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

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, several 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).

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 second consecutive year at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.

Jeff Place, Archivist and Curator for the Smithsonian Folklife Center, to Deliver Keynote Address

Keynoting this year’s conference is Jeff Place, a Grammy Award-winning archivist and curator, who has been with the Smithsonian Folklife Center’s Ralph Rinzler Folkilfe Archives and Collections in Washington, DC since 1988. He was among the producers and writers of the acclaimed 1997 edition of the Anthology of American Folk Music (about which he’ll also lead a workshop), as well as The Best of Broadside, 1962-1988 (2000). Place oversees the cataloging of the Center’s collections and has been engaged in the compilation of more than 60 CDs of American music for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Among them are the LeadBelly Legacy Series, Lead Belly Sings for Children, the Pete Seeger American Favorite Ballads series; and The Asch Recordings (Woody Guthrie). He produced and co-authored (with Robert Santelli) the acclaimed publication and CD box set Woody at 100 and helped to curate the traveling Woody Guthrie exhibition This Land is Your Land, among others.

Afternoon Programming Includes Workshops and Panel Discussions, Song Circles and Mentoring

An array of workshops and panel discussions will include “Adversity, Art and Heart: Songwriting in a Changing World,” “Ask the Radio Promoters,” “Beyond High Lonesome: What Can Bluegrass Teach Us,” “Booking from the Ground Up,” “Building Your Indie National Team,” “Crowd Funding and the Art of Asking,” “Folk Music in the Southern West Virginia Coalfields,” “The Folk Music Legacy of Black Mountain and Swannanoa,” “Mailbox Money: Adventures in Licensing,” “New Options for Remote Recording,” “Setting Up for an Album Release,” Vocal Techniques for Performers,” “A Workshop for Women & Men About Women in the Guitar World,” and “Yoga to Energize Your Stage Presence & Strengthen Your Voice.”

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be “think tanks” on Growing and Nurturing Your Venue and A Post-CD World, a Wisdom of the Elders session, several thematic song circles, and one-on-one mentoring sessions during the daytime hours.

Evenings to Feature Dozens of Artists in Official and Private Showcases

Slated to present official showcases on Friday evening, May 5 are (in order of appearance) Javier Jara, Rod Abernethy, Sheila Kay Adams and Susan Pepper, The Rough and Tumble, Greg Greenway, Clare Cunningham, Abigail Dowd, and Scott Cook and Pamela Mae. Saturday’s official showcase lineup features Wyatt Easterling, Deidre McCalla, Ben Gage, Flagship Romance, Grace Morrison, Daniel Neihoff, Blue Cactus, and Bob Sinclair and the Big Deals.

Following the official showcases on Friday and Saturday, as well as an open mic on Thursday, late-night private showcases will take place in various meeting rooms for several hours. Although AcousticMusicScene.com has had a presence at SERFA conferences since 2011, it will not be hosting late-night song swaps this year.

Editor’s Note: An active participant in SERFA conference since 2011, I will again be a mentor offering advice and counsel on various aspects of PR, social media and strategic communications. I served on the board of directors of Folk Alliance International from 2014 until earlier this year and am also a past president and former longtime board member of Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA).

The official showcases take place Friday and Saturday evenings from 7:15-10:15 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. Unplugged guerrilla 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 couple of film screenings and Q & A sessions, several thematic song circles, an open mic, peer group and one-on-one 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.

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. Formed in 2002, 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. SERFA has produced an annual conference since 2008. Its conference’s move to Black Mountain this year marks a return of sorts. Prior to the event’s move to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2019, it had taken place for eight consecutive years at the Montreat Conference Center, a few miles down the road and also nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted SERFA– like other FAI regional affiliates – to pivot to an online event last year, SERFA in Session: A Virtual Gathering.

Acclaimed Songwriter Thomm Jutz to Deliver Keynote Address

Named Songwriter of the Year in 2021 by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Thomm Jutz (pronounced “Yootz”) has written a number of bluegrass hits and his songs have been recorded by Balsam Range, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, and The SteelDrivers, among others. A native of Germany who has called Nashville home for many years, Jutz toured with such artists as Griffith, Mary Gauthier, David Olney, and Kim Richey; built a recording studio and produced albums for other artists – including Country Music Hall of Famers Bill Anderson and Mac Wiseman. He received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album in 2020 for To Live in Two Worlds, Volume 1 and is featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s American Currents exhibit, which is slated to extend from 2022-2023.

