from Folk Alliance International and SERFA conferences.

Dozens of Artists to be Featured in Official and Guerilla Showcases

Slated to present official showcases on Friday evening, May 10 are (in order of appearance) Sue Horowitz, Chris Haddox, Ron Fetner, A Tale of Two, Dustin Gaspard, Nicholas Edward Williams, Helene Cronin, and Admiral Radio. Saturday’s official showcase lineup features Jess Klein, Wes Collins, Bett Padgett, Cast Iron Bluegrass, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, Stone & Snow, Couldn’t Be Happiers, and Ordinary Elephant.

Here’s a link to a Spotify playlist that features one song from each of the official showcase artists.

Following the official showcases on Friday and Saturday, as well as an open mic on Thursday, late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various meeting rooms for several hours. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at SERFA conferences since 2011, will host a couple of late-night song swaps and a midnight hoot (featuring more than two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song) on Thursday, May 9, overnight. The AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged round-robin song swap that is intended to provide concert and festival presenters, folk DJs and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time on the conference’s opening night. It also enables artists to enjoy and each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com Showcase schedule:

10:40 Brooklyn in the House: Carolann Solebello and Pat Wictor

11:00 Long Island Sound: Hank Stone and Jim Whiteman

11:30 Midnight Hoot, Part 1 (one song each):

Antonio Andrade, Max & Ruth Bloomquist, Dan & Faith, Katie Dahl, Annie Stokes

12:00 Midnight Hoot, Part 2 (one song each, not necessarily in this order)

Taylor Pie, The Farmer & The Crow, Amy Speace, Annie & Rod Capps, Marc Douglas Berardo, Karyn Oliver, Lindsay Whiteman, Miles & Mafale, Rachael Sage, Emma Frances, Nicholas Edward Williams, Noah Zacharin

1:00 Midnight Hoot, Part 3 (one song each, not necessarily in this order)

Jon Shain & FJ Ventre, Erin Ash Sullivan, Robert Bidney, Rob Lytle, Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus, Meg Braun, Alice Hasen, Brian Ashley Jones & Melanie Jean, Couldn’t Be Happiers, Reckless Saints, Siena Christie

Streaming online from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET at Clearwaterfestival.org, as well as on the nonprofit environmental organization’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, the virtual festival will feature a wide array of musical performers, storytellers and activists. Participating artists include Scott Ainslie, David Amram, David & Jacob Bernz, Blind Boys of Alabama, Marla and David Celia, The Chapin Sisters, Tom Chapin, Guy Davis, Emma’s Revolution, Dom Flemons, Fred Gillen, Jr., Lyn Hardy & Ruth Ungar, Reggie Harris, Jaeger & Reid, Hubby Jenkins, The Johnson Girls, Diana Jones, Lucy Kaplansky, Geoff Kaufman, Larry Long, Magpie, Mike & Ruthy of The Mammals, John McEuen, John McCutcheon, Alastair Moock, Mustard’s Retreat, Holly Near, Rik Palieri, Tom Paxton, Sparky & Rhonda Rucker, Tom Rush, Joanne Shenandoah, Chris Smither, Noel Paul Stookey, The Storycrafters, Livingston Taylor, Happy Traum, Matt Turk, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Sloan Wainwright, Don White, Josh White Jr., and Paul Winter, among others.

A number of folk radio DJs will serve as emcees. These include Jimmy Buff (Host of Jimmy Buff Loves You on WKNY Radio Kingston in upstate New York), Wanda Fischer (host of the long-running Hudson River Sampler on WAMC in New York’s Capitol Region), Sonny Ochs (host of Folk Music & Other Stuff on WIOX in New York’s Catskills Region and on Folk Music Notebook), Ron Olesko (creator of Folk Music Notebook, a 24-7 online music channel and longtime host of Traditions on WFDU in Teaneck, NJ), Rik Palieri (host of Folk Talk with Rik Palieri on WBTV in Burlington, VT and also on Folk Music Notebook), John Platt (host of Sunday Supper on WFUV in New York City and creator of the New Folk Initiative online portal) and Bob Sherman (longtime host of Woody’s Children that now precedes Platt’s Sunday Supper on WFUV).

