The popular festival, which will feature four stages of music, officially kicks off on Friday, July 28 at noon. That’s when 15 artists/acts have been invited to perform in the 2023 Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase on the festival’s Mainstage. Appearing in this year’s showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance) are Sandy Cash, Katie Dahl, Leslie Evers, The Honey Badgers, Eric Kilburn, Latin Americana, Chris LaVancher, Juliet Lloyd, Carol Ann Montag, Halley Neal, Kevin Neidig, Noble Dust, Andy Sydow, and Tiffany Williams. Kemp Harris is the first alternate. 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 Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se during the festival, 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. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges looked for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material. This year’s judges were Susan Forbes Hansen (a folk DJ on WWUH and WHUS in Connecticut), Bruce Martin (from Blues Café in Southbury, CT) and Barbara Shiller (former president of CT Folk). “This year’s judges all said [that] it was extremely difficult to choose the final slate,” said Anne Saunders, the festival’s artistic director. “The level of talent and quality of the submissions was all pretty high — and much of it from newbies they did not know previously. We do so love when that happens.”

Phil Henry, Grace Morrison, Sam Robbins, and Erin Ash Sullivan will showcase their talents during this year’s Most Wanted Song Swap. In addition,the four are participating in a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Presents The “Most Wanted” Tour leading up to the festival. They will showcase their talents at SolarFest in Brandon, VT (July 15), Club Passim in Cambridge, MA (July 16), The Listening Booth in Lewes, DE (July 21), Moore Music in Rockville, MD (July 22), and Earp’s Ordinary in Fairfax, VA (July 23).

During the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, an Activities 4 Kids program, Circle of Song acoustic stage, Family Stage and Workshop Stage also will begin on Friday afternoon, July 28, while evening Mainstage performances and nightly dancing are slated to follow the daytime programming. Mainstage performances extend until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights (followed by late-night musical revelry at the campgrounds featuring informal jams, artist showcases and song circles). Sunday’s musical festivities wrap up at 6 p.m. For those camping on the fairgrounds, there will be some late-night musical revelry featuring an array of informal jams, artist showcases and song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience.

“We are very happy to be bringing back both DANCE and our Thursday Tastings and Farmers Market program,” said Saunders. While acknowledging that both will be smaller than in the pre-pandemic years when the festival took place on a farm in upstate New York, she noted “but that’s as expected; the important thing is that they are back.” So too will be a full array of craft and food vendors.

Prior to the start of the actual festival, the aforementioned Pre-Fest Tastings & Farmers Market will take place on Thursday afternoon, while a Thursday Night Music Stage will be hosted by Scotten Jones (a co-founder of the Lounge Stage that hosted live music on Thursdays for many years) and Kathy Sands-Boehmer of Harbortown Music beginning at 4 p.m. Artists slated to appear include Lisa Bastoni, Marc Douglas Berardo, Joe Crookston, Kirsten Maxwell, No Fuss and Feathers, Rod Picott, RaSkull Flagg, Robinson & Rohe, Rachael Sage, Tom Smith, and Rachel Sumner.

[Here’s a link to a Spotify playlist that Kathy Sand-Boehmer compiled featuring songs by artists who are part of the Thursday Night Music Stage lineup.

Three-day festival tickets are $240 with camping or $165 without camping. Single -day tickets also are available for $60. All three-day tickets include Pre-Fest Thursday admission, while tickets for Pre-Fest Thursday also can be purchased for $20 at the gate. Children 12 and under will be admitted free, while tickets are heavily discounted for teens. The campgrounds will open by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26. More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at falconridgefolk.com.

NERFA (nerfa.org) is one of five North American regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International, a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion — and the only one to host its annual conference both in-person and online this year. Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) and Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM) held in-person conferences in September and October, respectively, while Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) held its 2022 conference in the spring and Folk Alliance Region-West opted not to host one this year.

As in years past, the NERFA conference will feature several jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, song swaps and jam sessions; open mics; one-on-one mentoring and peer group sessions; an exhibit hall; keynote speakers, awards; a community meeting; an open-sing; and lots of informal conversation and networking. The conference is designed to help attendees forge connections and build community, while also providing learning and performance opportunities that can help enhance their professional and personal lives.

Unlike previous NERFA conferences, all of the events will not take place in one location. While the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel will be home to much of the in-person conference, Formal Showcases will be held at The Stone Pony — a venerable music club located just a few minutes away from it. NERFA Awards will also be presented there, as will two of the conference’s three nightly keynote addresses.