Afternoon Programming Includes Workshops, Film Screenings, Song Circles, Wisdom of the Elders, and More

Nearly 20 workshops and panel discussions will delve into such topics as African-American contributions to Southern Appalachian music and dance, basics of piedmont picking, creating in community: the Jack Hardy Songwriters Exchange method, expanding our folk community, free-range folklore: an introduction to the Music Maker method, getting the gig and being invited back, the magic of collaboration, media coverage and strategy, music off the radar: making money and making a difference, simple measures for drastic guitar playing improvement, social media & fan engagement, songwriter residencies, and trends in folk radio and radio promotion.

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be screenings of two recent music documentaries – The Mountain Minor and Nobody Famous – followed by Q & A sessions, as well as a Wisdom of the Elders session, several thematic song circles (songs of joy, struggle, place, and the environment), and one-on-one mentoring sessions during the afternoons.

The Mountain Minor is an award-winning narrative feature film that provides an authentic and respectful glimpse of Appalachian culture, music and history; of the joys and challenges experienced by the folks who have kept traditional mountain music alive. Loosely based on a true story, the film follows five generations of a family from their roots in eastern Kentucky in 1932 to a stage in Cincinnati, Ohio today as told by a man who yearns to return to his Kentucky home after migrating with his family to southwest Ohio during the Great Depression. Written-and directed by Dale Farmer (himself an old-time musician) and produced by Susan Pepper, a Cincinnati native now based in North Carolina, the film notably features traditional Appalachian musicians in acting roles. Among them are The Tillers, Smithsonian Folkways artist Elizabeth LaPrelle, banjoist and fiddler Dan Gellert, and Pepper herself. Following a series of festival screenings, The Mountain Minor had a limited theatrical run in late 2019-early 2020 due to the pandemic. It has aired on some public television stations and is available for home viewing.

Named Best Documentary in the 2021 New Jersey Film Festival and Best Music Documentary in the Seattle Film Festival earlier this year, Nobody Famous is set against the backdrop of the socially and politically volatile 1960s and traces the quick rise and ready fall of the folk-pop trio Pozo Seco Singers as folk music’s zeitgeist gives way to the heavy rhythm of rock & roll. Nobody Famous features Taylor Pie (Susan Taylor), who helped form the trio with Don Williams in the early 1960s and has been a solo singer-songwriter and musician since it disbanded. As Taylor Pie – then fresh from her first year in college – recounts today, while Williams went on to become one of the most successful country music artists of the 20th century, she shied away from fame and fortune, instead choosing to “go where the folk wind blows” – embracing her own path, her own unique artistry, and her own individual identity in the process.

Dozens of Artists to be Featured in Official and Guerilla Showcases

Following the official showcases (as well as on Thursday overnight), late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various rooms for several hours. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at the SERFA Conference since 2011, will host late-night song swaps and a midnight hoot (featuring two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song) on Thursday, May 12, overnight. The AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged, round-robin song swap, a three-plus-hour version of which has been a popular staple at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conferences since 2007, will feature two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song. The Midnight Hoot 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 each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

11 p.m. PuffBunny Records Songswarm: Taylor Pie, Nancy K. Dillon,Nicholas Edward Williams

11:30 p.m. Texas!: Andrew Delaney, Claudia Gibson, Scott Martin

12:00 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot, Part 1:

(one song each, not necessarily in order of appearance)

Antonio Andrade, Ashley & Simpson, Meg Braun, Matt Burke, Cheryl

Cawood, Emerald Rae, Kala Farnham, Alice Hasen, Lara Herscovitch,

Lucy Isabel, Rob Lytle, Karyn Oliver

1:00 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot, Part 2:

(one song each, not necessarily in order of appearance)

Amy & Mike Aiken, Crowes Pasture, Dan & Faith, Paul Helou,

Letters To Abigail, Crys Matthews, Brant Miller, Halley Neal, Sam

Robbins, Hank Stone, Annette Wasilik, Elly Wininger

Editor’s Note: In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com guerrilla showcase and moderating the Q & A session with Taylor Pie following the screening o the award-winning documentary Nobody Famous that features her, I will be assisting PuffBunny Records (Taylor Pie’s label, for which I handle public relations) with its Friday night guerrilla showcase and an exhibit hall table. I will also again be a mentor offering advice and counsel on various aspects of PR, social media and strategic communications. A board member of Folk Alliance International, I’m a past president of Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) and continue to serve on its board of directors. I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011.