Although the virtual festival is free, donations will be gratefully accepted. Funds raised will help keep the sloop Clearwater afloat and support the ongoing educational programs and environmental work of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.– a nonprofit, member-supported organization launched by Pete Seeger and others more than 40 years ago to clean up, preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries.

A recording of Clearwater’s The Great Hudson River Revival Livestream will be available for viewing for some time after it streams live so you can watch the parts you missed or re-watch those that you enjoyed.

Now in its 46th year, Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival is slated for Saturday-Sunday, June 20-21, at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson in New York’s Hudson Valley. A wide array of music, dance, storytelling and family-oriented programming will take place on seven sustainably powered stages.

Produced by and benefiting the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a nonprofit member-supported organization launched by Pete Seeger and others to preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, the festival celebrates environmental activism and education and supports its efforts on behalf of the environment and social justice and keeping the sloop Clearwater afloat. Besides lots of music, the festival features a Green Living Expo, riverfront activities, environmental workshops and exhibits, and booths run by educational and activist organizations. For an extra fee, visitors will be afforded opportunities to sail the Hudson on the Clearwater, a world-renowned floating classroom and symbol of effective grassroots action. A juried Handcrafters’ Village and a participatory Circle of Song are also on the docket. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.clearwaterfestival.org.

The 35th Annual Old Songs Festival takes place June 26-28 at Altamont Fairgrounds in Altamont, approximately 10 miles west of Albany. Produced by Old Songs, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in the New York State Capitol Region that seeks to keep traditional music and dance alive through the festival, as well as monthly concerts, dances and educational programs, this festival features a variety of folk, Celtic and world music.

A very participatory event, the Old Songs Festival includes more than 120 workshops, classes, sessions and performances. Attendees also are afforded opportunities to take part in “sacred harp” or shape-note singing, choral harmony singing and open mics, as well as lots of festival performer-led and impromptu jam sessions. The relaxed, family-friendly festival also features a dedicated children’s area, as well as a wide array of artisans, vendors and food.

Individual day tickets and all-festival tickets (with or without camping) are available at the gate. For more information, visit www.oldsongs.org/festival.

Lucinda Williams will headline the fifth annual American Roots Music Festival at Caramoor, a family friendly celebration of acoustic music, on Saturday, June 27. Set on 90 acres of gardens and Italianate architecture in Katonah, Westchester County, NY – 40 miles northeast of New York City — the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is well known for its summer music festivals. AcousticMusicScene.com is delighted to again be a Cultural Partner of the festival and will have a presence there.

Opening for Williams in the evening program beginning at 7:30 p.m. will up-and-coming Oklahoma-based singer-songwriter Parker Millsap. Artists slated to perform during the afternoon (12-6 p.m.) include Kristin Andreassen Band, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Jessy Carolina & The Hot Mess, Mason Porter, Cole Quest and the City Pickers, Spuyten Duyvil, Matt Turk, and Walkabout Clearwater Chorus. Also scheduled is a social music hour — an old-time music workshop featuring some of the artists mentioned above and patterned after one that Spuyten Duyvil’s Mark Miller has led here and at other music festivals. Folks attending it are encouraged to bring their instruments or just gather round to learn about several old-time musicians and sing their songs.

“Caramoor is a nature paradise and the music takes place in several locations on the grounds so that folks can experience some of the environmental beauty as well,” says Maggi Landau, the festival organizer. She notes that during the daytime artists will be performing acoustic, unplugged sets in the Sunken Garden – “a quiet grove with the audience sitting on the ground literally at the feet of the artist” – as well as on the larger Friends Field. The evening concert featuring Lucinda Williams will take place inside the Venetian Theater for which there is reserved seating.

