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

Local, national and international touring artists whose performances are slated to stream @ https://facebook.com/michiganirish over the extended weekend include (in alphabetical order) The Alt, An Dro, Blackthorn, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, Bohola, Daimh, Doolin’, Ian Gould, Shane Hennessey, Seamus Kennedy, The Kreelers, One for the Foxes, Peat in the Creel, RUNA, Scythian, Sharon Shannon, Trout Steak Revival, and Uneven Ground. Singer-Songwriter Ashley Davis will host a songwriters circle featuring Dave Curley, Doolin’, Colin Farrell, and Shane Hennessey, while Shannon Lambert-Ryan, RUNA’s lead vocalist, will host a family-friendly presentation on “Baking with Babies.”

The schedule for the virtual festival appears below. Videos may also be posted on the festival’s Facebook page for replay later if you miss or want to see any of the acts again.

Thursday
5-7 pm Sounds Like Ireland Radio Program
8 pm Runa
9 pm Seamus Kennedy
10 pm An Dro

Friday
6 – 9 am Michael Patrick Shiels The Big Show radio show broadcast live from downtown Muskegon
5 pm Ruth and Max Bloomquist
6 pm Ian Gould
6:30 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Colin Farrell and Dave Curley)
7 pm Dave Curley
7:50 pm Five Farms
8 pm Best of Scythian on Dan’s Wedding Day!
9 pm Shane Hennessy
10 pm The Kreellers

Saturday
12 pm Conklin Ceili Band
1 pm Peat in the Creel
1:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith Storyteller – Seanín the Piper
2 pm Kennedy’s Kitchen
2:30 Bob Harke with Kennedy’s Kitchen
3 pm Baking with Babies
4 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Doolan’)
5 pm the Alt
5:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith – Questions about the Irish Wake
6 pm Friel Sisters
7 pm One for the Foxes
8 pm Daimh
9 pm Doolin’
10 pm CrossBow

Sunday
11 am Uneven Ground
11:30 am Deb O’Carroll’s Irish Magic Show
12 pm Runa featuring Eamonn and Cormac de Barra
1 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashely Davis (featuring Shane Hennessy)
2 pm Trout Steak Revival
3 pm Bohola
4 pm Best of Sharon Shannon
5 pm Blackthorn

More than 750 people from throughout the U.S. and Canada are expected to converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, NY, Nov. 8-11, 2012, for the annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. Performers, presenters, promoters, folk DJs, agents and managers, and others actively engaged in the folk and acoustic music scene will enjoy three jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, open mics, song swaps and informal jam sessions, informative panel discussions and workshops, one-on-one mentoring and peer group sessions, a large trade show-like exhibit hall, tasty communal meals in the dining room, a welcoming party and happy hours, and lots of informal conversation and networking.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the annual 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 your careers.

Workshops, Panel Discussions Inform and Enlighten Attendees

A wide array of workshops, panel discussions and professional development seminars will be offered during the day. ”NERFA for All it is Worth” orientation sessions, designed to give first-timers a sense of what goes on during the conference, are slated for both Thursday and Friday afternoons. Also back again will be the popular “On the Griddle” instant critique sessions, during which panels comprised of folk DJs and music industry professionals will, in rapid-fire fashion, play CDs provided by attending artists and share their thoughts after listening to the first 60 seconds of a tune. Also on tap is another special extended two-hour “Wisdom of the Elders” panel designed to enable a small group of folk music pioneers and community leaders to interact and share stories and perspectives about our music and community. Participating in this year’s panel, organized by longtime folk DJ Sonny Ochs, will be Josh Dunson, Bob Fass and Happy Traum – all of whom were very active in the folk scene around Washington Square Park in New York’s Greenwich Village during the 1960s.

Other workshops will explore such topics as DIY booking and management, branding (and merch), doing music for kids, keeping healthy on the road, recording, social media, and vocal performance. Peer groups sessions for folk DJs and house concert presenters also are on tap, as is one on speed mentoring for venues. Louis Meyers, executive director of Folk Alliance International, moderates a panel entitled “Banjos, Banjos, Banjos” that will feature several banjo players. Julie Gold, Garnet Rogers and Jon Vezner will provide some insider tips on songwriting. In honor of Veteran’s Day, Diane Crowe of the People’s Music Network, has assembled a group of conference attendees who will sing songs inspired by the day or focusing on issues of war and peace.