Artists Showcase Their Talents at The Stone Pony, the Host Hotel and Online

The juried formal showcases are considered the premiere performance opportunity during the conference. From among hundreds of submissions, 20 artists/acts were chosen to perform in-person at The Stone Pony, while another 20 were awarded virtual showcase opportunities. All will be streamed online for virtual ticket holders, while Saturday’s in-person formal showcases also are open to the public for $15 plus a service fee in advance via nerfaconference.org/tickets/ or $20 at the venue.

Virtual formal showcasing performers – each of whom submitted a pre-recorded live video – include Deidre McCalla, Emily Drinker, Genevieve Racette, Greg Greenway, ilyAIMY, Joshua Garcia, Justin Farren, Kray Van Kirk, Larry & Joe, Madison Violet, Natalie Price, Palmyra, Peter Calo, Rachael Sage, Rupert Wates, Sam Robbins, Shanna in a Dress, Taylor Abrahamse, and Travis Knapp. In addition to being screened online, all 20 virtual formal showcases will be presented on-site via a theater-sized video wall in the exhibit hall that will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.

Conference attendees will also have the opportunity to enjoy a Saturday afternoon showcase presented by Folk Music Ontario and the opening night’s Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase that will feature short performances by seven artists/acts selected by folk DJs, along with a keynote address by Sarah Craig, executive director of Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY — America’s longest continuously operating folk club. Following the juried and folk DJ showcases each evening, a number of private showcases curated by conference attendees will be held in various hotel rooms from 10 p.m. through the early morning hours on Thursday-Saturday overnight. Some hosts may also livestream their in-person showcases, while others are hosting virtual showcases.

Panel Discussions and Workshops Explore a Variety of Topics

The conference’s programming committee has created a streamlined array of 60-90 minute panel discussions and workshops. These include “Artists & Presenters: Safe Expectations & Boundaries,” “Blurring the Boarder: Do’s, Don’ts and Musts to Ensure a Successful Crossing,” “Bringing Your Venue Online,” “Coming Back from Quarantine – House Concert Edition,” “A Crash Course in Cutting the Cord & Becoming a Full-Time Musician,” “The Current State of Marketing Yourself,” “Defining Success in Your Career,” “Editing Videos for Fun and Profit,” “Export Ready – Preparing Yourself for a New Marketplace,” “How to Return from the Pandemic Stronger,” “How to Seize Financial Opportunities,” “The Ins & Outs of Co-writing,” “Keep the Story Going (The Lifecycle of a Song),” “Lifecycle of Record Production & Release,” “The Reality of Touring for Working Artists,” and “Recording Remotely.”

David Amram (“the renaissance man of American music”) and Vance Gilbert (a veteran touring singer-songwriter and past keynote speaker) will conduct performance critique sessions, while Jean Rohe and acclaimed singer-songwriter Dar Williams present songwriting workshops. Ron Olesko (a veteran folk DJ and the creator & curator of Folk Music Notebook) moderates a Wisdom of the Elders panel discussion featuring Kari Estrin (a radio promoter and artist development & career consultant), Mitch Greenhiill (a musician, composer, producer, and president of the music agency FLiArtists) and Biff Kennedy (an artist manager and radio promoter).

Virtual Tickets Enabling Online Access to the Conference for 30 or 365 Days are Still Available for Purchase

Virtual tickets that afford you online access to all official virtual conference programming (including live-streamed panel discussions and workshops, formal showcases and keynotes, as well as virtual private showcases) for 30/365 days following the conference are available for $35/$50 plus service fees at nerfaconference.org/tickets/.

Quarter Horse is a six-member ensemble that was voted the Most Wanted to Return Emerging Artists at the 2018 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Elements of folk, rock, alternative, country, blues, and jazz are all part of its Americana sound.

Prior to the evening concert, Michael Kornfeld, president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington and editor & publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com, will conduct an on-stage conversational interview with the evening’s featured & opening artists at 7:30 p.m. He also hosts a series of amplified showcases and a harmony workshop (presented by The Honey Dewdrops) from 1-6 p.m. These will take place near a canopy tent on the upper lawn area overlooking the stage and will feature artists from throughout LI and the New York metropolitan area.