Daytime only tickets (excluding the evening performances) and full-festival tickets, (including reserved seating for the evening concert) may be ordered by calling (914) 232-1252 or visiting www.caramoor.org.

Attendees are advised to bring their own chairs/blankets for the daytime performances. Although limited food and beverages will be available for purchase, folks also can bring their own and enjoy picnicking on Caramoor’s spacious lawns.

The second annual Rockland-Bergen Music Festival takes place Saturday-Sunday, June 27 -28, at German Masonic Park, 120 Western Highway in Tappan. Gates open at 10 a.m., while music extends from 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. each night, rain or shine. Artists slated to perform over the weekend include Aztec Two-Step, Arlon Bennett Band, Bluebirds of Paradise, Jen Chapin, Tom Chapin Trio, Shawn Colvin, Guy Davis with Professor Louie, KJ Denhert, festival presenter Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan, John Eddie, Steve Forbert Jeffrey Gaines, Spook Handy, Garland Jeffreys, David Johansen, The Levins, James Maddock, Willie Nile, John Sebastian, Frank Tedesso, The The Band Band, and many others. For more information, visit www.rocklandmusicfestival.com.

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Mid-Summer Song Swaps at Huntington, Falcon Ridge Folk Festivals

And mark your calendars for these two upcoming festivals at which AcousticMusicScene.com will host pre-arranged unplugged song swaps: Huntington Folk Festival (Sunday, July 26 in Huntington) and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (July 31-Aug. 2, with a pre-fest day July 30 in Hillsdale).

The free event, co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Huntington Arts Council, is part of the 50th Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival 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. More information, including a detailed schedule, will be posted on AcousticMusicScene.com next month, as well as on www.fmsh.org.

AcousticMusicScene.com will also host late-night song swaps under a big tent at Pirate Camp during the 27th Annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 31-Aug. 2 (with a music-filled pre-fest day on July 30). One of the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, Falcon Ridge takes place at Dodd’s Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, NY, located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Falcon Ridge 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. Among the artists performing this year will be Ray Bonneville, Brother Sun, Judy Collins, The Duhks, Ellis, IlyAIMY, Martyn Joseph, Jay Mankita, Nerissa & Katrina Nields, Pesky J. Nixon, Jim Photoglo, June Rich, Garnet Rogers, Roosevelt Dime, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Ralph Sweet, Annie Wenz, Susan Werner, George Marshall with Wild Asparagus, and the 2014 Emerging Artists Showcase performers voted “Most Wanted to Return”: Caitlyn Canty, Matt Nakoa, Hayley Reardon and Jean Rohe.

One of the true highlights of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival – for those who opt to camp on-site and stay up through the early morning hours – are the impromptu jams, after-hours song circles and unplugged mini-showcases that help foster a sense of “folk” community and provide a different kind of festival experience.

2015 marks the fourth year that AcousticMusicScene.com will partner with Pirate Camp, which was informally launched by Stuart Kabak and the late Jack Hardy more than a decade ago to provide a warm and welcoming haven for sharing music, food and camaraderie. Prior to 2012, AcousticMusicScene.com had for many years joined with Tribes Hill, a lower Hudson Valley-based nonprofit organization uniting musicians and their patrons, in hosting late-night music under a big white tent.

More information about Falcon Ridge and the AcousticMusicScene.com tent @ Pirate Camp will be posted in coming weeks.

Slated for Saturday -Sunday, June 19-20, at Croton Point Park in Croton-On-Hudson, in New York’s Hudson Valley, Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival is a music and environmental festival launched by folk icon Pete Seeger that is now in its 41st year.