14 Artists/Acts Selected for Formal Showcases

Brother Sun
Honor Finnegan
Connor Garvey
Ariana Gillis
Greg Klyma
Gypsophilia
ilyAIMY
Zoe Lewis
Molasses Creek
Putnam Smith Trio
The Stray Birds
The Tres Amigos
Suzie Vinnick
Carolyn Waters.

Named as alternates were Cassie and Maggie MacDonald, and Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys.

”I speak for the judges when I say that there is no such thing as a losing
submission to a NERFA formal showcase,” says Ron Olesko (WFDU-FM, Teaneck, NJ), who coordinated the judging panels. “Everyone who submitted [applications] had their
music heard by the entire panel, and there are now a number of new artists
who will be heard on the radio and be considered for bookings at venues.”

Quad Showcases Feature 40 Artists/Acts

Clint Alphin
Beaucoup Blue
Bettman & Halpin
Ruth and Max Bloomquist
Bobtown
Michael Jerome Browne
Ellen Bukstel
Burns & Kristy
Ellen Cherry
Brad Cole
Caroline Cotter
Anna Dagmar
John Francis
Freebo
Tret Fure
Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys

Named as Alternates were Peter Alsop, Gillian Grassie, Jean Rohe Band and Chana Rothman.

A series of 15-minute showcases set for Friday and Saturday evenings, between 9:45 and 11:30, four Quad Showcases take place concurrently in nearby conference rooms equipped with professional sound and production services. Like the Formal Showcases that immediately precede them, nothing else is allowed to compete with the Quad Showcases during the conference.

Following these official NERFA showcases, informal late-night ‘guerilla showcases take place in some three-dozen hotel rooms until the early morning hours, while musicians also stake out other areas of the hotel and engage in jam sessions that often last until 4 or 5 a.m.

Here’s a link to a video montage of images captured by Neale Eckstein (Fox Run Studio) during the 2011 NERFA Conference, set to the music of singer-songwriter Bethel Steele:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_olB3T5-Sxs

Artists Chosen for 2012 Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase

Twenty folk DJs who will be attending the NERFA Conference in November have selected artists to perform in this year’s Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase on Thursday evening, Nov. 8.
For the past eight years, these and other folk DJs have presented artists who they consider to be worthy of more attention for the listening enjoyment of their fellow DJs, presenters and others during a Folk DJ Showcase. “The original philosophy of the showcase when Suzi Wollenberg and I conceived it was that folk radio DJs (and I suppose now credible Internet DJs as well) hear all the newest talent, often long before the rest of the folk community becomes aware of these rising artists,” says Rich Warren, host of the nationally syndicated “The Midnight Special” and “Folkstage” on Chicago’s WFMT-FM. “Part of our pleasure (and job) as DJs is listening to new music,” he continues. “Also, DJs often attend folk festivals and a number of Folk Alliance conferences looking for new voices. So Suzi (who passed away unexpectedly a few years ago) and I envisioned creating an environment where folk DJs could share their new discoveries with one another. Thus was born the NERFA Folk DJ Showcase, which has been emulated by a couple of other regional FA conferences.”

The artists selected for Thursday night’s showcase will perform in alphabetical order by the radio station call letters of the folk DJ who nominated them. If listed, an alternate will only perform if the primary nominee becomes unavailable.