Artists slated to showcase their talents during the afternoon include Josie Bello, Roger Street Friedman, Loretta Hagen, Ray Lambiase, The Levins, Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale, Kate Mills, Dave Murphy, Open Book, Nico Padden, Queler/Farber Family Band, The Royal Yard, Rachael Sage, South Country String Band, Christine Sweeney, and Toby Tobias.

The complete schedule for the Huntington Folk Festival appears below:

1:00 Ray Lambiase
1:15: Song Swap: Rorie Kelly, Nico Padden & Christine Sweeney
2:00 South Country String Band
2:15 Josie Bello
2:30 Roger Street Friedman
2:45 The Royal Yard (sea shanty duo)
3:00 Dave Murphy
3:15 Loretta Hagen
3:30 Kate Mills
3:45 Open Book
4:00 Harmony Workshop with The Honey Dewdrops
4:45 Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale
5:00 The Levins
5:15 Queler/Farber Family Band
5:30 Toby Tobias
5:45 Rachael Sage
6:00 Dinner Break
7:30 On-Stage Conversation with Quarter Horse and The Honey Dewdrops
8:00 Evening Concert on the Chapin Rainbow Stage

Festivalgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets and a picnic supper (or they can walk into Huntington Village and enjoy a meal at one of its many restaurants). The festival’s evening concert will also be livestreamed via the Huntington Arts Council’s Facebook page and its website (huntingtonarts.org).

The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington and presented by the Huntington Arts Council. Additional support is provided by Presenting Sponsor Canon U.S.A., with partial funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, Suffolk County, and Darin. W. Reed – Allstate Insurance Agent. The Honey Dewdrops’ performance is sponsored in part by a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

Editor’s Note: This is my 13th year curating and emceeing artist showcases during the Huntington Folk Festival.

Besides several jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, song swaps/in-the-rounds, open mics and informal jam sessions, the NERFA conference will also feature a children’s concert, informative panel discussions and workshops, one-on-one mentoring and peer group sessions, communal meals, awards presentations, an exhibit hall, a community meeting with NERFA’s volunteer board of directors, a community sing, a welcoming party, a 25th anniversary celebration, and lots of opportunities for schmoozing and networking. Singer-songwriter Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary fame) will be the conference’s keynote speaker.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the 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 taking advantage of learning opportunities that can help enhance and enrich their professional and personal lives.

Workshops and Panel Discussions Abound

The conference’s programming committee, under the leadership of Ethan Baird, NERFA’s board secretary, has arranged a diverse array of workshops and panel discussions. Recognizing the popularity of its On the Griddle instant critique sessions during which a panel of folk DJs and presenters listen to the first 60 seconds of a number of songs and provides snap feedback, NERFA will offer two new panels inspired by them and focusing on artist blurbs/bios and videos.

Among some two-dozen other scheduled workshops and panel discussions are A-OK: Mental Health & Well-Being for Working Artists, A Dynamic Duo! – Artists & Venues Working Together to Create Unforgettable Shows, F rom Cents to Sense: Smart Financial Planning for the Independent Artist, Gold Records! – Learn from he Masters & Produce Dynamic Audio Projects that Shimmer & Shine, Good Vibrations: Your Voice, Singing & Powerful Vocal Techniques, Home Sweet Home: Best-Laid Plans to Create Magical & Successful House Concerts, The Insider’s Guide to Music Management, The Jack Hardy Songwriter’s Method, Start a Creative Revolution! – Using the Arts to Start Creative Change, Vance Gilbert’s Famous Performance Critique, and Women in Folk: A Multigenerational Reflection. Sonny Ochs, a longtime folk DJ and sister of the late troubadour and activist Phil Ochs, will again host a Wisdom of the Elders session; this time it will feature veteran folk DJs Wanda Fischer, John Platt and Rich Warren. Yoga sessions also will be offered each morning, while MusiCares will be on site again to fit folks for custom earplugs.

Noel Paul Stookey Keynotes the Conference on Saturday Night

Today, Noel still performs occasionally with Peter Yarrow (Mary passed away in 2009), as well as doing solo shows in which he continually introduces new songs that deal specifically with major issues facing us in these times. He also invests time and energy in his national nonprofit organization, Music to Life, founded with his daughter, Liz Stookey Sunde, which connects activist artists of all genres with the resources they need to revitalize their communities through music. In reference to the well-known Chinese curse: ‘May you live in interesting times,’ Noel laughs: “Well baby, we are there. We communicate
these days through social media about those.