Among the artists scheduled to appear at the festival over the weekend, in addition to Pete, are such notables as David Amram, David Bromberg Quartet, Jonatha Brooke, Buckwheat Zydeco, C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, Shawn Colvin, Donna The Buffalo, Steve Earle, Steve Forbert, Eileen Ivers, Lucy Kaplansky, Quebec’s Le Vent du Nord, Joan Osborne, Railroad Earth, Toshi Reagon and Subdudes. Joining them are such emerging talents as the Angel Band, Dan Bern, Mike Doughty, Felice Brothers, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Rhett Miller, Sara Watkins, and Dala (a young female duo from Toronto, who also star in “Girls From the North Country,” a TV special that begins airing on many PBS television stations this month). Regional artists of note include Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Milton, Tao Seeger Band, Rick Nestler and The Dirty Stay Out Skifflers, Matt Turk, Hope Machine, The Edukated Fleas, Stout, and the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus.

Produced by and benefiting the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a nonprofit, member-supported organization launched by Pete Seeger and others to preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, the festival celebrates environmental activism and education. It features seven stages with live music and performance artists, a Green Living Expo, riverfront activities, environmental workshops and exhibits, and booths run by educational and activist organizations. The Sloop Clearwater and Schooner Pioneer will also be there during the weekend, affording visitors the opportunity to sail on the Hudson. Roving artists and jugglers, children’s crafts and activities, juried crafts and the Circle of Song (where audience participation is the focus) also are on the docket.

For more information and to purchase tickets in advance, call 845-418-3596 or visit www.clearwater.org/festival.

The 30th annual Old Songs Festival takes place June 25-27, at Altamont Fairgrounds in Altamont, approximately 10 miles west of Albany. Produced by Old Songs, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in the New York State Capitol Region that seeks to keep traditional music and dance alive through this festival, as well as twice monthly concerts, monthly dances and educational programs, the festival will feature an array of folk, Celtic, blues, old-time and world musicians, as well as storytelling, dance, juggling and more.

Among this year’s performers are Canadian singer-songwriter James Keelaghan, Canadian trad. quartet Gadelle, talented husband-and-wife duos Kim & Reggie Harris and Matt & Shannon Heaton, percussionist Billy Jonas, gypsy jazz artists Babik, Tony Barrand, John Roberts, Jeff Davis, Debra Cowan, Sally Rogers & Howie Bursen, Cathy Barton & Dave Para, Susan Trump, and Moscow Nights (a trio performing traditional Russian music).

Main Stage concerts are slated for Friday and Saturday evening, as well as Sunday afternoon, while eight stages will feature music and dance on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contra dances featuring music by Fennig’s All-Stars and Grand Picnic follow the Friday and Saturday night concerts on the main stage.

A very participatory event, the Old Songs Festival also features “sacred harp” or shape-note singing (and choral singing) on Saturday and Sunday mornings with Tim Eriksen (who directed the shape-note singing for the film Cold Mountain) and Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, as well as lots of festival performer-led and impromptu jam sessions. The family-friendly event also features a children’s area, as well as a wide array of artisans, vendors and food.

Individual day tickets and all-festival tickets (with or without camping), and senior citizen and student discounts are available at the gate. For more information, visit www.oldsongs.org.

Slated for Saturday -Sunday, June 20-21, at Croton Point Park in Croton-On-Hudson, in New York’s Hudson Valley, Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival celebrates its own 40th anniversary and that of the sloop Clearwater, founder and folk icon Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday, and the 25th anniversary of the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus that Seeger launched as a way of spreading the word of Clearwater’s mission to clean up the Hudson River.

Former sloop Clearwater captains and crewmembers will gather to honor Pete and Toshi Seeger on Sunday in commemoration of the sloop’s anniversary. A very special celebration is set for Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. on The Rainbow Stage when Pete and his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, will be joined by friends Happy Traum, Arlo Guthrie, Mike and Ruthie Merenda, Work o’ the Weavers and more for a set of classic favorites and sing-alongs. “Clearwater has always been about family and what better way for my family to celebrate this amazing year than with some of our closest musical friends, says Tao Rodriguez-Seeger. Pete Seeger also is expected to perform several other times during the festival.