8:00- 8:04: Welcome and introductions

8:04-8:16: Paul Sachs
Presented by Wanda Fischer, The Hudson River Sampler
WAMC, Albany, NY
Alternate: Chris Lavancher

8:18-8:28: Susan Greenbaum
Presented by Mary Cliff, Traditions
WAMU, Washington, DC

8:30-8:40: Anna Dagmar
Presented by Graham & Barbara Dean, Common Sense Songs
WBCR-LPFM, Great Barrington, MA
Alternate: Christine DeLeon

8:42-8:52: Boxcar Lilies
Presented by Ron Olesko, Traditions
WFDU, Teaneck, NJ
Alternate: Meg Braun

8:54-9:04: Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
Presented by Rich Warren, The Midnight Special & Folkstage
WFMT, Chicago and syndicated
Alternate: Matt Harlan

9:06-9:16: The Whispering Tree
Presented by John Platt, Sunday Breakfast
WFUV, New York, NY
Alternate: Beggars Ride

9:18- 9:28: Pat Lamanna
Presented by Sonny Ochs, Mostly Folk
WIOX, Roxbury, NY

9:30-9:40 Bobtown
Presented by Angela Page, Folk Plus
WJFF and syndicated

9:42-9:52: Ben Grosscup
Presented by Diana Crowe, Music of the People
WMCB-LPFM , Greenfield MA
Alternate: Arujuna Greist

9:54-10:04: Brittany Ann
Presented by Joe Pszonek, Radio Nowhere
WMSC, Upper Montclair, NJ

10:06-10:16: Scott Cook
Presented by Sue Kessell, The Folk Show
WNUR, Evanston-Chicago

10:18-10:28: Crys Mattews
Presented by Pamela A. Smith, Amazon Radio
WPKN, New Haven, CT

10:30-10:40: Paul Pasch
Presented by Jane Falvey, The Kingston Coffeehouse
WRUI, Kingston, RI

10:42-10:52: Caitlin Canty
Presented by Mark Corso, Homemade Music
WRSU, New Brunswick, NJ
Altenate: Frank Tedesso

10:54-11:04: Matt Turk
Presented by Jon Stein, The Hootenanny Cafe
WTBQ, Orange County, NY
Alternate: Brian Kalinec

11:06-11:16: Martin Swinger
Presented by Dave Palmater
WUMB, Boston, MA

11:18-11:28: Heather Styka
Presented by Al Kniola, The Back Porch
WVPE, South Bend, IN

11:30-11:40: Broken Fences
Presented by Gene Shay, Folk Music with Gene Shay
WXPN, Philadelphia, PA

11:42-11:52: Roy Schneider with Kimberly Mayfield
Presented by: Ken Batista, An American Sampler
WYEP, Pittsburgh, PA
Alternate: Emily Pinkerton

A popular AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot featuring a few singing folk DJs (Jim Colbert, Barbara and Graham Dean, Wanda Fischer, Mike Holliday and Jon Stein) and some three-dozen artists follows the Folk DJ Showcase, as do other guerilla showcases.

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: In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases during the NERFA Conference, I will be moderating two panel discussions focusing on social media.Another article about the conference will be posted later this fall. I also serve as vice president of NERFA’s board of directors.

More than 200 people have registered for the FARM Gathering that provides useful and enjoyable learning and networking opportunities, not to mention plenty of fine listening and performing opportunities for artists, presenters, agents and managers, folk DJs, and others engaged in the folk music field.

Booking gigs is a primary objective of some performers who attend these annual conferences, while many presenters and folk DJs come primarily to scout out new artists and those who they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the FARM Gathering, like that of other Folk Alliance International regional conferences, is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections and building an acoustic community.

Official showcase artists, selected by a panel of judges to perform during this year’s Gathering, include Ben Bedford (Springfield, IL), Ruth & Max Bloomquist (Muskegon, MI), Jon Brooks (Toronto, Ontario), Chad Elliott (Coon Rapids, IA), Lac La Belle (Detroit, MI), Mike Mangione and the Union (Cedarburg, WI), Shelley Miller (Chicago, IL), Karyn Oliver (New York, NY), Jenn Rawling & Basho Parks (Portland, OR), Red Tail Ring (Kalamazoo, MI), SONiA of disappear fear (Baltimore, MD), Heather Styka (Chicago, IL), Sultans of String (Toronto, Ontario), and Jack Williams (West Fork, AR).