Designed “to accommodate the need to engage, promote and entertain,” the online event kicks off on Thursday night, May 20 with a Roots of the Southeast Show & Tell Party, followed by a Wisdom of the Elders panel discussion moderated by Art Menius and the first of two open mics hosted by Grady Ormsby.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier keynotes the online event on Saturday night, May 22. Initially slated to keynote last year’s conference that was cancelled due to the pandemic, she is expected to share her experiences connecting with front-line doctors and nurses who worked in COVID units over the past year and to talk about the forthcoming publication of her new book, Saved By a Song. A question and answer session will follow.

Louisa Branscomb (a songwriter and pioneering female bluegrass musician), William Ferris (a folklorist, filmmaker and current chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities), Barry Poss (founder of Sugar Hill Records), and Eddie Lynn Snodderly (a songwriter and presenter) will engage in conversation during the Wisdom of the Elders session moderated by Art Menius.

SERFA Conversations will afford folks an opportunity to discuss what the folk community and music business professionals are thinking and planning for moving forward after the ongoing pandemic subsides. Topics include Venues are Reopening – Will You Go and Post-COVID, What Do You Want Back In Your Life? What Are the New Options?

The annual SERFA Awards — established by Kari Estrin (the organization’s founding president) to recognize people, organizations and businesses that have made extraordinary contributions to folk music and the folk community in the Southeast –will be presented to Ferris, David (a musician and public television show host), Poss, and Snodderly.

And, of course, there will be plenty of music. In addition to the two virtual open mics, for which people may sign up in advance, virtual guerilla showcases will provide artists who register for the conference opportunities to perform live on the streaming platform of their choice for a $15 per- session fee.

SERFA In Session also will feature participatory Roots of the Southeast Show & Tell Party and a virtual exhibit hall. Abby Parks, a folk DJ and SERFA’s board president, will lead the organization’s short annual general business meeting that precedes the keynote.

Registration for the conference, which provides full access to all of the online activities, is available on a tiered fee scale. Visit https://serfa.org to register and for more information on the conference (including a schedule).

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. Prior to the pandemic, SERFA had hosted an annual weekend of contemporary and traditional folk music, networking and learning opportunities for 13 consecutive years.

Editor’s Note: An elected board member of Folk Alliance International and immediate past president of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance board of directors, I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011 –- hosting guerilla showcases, mentoring, and serving as a panelist.

The official showcases – for which completed applications and payment must be submitted by Feb. 29 — take place Thursday-Saturday evenings from 7- 10:30 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. Late-night guerilla showcases follow them — with many extending until 2 a.m.

Also on the agenda are daytime panel discussions and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, one-on-one and group mentoring sessions, ope mics, the SERFA Awards, an exhibit hall, and plenty of opportunities to learn, share and network.

Super early-bird registration for the conference — which includes dinners but not other meals or lodging – is priced at $220 for Folk Alliance International members and $255 for non-members, while deeper discounts are available for media, presenters and students. A rate equivalent to the super early-bird discounted one will be available to Official Showcase applicants between March 15-April 30. Conference registration forms, along with information on applying for scholarships and official showcases may be found at www.serfa.org, There is a $45 showcase application fee, and all applicants will be notified of the selections by March 15.

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. FAI’s international conference takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 22-26. SERFA serves the southeastern United States plus the Caribbean.

Editor’s Note: An elected board member of Folk Alliance International and president of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance board of directors, I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011 – hosting guerilla showcases, mentoring and serving as a panelist.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ellis Paul to Deliver Keynote Address

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

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

SERFA Awards to be Presented

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

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

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

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

Workshops and Panel Discussions Organized by Tracks

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

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

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

Official and Guerilla Showcases Abound

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

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

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

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

11:00: Todd Hoke and Jeff Talmadge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The official showcases take place Thursday-Saturday evenings from 7:15-10:30 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. In addition, the conference will include late-night guerilla showcases hosted by AcousticMusicScene.com and others from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Also on the agenda are daytime informational seminars and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, one-on-one mentoring, The SERFA Awards, two-dozen exhibitors, and plenty of opportunities to learn, share and network.