Among the other artists scheduled to appear at the festival over the weekend are such notables as Alejandro Escovedo, Richie Havens, Taj Mahal, Allison Moorer, The Persuasions, and Susan Tedeschi. Festival newcomers include Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Dr. Dog, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, A.C. Newman, and bluegrass/jambands Old Crow Medicine Show and Cornmeal. Regional artists of note include Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Sleepy Hollow String Band, the Vanaver Caravan, The Dirty Stay Out Skifflers, Gillen and Turk, Hope Machine, storytellers Heather Forest and Jonathan Kruk, and, of course, the Hudson River Sloop Singers.

Produced by and benefiting the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a nonprofit, member-supported organization launched by Pete Seeger and others to preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, the festival celebrates environmental activism and education. It features a Green Living Expo, riverfront activities, environmental workshops and exhibits, and booths run by educational and activist organizations. The sloop Clearwater and the schooner Mystic Whaler will be there during the weekend, affording visitors the opportunity to sail on the Hudson. Juried crafts and the Circle of Song, where audience participation is the focus, also are on the docket.

“This has already been a very exciting year for Clearwater and it feels as if it has all been building up to the festival,” said Jon Dindas, the environmental organization’s festival director. “The volunteers – both those who have been helping this event run for decades and those with us for the first time – have come out in record numbers to support Clearwater and the festival. This has always been a community – one of artists and educators, professionals and volunteers, young and old – that comes together to celebrate the river, along with the music and spirit that makes us a family.”

Advance ticket sales for the 2009 Great Hudson River Revival have reportedly already tripled last year’s totals. However, weekend and individual day tickets will be available at the gate. For more information and to order tickets in advance, visit www.clearwater.org/festival.

The 29th Annual Old Songs Festival takes place June 26-28, at Altamont Fairgrounds in Altamont, approximately 10 miles west of Albany. Produced by Old Songs, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in the New York State Capitol Region that seeks to keep traditional music and dance alive through this festival, as well as twice monthly concerts, monthly dances and educational programs, the festival will feature an array of folk, Celtic, blues, old-time and multicultural/world musicians.

This year’s music will range from the acoustic blues guitar riffs of master fingerstyle player Little Toby Walker to the Indian vibes of Galitcha, the traditional Quebecois sounds of Reveillons!, the “new” old-time sounds of Red Hen, and the witty songs of Christine Lavin and Lou & Peter Berryman. Traditional and contemporary English ballads will be sung by Jez Lowe, Louis Killen and John Roberts & Tony Barrand. Also featured will be Peggy Seeger, Michael Cooney, folk duo Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen, folk/blues veteran Josh White, Jr., New England fiddler Lissa Scheneckenburger and her trio, Chicago-based Celtic group Bua, the Vanaver Caravan dance and music ensemble, and Grammy Award-winning family entertainer Bill Harley, among others.

Main Stage concerts are slated for Friday and Saturday evening, as well as Sunday afternoon, while eight stages will feature music and dance on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contra dances featuring music by Bill Spence & Fennig’s All-Stars and The Flying Garbanzos follow the Friday and Saturday night concerts on the main stage.

In recognition of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage, Nanne & Ankie and the Hudson Crew, six musicians from the Netherlands, will present a special 90-minute show late Saturday afternoon featuring original songs in Dutch and English with English narration. Festival performers also will conduct Friday afternoon classes focusing on various instruments and singing styles.

A very participatory event, the Old Songs Festival also features “sacred harp” or shape-note singing on Saturday and Sunday mornings with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, a gospel choral workshop led by Lea Gilmore followed by a gospel sing on Sunday afternoon, as well as lots of festival performer-led and impromptu jam sessions. The family-friendly event also features a dedicated children’s area, as well as a wide array of artisans, vendors and food.

Individual day tickets and all-festival tickets (with or without camping) are available at the gate. For more information, visit www.oldsongs.org/festival.

Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, Tom Chapin, Judy Collins, Guy Davis, Ani DiFranco, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Steve Earle, Bela Fleck, Michael Franti, Arlo Guthrie, Ben Harper, Emmylou Harris, Richie Havens, Kris Kristofferson, Taj Mahal, Roger McGuinn, John Mellencamp, Tom Paxton, Buffy Sainte Marie, Tommy Sands, Bruce Springsteen, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, Dar Williams and Pete Seeger himself are among the dozens of notable artists slated to perform during a big birthday bash at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Proceeds from the event that starts at 5 p.m. benefit the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc (www.clearwater.org). Seeger launched the nonprofit environmental organization to help spur awareness of and preserve and protect the Hudson River and its related water bodies.

In addition to the musical extravaganza in New York City, dozens of other celebratory events will be taking place elsewhere. Many bear the name “For Pete’s Sake, Sing,” an idea conceived of by some of Seeger’s Australian fans to encourage folks to simply gather together and sing — much as Pete has been prodding us to do for decades. Proceeds from a number of the events also will be contributed to organizations and causes that Seeger has espoused.

Here’s a glimpse at just a few of the many “For Pete’s Sake, Sing” and other events marking Pete Seeger’s birthday that are taking place over the coming weekend:

• AcousticMusicScene.com’s Glen Roethel and his folk harmony trio Gathering Time, are among a number of artists who will perform a song written or inspired by Pete Seeger during the Folk Music Society of Huntington’s First Saturdays Series concert on Saturday, May 2, at the Congregational Church of Huntington (30 Washington Drive, Centerport, New York) prior to a featured performance by Work O’ The Weavers. (www.fmshyny.org). Proceeds from the concert will be donated to Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc.

• Members of Tribes Hill (www.tribeshill.org), a nonprofit Hudson Valley-based musicians collective, of which Pete Seeger is a lifetime member, pay homage to him by covering each other’s songs and those of other songwriters during a “Tribes Hill Songbook” concert, as part of ArtsWestchester’s “Arts at the X” performance Series on Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Arts Exchange (31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, New York).

Performing the songs of fellow musicians has long been part of the American folk music tradition… going all the way back to the 1940s, when Seeger was a member of The Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie, observes Rick Rock, Tribes Hill’s executive director. “It’s a great feeling to hear one of your fellow musicians playing a song you wrote,” says Rock. “You can’t help but feel honored.” He notes that not only are the featured Tribes Hill artists — Anthony da Costa, KJ Denhert, Fred Gillen Jr., Steve Kirkman, Kathleen Pemble and Matt Turk — heirs to Seeger’s musical legacy, several of them have long-time associations with him, having performed and collaborated with Seeger at concerts, festivals, and on various social justice projects. The May 2 concert also is intended to offer a preview of a forthcoming Tribes Hill Songbook that will be dedicated to Seeger.

• A number of organizations in the Ithaca, New York area are joining together to host a pot-luck and singing party at the Small Pavilion in Ithaca’s Stewart Park on Sunday, from noon to 6 p.m.

• As part of its Sunday Morning Platform Series, the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County (www.essexethical.org) hosts a special musical program presented by the Solidarity Singers at 516 Prospect Street in Maplewood, New Jersey.

• Joyful Noise Productions, a project of the nonprofit Spectrum Arts and Education for Peace, has organized a grassroots gathering and sing-along featuring folk songs by Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and others, along with birthday cake and beverages that is slated for Sunday, from 5:30-7 p.m., in the Sheffield Auditorium of the Congregational Church of Old Lyme in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Julia Hikory, a member of the People’s Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle that Seeger helped to found, recently told a writer for The Stonigton Times and other newspapers in Connecticut that Sunday’s event will be “a celebration for all ages.” Noting that “Pete feels that one of his main purposes in life is to get people to sing together,” she said “That’s what inspired us to do something locally, keeping with his spirit, to honor him.”