A Midwest Folk Radio Presents showcase, modeled after the popular Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase that takes place during the annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference, is slated for Thursday night. Participating artists, along with the names of the folk DJs who chose them, include: Laura Joy (Al Kniola, WVPE), Donna Herula (Sue Kessell, WNUR), Daniel Boling (Wayne Greene, radiowayne.com), Gloria Attoun (Steve Jerrett, KOPN), Lyal Strickland (Emily Higgins, KSMU), Amy Dixon-Kolar (Lilli Kuzma, WDCB), Greg Klyma (Rob Reinhart, WDET/“Acoustic Café”), and The True Falsettos (Jim Hall, WLNZ).

Friday and Saturday afternoons will feature an array of workshops and panel discussions, while the evenings’ official showcases will be followed by Performance Lane (an open mic of sorts featuring select artists who are not performing in juried showcases), private showcases hosted by conference attendees in their hotel rooms, jams, song circles and community singing that extend into the early morning hours.

In addition to Gorka’s songwriting master class, workshops will cover such topics as booking, publicity, social networking, lightening things up, and learning to play slide guitar. Singer-songwriter Jack Williams will conduct one on “Doing Almost Everything Yourself,” while a panel of folk DJs and other music industry professionals will offer their critiques of songs following quick listens during an “On the Griddle” session.

The FARM Gathering concludes on Sunday at noon, following a continental breakfast and a membership meeting.

A nonprofit organization for those engaged in traditional, contemporary and multicultural folk music, dance and related performing arts, FARM (www.farmfolk.org) is a regional arm of Folk Alliance International, which seeks to strengthen and advance organizational and individual initiatives through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.

Having experienced a growth in attendance over the past couple of years, FARM has moved to larger quarters this year and also extended the conference’s time frame. Like other regional conference, the annual FARM Gathering provides useful and enjoyable learning and networking opportunities, not to mention plenty of fine listening and performing opportunities for performing artists, presenters, agents and managers, folk DJs, folk societies and clubs, media, and others engaged in the folk music field; they are not intended for casual folk fans.

Booking gigs is the primary objective of some performers who attend these annual conferences, while many presenters and folk DJs come primarily to scout out new artists and those who 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 and building an acoustic community.

Official showcase artists performing at this year’s Gathering include Gloria Attoun, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, The Cattails, Debra Cowan, Curtis & Loretta, Amy Dixon-Kolar, Gregory Doyle-Andrews, Mark Dvorak, Tom Kastle, Eric Lambert, Doug Spears and Tangleweed. The showcases are slated for Friday and Saturday nights from 8-10 p.m.

In addition, Concerts In Your Home, which promotes the concept of house concerts to artists and music lovers across the U.S. and beyond, will present a special invitational showcase on Thursday night. Featured artists will include Jeanne T. Arrigo, Floyd King & the Bushwackers, The Edward Groves Band, Barb Barton, Claudia Schmidt, Jan Krist & Jim Bizer, Heather Styka, Beaucoup Shakti, Zach, Joe Jencks, and The Henhouse Prowlers. Artists not performing in juried showcases will be afforded opportunities to strut their stuff during Performance Lane, an open mic of sorts that takes place both during the afternoon and in the evening following the formal showcases. Requests for Performance Lane slots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Late-night jamming and song circles, and daytime workshops and panel discussions also are on tap. Among the workshop and panel topics are “Bore No More: How to Add Snap, Crackle and Zing to Your Musical Performances,” “The Healing Power of Sad and Tragic Songs in Traditional and Original Music,” “Songs of Action in a Couch Potato World,” and “Wearing Two Hats: Performers as Presenters.” Annie Capps, who organized the panels and also serves on FARM’s board of directors, will help facilitate an open discussion on social networking. Fran Snyder, a Lawrence, Kansas-based singer-songwriter and founder of Concerts in Your Home, will be among the panelists discussing “The Growing Importance of House Concerts.”

Although there is no exhibition hall, attendees are welcome to display promotional materials (free of charge) in designated areas. Both a la carte (“Taste of FARM”) and all-inclusive conference registration is available. For more information and registration forms, visit www.farmfolk.org.

FARM is part of the larger Folk Alliance International, an association that aims 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.