Juried Showcases Slated for Friday and Saturday Nights

Taking center stage during the conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges – with each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set on Friday and Saturday nights – the most coveted performance opportunity at the conference. Friday night’s lineup includes (in order of appearance) The New Students, Meghan Cary, Tui, Corey Laitman Trio, Les Royal Pickles, Roger Street Friedman, and Megan Burtt. Slated to showcase their talents on Saturday night are Damn Tall Buildings, Annie Sumi, Alastair Moock, Sophie Buskin, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Alisa Amador, and Matt Nakoa Trio.

Following the formal showcases, attendees will shuffle between three conference ballrooms in close proximity to one another to catch short sets by 30 additional artists/acts who also were selected by the judges. Performing in these semi-formal showcases on Friday night are (in alphabetical order) Marc Berger, Blue Plate Special, The Bombadils, Katie Dahl, Marion Halliday, Lily Henley, JANTURAN, Mara Levine, James Maddock, Jeffrey Martin, Peter Mulvey, Kalyna Rakel, Martin Swinger, Tragedy Ann, and Rupert Wates. Saturday’s semi-formal showcase artists include Jeremy Aaron, Cricket Blue, Kala Farnham, Kora Feder, Matt Harlan, Lynne Hanson, Diana Jones, MOSA, David Newland with Siqiniup Qilauta/Sunsdrum, Ordinary Elephant, Birch Pereira & the Gin Joints, Piper & Carson, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Katherine Rondeau, and Ken Tizzard. Like the formal showcases that immediately precede them, nothing else is allowed to compete with the semi-formal showcases during the conference.

On Thursday evening, the conference’s opening night, the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase will feature short performances by 16 artists/acts chosen by DJs. Listed in order of appearance, they are The Scooches, Kalyna Rakel, Willa Mamet, The Promise Is Hope, Scot Krokoff, Mark & Jill, Nico Padden, John John Brown, Heather Mae, Robinson & Rohe, Eli Smith, Kathleen Healy, Dan Whitener, Jenner Fox, Carol Crittenden, and Mark Stepakoff.

Judges for this year’s official juried showcases were Sarah Craig (Caffe Lena), Dan Gottfried (Voices in the Heights), Joe Mercadante (Steeple Coffeehouse), Ron Olesko (Folk Music Notebook), Jess Razzi (Razzi Entertainment), Kimberly Sinclair (SpinCount), and Matt Smith (Passim).

Following the juried and folk DJ showcases each evening, 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. Some guerilla showcases also are slated for Friday and Saturday afternoons. Musicians also may well stake out other areas of the hotel and jam.


AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot Features Nearly 50 Artists and Singing Folk DJs


An overflow crowd will likely descend on the AcousticMusicScene.com suite (2031) on Thursday overnight for its popular Midnight Hoot. Extending from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., this hoot is a pre-arranged, round-robin song swap featuring several singing folk DJs (Wanda Fischer, Ellen Stanley and Jon Stein) and some 45 artists/acts – each performing one song.

Now in its 13th 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 Bob Beach (harmonica), Mark Dann (bass), Genevieve (keyboards), Lily Henley (fiddle), ad Nick Russo (banjo and other instruments) will be there for anyone who desires accompaniment.

While Michael Kornfeld, AcousticMusicScene.com’s editor & publisher, hosts the Thursday-Saturday overnight showcases, his friends Mira Shapiro and Hank Stone will serve as guest hosts on Friday afternoon. A series of song swaps on Friday overnight will be topped off by a Long Island Sounds celebration featuring performances by nearly a dozen LI-based artists. As in recent years, the musical festivities in the AcousticMusicScene.com suite 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 and acts will march into the room at 2 a.m. singing their national anthem.

Schedules for the AcousticMusicScene.com showcases appear below.

AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot (Room 2031)

Thursday Night 11 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.

(One song per artist/act and folk DJ, not listed in order of appearance.)