• The Folk Song Society of Greater Boston (www.fssgb.org) sponsors a free Boston-area singing party on Sunday, from 3-6 p.m., at Doyle’s Café in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

• The Peace Abbey (www.peaceabbey.org) and Nonviolent Peaceforce sponsor a concert and song circle on Sunday, from 3-6 p.m., at the multi-faith retreat center, 2 North Main Street (Route 16), Sherburn, Massachusetts.

• A number of central Vermont-based musicians will gather at the historic Labor Hall in Barre, Vermont on Sunday at 7 p.m. to perform songs penned by Seeger, as well as traditional songs that Seeger helped to spread on his own or, in the 1950s, with The Weavers. Participating artists include recent Chris Austin Songwriting Contest Winner Carol Hausner, Tom Azarian, Charlie Barasch, Jon Gailmor, Mark Greenberg, Ben Koenig, Donny Osman, Andy Pitt, Jeremy Seeger and Jairo Segueira . In keeping with Seeger’s commitment to singing as a communal activity, the audience will be encouraged to sing along. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Labor Hall’s restoration.

• Northwest Folklife (www.nwfolklife.org).and other Puget Sound area folk music organizations will screen Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jim Brown’s 2007 documentary “Pete Seeger: The Power of Song” on Sunday at 4 p.m. The documentary — which initially aired on PBS television stations as part of the American Masters series of primetime specials delving into the lives, works and creative processes of some of our cultural icons — chronicles Seeger’s life and features archival footage and personal films made by Seeger and his wife, Toshi, interspersed with more recent interviews with him and an array of artists whom he has inspired over the years.

In the evening, a hootenanny of Seeger and Seeger-related songs will be led by nine-piece Seattle band Tom Colwell & the Soutbound Oddyssey at The Historic Admiral Theater, 2343 California Avenue SW in Seattle, Washington. Seeger helped to popularize the word “hootenanny” after visiting the Seattle area in the late 1930s with Woody Guthrie. A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit the Northwest Folklife Festival, for which Seeger performed in 1997. Footage of Pete playing at the festival also will be screened.

• Elsewhere in Washington State, the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship hosts an open mic and Seeger-inspired sing-along on Sunday at 7 p.m., with a $10 suggested donation to benefit the local food bank, while a local chapter of the Green Party holds what it is calling a “For Pete’s Sake, Sing Out” at the Pioneer Memorial Park Clubhouse, 387 East Washington Street in Sequim on Sunday afternoon, from 2:30-4:30 p.m.

• The Dayton International Peace Museum
(www.daytonpeacemuseum.org) in Dayton, Ohio, hosts a free musical tribute featuring a number of local artists and an audience sing-along, in the Kennedy Union Ballroom at the University of Dayton on Sunday, from 2-6 p.m. Birthday cake and punch will be served, and visitors will have an opportunity to view a multimedia exhibit on Pete’s life and works, which will later be mounted at the museum.

• A concert and sing-along songfest featuring longtime Knoxville musicians influenced by the singing and work of Pete Seeger is set for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Avenue, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Presented by Jubilee Community Arts and Highlander Research and Education Center, the concert will feature Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, Nancy Brennan Strange, The Carawan Family, and Gammon, Horton & Reynolds.

• In Virginia’s capital city, a hootenanny is slated for Sunday, from 6-11 p.m., at The Camel, 1621 West Broad Street, Richmond. The suggested donation is $10, with proceeds going to benefit musicians in need.

In honor of Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday, Smithsonian Folkways, the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, released a five-CD box set this month that features 139 of his timeless classics and two unreleased bonus tracks. Free downloads of “Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep” and “Buffalo Gals” are currently being offered at its website, www.folkways.si.edu, where you also can find an article entitled “Pete Seeger Standing Tall” that appears in Folkways Magazine’s Spring 2009 edition.

Happy Birthday, Pete!