Conference attendees also can enjoy strolling around the beautiful grounds and hiking along the trails at Montreat. Indeed, Don Baker, president of SERFA’s board of directors expresses hope that attendees “will also get outside to relax and rejuvenate in the bucolic surroundings.” Built-in mid-afternoon breaks in the programming afford conference-goers opportunities to do just that.

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance. SERFA (www.serfa.org) exists to promote, develop and celebrate the diverse heritage of roots and indigenous music, dance, storytelling and related arts in the southeastern United States. Its annual conference is a primary means of doing that. This is the eighth consecutive year that it is being held at the same location — a beautiful and tranquil spot nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This year’s conference opens with a barbecue, followed by a barn dance and an open mic on Wednesday night, and concludes on Sunday morning with a farewell breakfast.

Here’s a link to a short video that provides an introduction to SERFA and its annual conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COOjr5I0TkM“>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COOjr5I0TkM

Jim Rooney to Deliver Keynote Address

Jim Rooney will deliver a keynote on Friday afternoon, May 18. A musician, club and festival presenter, recording producer and engineer, author, music publisher, and songwriter, Rooney traces his love for bluegrass back to Massachusetts in the 1950s – when he heard a band called the Confederate Mountaineers on radio station WCOP. Before long, he was on WCOP himself and hooked on performing. While at Amherst, Rooney met Bill Keith, who would be a friend and musical partner for much of the next 60 years. In 1962, they recorded “Devil’s Dream” and “Sailor’s Hornpipe, the first documentation of Bill’s chromatic style shortly before he joined the Blue Grass Boys. Over the years, Rooney and Keith collaborated frequently – including with the Blue Velvet Band, Mud Acres, and in concert tours with many others. Rooney also helped to bring such bluegrass luminaries as Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs to the attention of northern, urban audiences when he managed the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge. He also helped program the Newport Folk Festival, launched the event that evolved into New Orleans’ Jazz & Heritage Festival, and helped build Albert Grossman’s Bearsville Studio. As an author, Rooney penned the first biography of both Bill Monroe and Muddy Waters (Bossman), the first history of the Boston folk scene (Baby Let Me Follow You down, with Erik von Schmidt), and a memoir (In It For the Long Run: A Musical Odyssey). As a producer and studio engineer, he’s worked on projects with Iris DeMent, Don Edwards, Nanci Griffith, Hal Ketchum, Carl Perkins, Peter Rowan, and Ian Tyson, among others. He also helped to build a successful artist-oriented publishing house (Forerunner) with songwriters like Pat Alger, Shawn Camp, Tim O’Brien, and Barry & Holly Tashian turning out a number of country radio chart-hits. Camp and O’Brien also occasionally perform with Rooney at Nashville’s Station Inn as Rooney’s Irregulars.

Rooney, Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz, and Michael Stock to Receive Awards

An Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award and IBMA Distinguished Service Award recipient, Rooney also will be among the recipients of awards from SERFA in recognition of extraordinary contributions to folk music and the folk music community in the Southeast.

Also being honored are traditional folk artists Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz and longtime folk DJ Michael Stock.

Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz are longtime West Virginia residents who have performed traditional folk music separately and together. Since meeting 30 years ago at Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp in upstate New York, they have wrapped their songs in stories of the people and places of the music – transporting audiences to another time when life was simpler and families were held close. They have appeared in concert and at festivals throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom and also teach southern traditional singing a several music camps during the summer. Hawker & Schwarz have released two albums together. Hawker, who grew up in rural Virginia as part of large extended family of singers and musicians, has recorded six albums — four of them with Kay Justice. Schwarz, who was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey and New England, has more than 30 album credits. A multi-instrumentalist and singer, he was part of the New Lost City Ramblers, a vocal and instrumental folk group that helped popularize traditional string band music and introduce urban audiences to southern rural music during the 1960s and 1970s. Schwarz also joined with bandmate Mike Seeger, Alice Gerrard, Hazel Dickens and Lamar Grier – all of whom had been friends since the mid-1950s — to form the Strange Creek Singers in the late 1960s. Named after Strange Creek, WV, the group performed a mix of traditional and original songs in old-time and bluegrass styles.

Michael Stock, one of the 120 people who gathered in Malibu, California in 1989 to form what would become Folk Alliance International, has produced and hosted “Folk & Acoustic Music” every Sunday afternoon since 1981 on public radio station WLRN 91.3 FM in Miami, Florida. The show features a wide range of folk music — from bluegrass, blues and old-time to contemporary singer-songwriter and Americana — along with local and touring artist interviews and in-studio performances. Videos of more than 500 of these may be found on his YouTube channel. Stock also has been a concert promoter, operated a folk nightclub, and hosted folk music programs on cable television.