Host: Michael Kornfeld

Artists: Jeremy Aaron, Andy & Judy, Jordi Baizan, Bob Beach, Carol Crittenden, Alyssa Dann, Amy Dee, Neale Eckstein, Jane Fallon, Lindsay Foote, Gina Forsyth, Jenner Fox, Freebo, Gathering Time, Genevieve, Claudia Gibson, Kyle Hancharick, Matt Harlan, Gerry Hazel, Lily Henley, Gina Holsopple, Alice Howe, Brian Kalinec, Fiora Laina, Corey Laitman, Peter Lehndorf, Mara Levine, Rob Lytle, Kipyn Martin, Mosa, Mother Banjo, Dan Navarro, The Promise Is Hope, The Rix, Stephen Robinson, Tina Ross, Rachael Sage, Eric Schwartz, The Scooches, Hank Stone, Garret Swayne, Kristina Vaughn, Rupert Wates, Dan Whitener & Blue Plate Special, Billy Woodward

Folk DJs: Wanda Fischer, Ellen Stanley, Jon Stein

House Band: Bob Beach (harmonica), Mark Dann (bass), Genevieve (keyboards), Lily Henley (fiddle), Nick Russo (banjo & other instruments)

Hosts: Mira Shapiro and Hank Stone

2:00 Marc Berger
]2:15 Nathans & Ronstadt
2:30 Lily Henley
2:45 Connor Garvey
3:00 The Rix
3:15 Lea Morris
3:30 Steve Robinson and Hank Stone
4:00 Alice Howe
4:15 Rob Lytle
4:30 The Malvinas
4:45 Freebo

Friday Night

Host: Michael Kornfeld

11:45 MMM Good Music: Meghan Cary, Gathering Time, Marion Halliday, Mara Levine

12:30 Texas Troubadours: Jordi Baizan, Matt Harlan, Brian Kalinec

1:00 A Trio of Duos: Gathering Sparks, The Levins, The Promise Is Hope

1:30 British New Yorkers: James Maddock, Rupert Wates

2:00 Long Island Sounds: Roger Street Friedman, Scott Krokoff, Ray Lambiase, Nico Padden, Matt Ponsot, Quarter Horse, Steve Robinson, Nick Russell, Hank Stone, Linda Sussman, Christine Sweeney

Saturday Night

Host: Michael Kornfeld

11:45 All Keyed Up: Genevieve, Matt Nakoa, Rachael Sage, Eric Schwartz

12:30 A Pair of Duos: The Early Risers, Ordinary Elephant

1:00 Banjocentric: Banjo Nickaru & The Scooches, Mother Banjo, Dan Whitener

1:30 Women’s Voices: Abbie Gardner, Sharon Goldman, Grace Pettis

2:00 O Canada: Noah Derksen, Ken Dunn, Gathering Sparks, James Gordon, Lynne Hanson, Graham Lindsey, John Muirhead, David Newland, Piper & Carson, Kalyna Rakel, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Saffron A, Angela Saini, Siqniup Qilauta/Sunsdrum, Greg Smith, Annie Sumi, Ken Tizzard

“I hope that attendees will share a meal and/or a song with new friends they don’t yet know, embrace the spirit of community that NERFA represents, and have a great conference experience,” said Michael Kornfeld, president of NERFA’s board of directors and editor and publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com. He expressed thanks to Courtney Rodland, who assumed the role of interim conference director one year ago when Dianne Tankle, NERFA’s founder and conference director since its inception, stepped down. “Aided by a core group of key volunteers, Courtney has sought to create a conference that builds upon what has been successful in the past, while moving NERFA into our second quarter-century,” he said.

[Here’s a link to a short song video by Neale Eckstein featuring images and scenes from the 2017 NERFA Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt-A_DnX1OY.]

NERFA (www.nerfa.org) 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. NERFA’s geographic boundaries extend from the eastern provinces of Canada south to the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. More extensive information on the organization and its annual conference may be found online at www.nerfa.org.

Editor’s Note: My thanks to Hank Stone for his assistance in setting up the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase room and for guest-hosting Friday afternoon song swaps, along with Mira Shapiro — and to Amy Blake, Arpie Maros and Sybil Moser for the loan of folding chairs.

In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases and leading a community meeting with the NERFA board of directors as its president, I will moderate a workshop entitled Write It Right, Alright? – Blurbs On The Griddle and participate in a panel discussion on self-promoting your project to the Folk DJ Chart. New this year, I also was among a small group of people offering pre-conference mentoring sessions via phone for conference attendees. Mine focused on strategic communications and public relations topics for artists, as well as how to get the most out of the conference.

Appearing in this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance): Marc Berger (Ithaca, NY), Sarah Beatty (Hamilton, ON, Canada), Chelsea Berry (Gloucester, MA), Bettman & Halpin (Denver, CO), Susan Cattaneo (Medford, MA), Kate Copeland (New York, NY), Cricket Blue (Huntington, VT), Brad Cunningham (Kansas City, MO), Heather Mae (Washington, DC), Lara Herscovitch (Durham, CT), Mike Herz (Newton, NJ), Jacob Johnson (Travelers Rest, SC), Low Lily (Brattleboro, VT), Austin MacRae (Ithaca, NY), Kipyn Martin (Columbia, MD), Kirsten Maxwell (Huntington, NY), Jaime Michaels (Santa Fe, NM), Paddy Mills (Brunswick, ME), Will Pfrang (Port Washington, WI), The Rafters (Ayer, MA), Elaine Romanelli (New York, NY), Rachael Sage (New York, NY), Putnam Smith with April Reed-Cox (Durham, ME), and Amy Soucy (Beacon, NY).

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 Annika Bennett, Gina Forsyth and Scott Wolfson and Other Heroes.

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, now in its 28th year, takes place August 5-7 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. The festival 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. A Pre-Fest Tastings Day & Farm Market is slated for Thursday, Aug. 4, featuring locally grown food, drink and artisanal items, along with performances by a number of artists from the late afternoon through the evening on The Lounge Stage presented by Tribal Mischief Productions.

This year’s artist lineup includes Brother Sun, The Felice Brothers, The Gaslight Tinkers, Vance Gilbert, Great Bear, Patty Larkin, Metropolitan Klezmer, The Mike & Ruthy Band, Heather Moloney, Peter Mulvey, Matt Nakoa, Pete’s Posse, Professor Louis & The Crowmatix, Tom Rush, Eric Schwartz & Freebo, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams (always a highlight at the dance tent), SONiA, The Storycrafters, and Annie Wenz, among others.

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.

Three-day festival tickets are $185 with camping or $150 without camping. Single -day tickets also are available, as are discounted tickets for teenagers (ages 13-18). Gates open for campers on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 3. More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Editor’s Note: Although I’ve enjoyed arranging and hosting late-night song swaps at Falcon Ridge under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com for nearly a decade – in partnership with Tribes Hill and, more recently, Pirate Camp, I’m taking a break from doing so this year. While camping with friends at Pirate Camp, I plan to enjoy visiting various campsites and checking out a number of artists who are new to me.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the annual NERFA conferences, 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.

As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, taking center stage during this year’s conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges, with 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 Billy Jonas and The Billy Jonas Band, Tall Heights, Connie Kaldor, OCEAN, Jean Rohe and the End of the World Show, Darryl Purpose, and The Hickory Project. Saturday’s Formal Showcase lineup features Comas, Natalia Zukerman, Miles to Dayton, Amy Speace, Roosevelt Dime, Buddy Mondlock, and The Boxcar Lilies.

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 Mike Agranoff, C. Daniel Boling, Meg Braun, Michael Braunfeld, Jon Brooks, Cary Cooper, Joe Craven, John Flynn, Fred Gillen, Jr., Hannah & Maggie, Matt Harlan, Kim & Reggie Harris, Kate Klim, Zoe Mulford, Jory Nash, Red Moon Road, Janet Robin, SONiA, Spuyten Duyvil, and Sloan Wainwright. Saturday’s Quad Showcase artists include Amy Black, Roy Bookbinder, Rich Deans, Aengus Finnan, Ian Fitzgerald, Harpeth Rising, Robby Hecht, Louise Mosrie, Murphy Beds, Karyn Oliver, Panache Quartet, Jim Photoglo, Hayley Reardon, Red Tail Ring, Cosy Sheridan, Sultans of String, Vinegar Creek, Anne Weiss, The Whispering Tree, and Brooks Williams.

Following the juried showcases each evening (as well as during the afternoons), 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 4 or 5 a.m.

Acoustic MusicScene.com Midnight Hoot Features Artists and Singing Folk DJs

Now in its seventh 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. It also enables artists to enjoy each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday (although since increasingly more people have been arriving on Thursday, some intensive workshops will take place that afternoon).