Workshops and Panel Discussions Organized by Tracks

Some three-dozen 75-minute workshops during the conference will be organized by tracks: Activism, Business for Musicians Media, Performing and Recording, Presenting, Songwriting, and Roots and Sources. Workshops and panel discussions will delve into such topics as the art of community jams and song swaps, the art of record-making, backwoods Appalachian songs and new generations, DIY touring, the folk music community and social responsibility, how to grow your audience, learning from the old songs, music in healing environments, promoting to radio, sharpening the tools in your promotional tool kit, social media, Texas country blues-style guitar, and using music for tourism development. Several workshops will focus on house concerts, while there also will be forums for presenters.

A Wisdom of the Elders session will feature Rooney, Hawker & Schwarz, and award-winning songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler. A West Virginia native, Wheeler has lived in North Carolina since 1963 — apart from a short stint in Nashville managing United Artists Music Group. His songs have been recorded by nearly 100 artists – including Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Bobby Darin, Elvis, The Kingston Trio, Kenny Rogers, and Neil Young. Among his songs are “Coal Tattoo,” “Coward of the Country,” “Jackson,” “Ode to the Little Brown shack Out Back,” “The Coming of the Roads,” and “The Rev. Mr. Black.” Wheeler also has written a dozen plays (including four outdoor dramas) and penned or co-authored several books of humor – including Laughter in Appalachia, which is now in its 13th printing. He was recently inducted into both the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Hall of Fame and is a recipient of Distinguished Alumnus awards from Warren Wilson College and Berea College.

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be one-on-one mentoring sessions, yoga, two-dozen exhibit tables, communal meals, and, of course, a lot of music. Grady Ormsby of Down East Folk Arts will host several open mics that are being dedicated to the memory of singer-songwriter Robert Bobby (Joe Milsom), a frequent conference attendee, who died earlier this year after a battle with brain cancer.

Official and Guerilla Showcases Abound

Slated to present official showcases on Thursday, May 17, are ilyAIMY, James Lee Stanley, Sarah Peacock, Rough & Tumble, The Belle Hollows, Jacob Johnson, Ernest Troost, and Suzie Vinnick. Friday’s official showcase lineup features Alan Barnosky, Jon Byrd, Beth Snapp, Escaping Pavement, Ed Snodderly, Tret Fure, Matthew Sabatella, and Piper Hayes. Saturday’s showcase artists include Louisa Branscomb with Jeanette & Johnny Williams, Rupert Wates, Brian Ashley Jones, Bill and the Belles, Edgar Loudermilk Band (featuring Jeff Autry), Jane Kramer, Greg Klyma, and David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach.

To listen to a sampler featuring songs from each of the 24 official showcase artists, click on the following link:

https://noisetrade.com/serfaartists/serfa-showcase-artists-2018

Following the official showcases, late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various meeting rooms between 10:40 p.m. and 2 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at the SERFA Conference for the past seven years, will host late-night showcases on Thursday and Friday, May 17 and 18, overnight. These will primarily take the form of song swaps.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

Thursday Night, May 17:

10:40: Friction Farm

11:00: Tennessee: Claudia Nygaard, Erin O’ Dowd and Taylor Pie

11:30: O Canada: Linda McRae, Suzie Vinnick and Noah Zacharin

12:00: Guys of Note: Alan Barnosky, Paul Helou and Chuck McDermott

12:30: Women’s Voices: Kala Farnham, Jane Kramer and Tret Fure

1:00: A Pair of Duos: Dan & Faith and Jubilant Bridge

1:30: Tunes by Todds: Todd Burge and Todd Hoke

10:40:The Belle Hollows

11:00: Marylanders: Domenic Cicala and Teghan Devon (with Emily Matteson)

11:30: Mara Levine, Dennis McDonough and Susan Shann

12:00: Guys of Note: Jacob Johnson and James Lee Stanley

12:30: Women’s Voices: Gina Holsopple, Beth Snapp and Heather Styka

1:00: Keystone Staters: Antonio Andrade and Meghan Cary

1:30: Acoustic Blues: David Jacobs-Strain & Bob Beach, Jon Shain & FJ Ventre and Ruth Wyland

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

The official showcases take place Thursday-Saturday evenings from 7-10 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. In addition, the conference will feature a keynote address by Jim Rooney, late-night guerilla showcases from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m., daytime informational seminars and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, one-on-one mentoring, The SERFA Awards, exhibit space, and plenty of opportunities to learn, share and network. Conference attendees also can enjoy strolling around the beautiful grounds and hiking along the trails at Montreat.