Artists slated to perform in the Midnight Hoot (listed alphabetically, not in order of appearance) include Bob Ardern, The Barrel Jumpers, Marc Black, C. Daniel Bolling, Matt Borrello, Marc Douglas Berardo, Susan Cattaneo, Jerry DeMeo, Tony Denikos, Ian Fitzgerald, Chris Fuller, Connor Garvey, Gathering Time, Marci Geller, Ghosts of the American Road, Susan Greenbaum, Melissa Greener, Brian Ashley Jones, Stuart Kabak, Brian Kalinec, Keith Kelly, Savannah King, Mike Laureanno, Mara Levine, Bernice Lewis, Rob Lytle, Zoe Mulford, Karyn Oliver, Davey O, Janet Robin, John Sonntag, Bethel Steele, Hank Stone, Jonah Tolchin, John Tracy, Chuck Williams, Avi Wisnia, and The YaYas. A house band comprised of David Buskin (keyboards), Mark Dann (bass) and Marshal Rosenberg (percussion) also will be there for anyone who desires accompaniment.

American and Canadian Artists to Showcase in the AcousticMusicScene.com Room

The AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule appears below, as well as on the attached flyer.

Friday Afternoon
(Hosted by Hank Stone and Connor Garvey)

2:30 Funny Folk: Mark Allen Berube, Drew Jacobs, Martin Swinger

3:00 Long Island Sounds: Jerry DeMeo, The Folk Goddesses, Rorie Kelly, Hank Stone

3:45 Maine Stage: Connor Garvey, Calen Perkins, Chris Ross, Sorcha

Friday Evening
(Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)

11:45 Mara Levine (accompanied by Gathering Time)

12:00 Harmonic Convergence: The Boxcar Lilies, Gathering Time, Kim & Reggie Harris

12:30 A Trio of Duos: Hannah & Maggie, The Levins,
Lords of Liechtenstein

1:00 Folk You Should Know: Arlon Bennett, Marc Douglas Berardo, Rob Lytle

1:30 More Folk You Should Know: Jeremiah Birnbaum, Marci Geller, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes

2:00 Bandemonium: Miles to Dayton, Pesky J. Nixon

Saturday Afternoon
(Hosted by Stuart Kabak and Michael Kornfeld)

2:00 Amy Black, Rich Deans, Fred Gillen, Jr.

2:30 C. Daniel Boling, Stuart Kabak, Keith Kelly

3:00 Nashville in New York: Brian Ashley Jones, Louise Mosrie,
Twangtown Paramours

3:30 I’m From New Jersey: Loretta Hagen, Jean Rohe, John Sonntag

4:00 O’Canada: Aengus Finnan, Kat Goldman, Jory Nash

Saturday Evening
(Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)

11:45 Texas Songwriters: Cary Cooper, Matt Harlan, Brian Kalinec, Amanda Pearcy

12:30 No Fuss & Feathers Road Show: Karyn Oliver, Carolann Solebello, The YaYas

1:00 Mid-Atlantic Songwriters: Tony Denikos, John Flynn, John Tracy

1:30: Fingerstyle Guitar Virtuosity: Bob Ardern, Hiroya Tsukamoto

2:00: All Keyed-Up: Anna Dagmar, Allie Farris, Kate Klim, Heather Pierson, Rachael Sage, Avi Wisnia

NERFA (www.nerfa.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.

Editor’s Note: My thanks to Stuart Kabak, with whom I partner in hosting late-night song swaps and open circle 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 and fellow singer-songwriters Connor Garvey and Hank Stone for graciously offering to guest host afternoon showcases, to Amy Blake , Gary Schoenberger and Sybil Moser for the loan of folding chairs, and to Karen Finkenberg for her assistance in designing flyers.

In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases during the NERFA Conference, I will be offering some one-on-on mentoring sessions focused on artist bios and one-sheets, media relations, social media, website content, what presenters look for when considering artists for their concert series, and how artists and presenters can work together to promote concerts.. I also serve as vice president of NERFA’s board of directors and am a candidate for the Folk Alliance International board.

One of the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, Falcon Ridge takes place at Dodd’s 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.

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 CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, Mary Gauthier, Vance Gilbert, Eliza Gilkyson, The Grand Slambovians (always a highlight at the dance tent), The Kennedys, Jay Mankita, Mike Ford & Dave Matheson (formerly of Moxy Fruvous), Dan Navarro, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Red Molly, The Jason Spooner Band, Spuyten Duyvil, The Stray Birds, Susan Werner, Dar Williams, and more.