There is a $35 showcase application fee, and all applicants will be notified of the selections by March 15. Specific information on applying for official showcases may be found at www.serfa.org.

Early-bird registration for the conference, priced at $100 for FAI members and $125 for non-members (not including lodging and meals) extends through Jan. 31; there are deeper discounts for presenters and folk DJs. A rate equivalent to the early-bird discount will be available to official showcase applicants after March 15 so those applying for showcases by the Feb. 28 deadline should not yet register for the conference.

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a Kansas City, MO-based nonprofit organization that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance. SERFA serves the southeastern U.S. plus the Caribbean.

Here’s a link to a short video that provides an introduction to SERFA and its annual conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COOjr5I0TkM

Editor’s Note: An elected board member of Folk Alliance International and president of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance board of directors, I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011 – hosting guerilla showcases, mentoring and serving as a panelist.

Alberta, Canada-based singer-songwriter John Wort Hannam was the top winner (Gold) in the Folk-Acoustic category for his song “Ain’t Enough,” while Herndon, Virginia’s Crys Matthews took second place (Silver) for “We Must Be Free,” an adaptation of Roberta Slavit’s “Freedom is a Constant Struggle,” which appears on Matthews’ EP of social justice songs entitled Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers.

Wort Hannam’s “Ain’t Enough” also captured honorable mention in the contest’s Adult Contemporary category. The acclaimed Canadian folk and roots artist also has been a winner in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition (2007), received a 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album of the Year, and is a three-time grand prize-winner in the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Competition.

Here’s a link to view a video of John Wort Hannam performing “Ain’t Enough”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMiLtLTn9tI

Matthews, the grand prize-winner in the 2017 NewSong Music Performance and Songwriting Competition, also was recognized for several other songs in the contest. The title track of her EP was named a finalist in the contest’s open category, while she also received honorable mention in the Adult Contemporary, Country/Bluegrass, Folk-Acoustic and Folk-Rock/Americana/Roots Rock categories for “Shatterproof,” “Fall All The Way,” “By My Side,” and “The Imagineers,” respectively. The latter is the title track of her recently-released full-length album and also was the winning song in the People’s Music Network’s Social Justice Songs Showcase during the 2017 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference in Stamford, CT.

Here’s a link to a lyric video for “We Must Be Free”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_hRr-XBTQ

A list of winners, finalists and those receiving honorable mention for songs entered in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest’s folk/acoustic category follows:

Gold: John Wort Hannam (“Ain’t Enough”)
Silver: Crys Matthews, Roberta Slavit (“We Must Be Free”)
Finalists: David A. Alberding (“Dominion”), Gwen Levey (“Final Vow”), and Heather Aubrey Lloyd (“Only Baby Now”)
Honorable Mention: Lauren Spring and Scott Feldman (“Anywhere Will Do”), Crys Matthews (“By My Side”), Jim Green, Jerry Getz and Tim Crouch (“Call Anita”), Mike P. Ryan (“Darkness Falls”), Ben Eppard (“Georgia”), Tony Denikos (“Joseph Thacker’s Blues”), Susan Rowe (“Lessons in Love”), Lisa Bastoni (“Rabbit Hole”), and Heather Kenney (“Whole Life of You”).

Gold: Michael Dasher, Chip Johnson and Ryan Minton (“Pick Me Up”)
Silver: Kay Miracle (“Eight Ball”)
Finalists: Frank Hogans (“Long Hard Road to You”), James Greene (“Rock A Bye Sin”), and Abe Loomis (“Walking Down the Street in America”)
Honorable Mention: Graham McCune Stoll (“Canyonlands” and “Free and Homeward”), Laura Baron (“Catch You”), Matt Wolpe (“Come Back”), Mike P. Ryan (“Darkness Falls”), Seth Kibel (“Diversity”), Christopher Sia (“Falling is Good”), Travis Puntarelli (“Hail the Coming Day”), and Crys Matthews (“The Imagineers”)