Besides individual artist/band showcases and a Sunday morning Gospel Wake-Up Call on the Main Stage, song swaps featuring various combinations of the festival’s’ featured artists will take place on the Workshop Stage. These include “The Grace Notes: Songs of Eric Lowen (hosted by Dan Navarro) and swaps with such titles as “Advanced String Theory,” “Beatles forever,” “Hardly, Strictly the Blues,” “Our Roots Are Showing,” Rolling in the Aisles” and “Sweet Harmony.” Singer-songwriter and consummate entertainer Vance Gilbert also leads a popular Performance Skills Critique session on Friday. The Dance Stage will be going from morning to night (early morning hours, actually), with bands providing music for Cajun, contra, square, swing dancing and more. A number of the festival’s featured artists also will perform on the Family Stage over the weekend.

As previously reported, 24 artists/bands have been selected from among hundreds of applicants to perform in the Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase on Friday afternoon, Aug. 1, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Again, listed in order of appearance, they are: Carrie Ferguson, The Bones of J.R. Jones, Bethel Steele, Tall Heights, Darlingside, Martin Swinger, Annalivia, Doug Allen, Amanda Pearcy, Phil Henry Acoustic Trio, Amy Black, Reverend TJ McGlinchey, The Boxcar Lilies, Connor Garvey, Brad Yoder Duo, Roosevelt Dime, Doug Kwartler, Jonah Tolchin, Noble Hunter, Bobtown, Jacob Latham, Rachael Sage, Michael Braunfeld and Cricket Tell the Weather.

The Emerging Artists Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se, although the audience is surveyed as to which artists they’d like to see return next year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap.

This year’s Most Wanted Song Swap will feature Long Island-based folk harmony trio Gathering Time, Storrs, CT-based Americana-roots band Poor Old Shine, and the engaging and uplifting Hudson Valley, NY-based folk-pop trio The YaYas.

Late-Night Music is a Festival Highlight

AcousticMusicScene.com joined with Tribes Hill, a Hudson Valley-based collective uniting musicians and their patrons, for many years in hosting late-night music under a big white tent. For the second consecutive year, AcousticMusicScene.com is pleased to partner with Pirate Camp in hosting late-night song swaps, mini-showcases and open song circles. Pirate Camp was originally started by Jack Hardy and Stuart Kabak, both longtime Falcon Ridge attendees, who flew the Jolly Roger so that friends could more easily find their campsite. “It turned out that we had more friends than we could have ever imagined,” says Kabak. Over the years, the two friends assembled their own camp kitchen, covered lounge, fireplace, mowed lawn, and even a heated camp shower. Throughout the day, people would stop by and share a tune or just schmooze. After the festival’s main stage shut down for the night, a song circle would open up at Pirate Camp and run through the wee hours of the morning.

More than three years after Jack Hardy’s passing, Pirate Camp retains much of its initial spirit. The partnership with AcousticMusicScene.com adds a new element, designed in part to help keep Pirate Camp alive and vibrant. Musical festivities at Pirate Camp begin with an open song circle on Thursday night at 11 p.m. (following the artist showcases at The Lounge Stage), to which folks are invited to bring their instruments, voices and ears. Invitational song swaps and mini-showcases are slated for Friday and Saturday overnight, while an open song circle may extend from 2 a.m. to dawn on Sunday. These will take place under a 10’ X 30’ white tarp adorned with flags and banners, featuring a carpeted stage and stage lights, and located in the lower left/northeast section of the 10-acre field (lower meadow).

Yarr, All Ye Pirates and Chantey Singers!

AcousticMusicScene.com-Pirate Camp Music Schedule

Thursday Night

11:00 p.m Open Song Circle

Friday

4:45 p.m. Pirate Party and Chantey Sing (led by Stuart Markus)
6:00 p.m. Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes

12:15 a.m. The Boxcar Lilies, Carrie Ferguson, Amanda Pearcy
12:45 a.m. Honor Finnegan, Gathering Time, The YaYas
1:15 a.m. Mara Levine (with Gathering Time)
1:25 a.m. Bobtown
1:35 a.m. The Maine Event: Connor Garvey, Heather Pierson, Putnam Smith, Martin Swinger
2:15 a.m. Folk Bandemonium: Miles to Dayton and Pesky J. Nixon

Saturday Overnight

12:00 a.m. Susan Kane, Karyn Oliver, Kat Quinn
12:30 a.m. Michael Braunfeld, Phil Henry Acoustic Trio, Rob Lytle
1:00 a.m. Freebo, Paul Sachs, Brad Yoder Duo
1:30 a.m. Jeremiah Birnbaum, Marci Geller, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes
2:00 a.m. Open Song Circle