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/.

“Gathering in person after two years of making connections though our online events is going to be so lovely,” said Dalis Allen, SWRFA’s executive director and longtime conference coordinator. “Everyone is so excited! We have many new folks attending – joining our team of folks that have continued to make our SWRFA conference the welcoming event that it is.”

Prior to the official start of the conference on Thursday, folks will converge on Austin’s NeWorlDeli on Wednesday night for a party and meet & greet during which many registered artists will e afforded an opportunity to perform a song. Similarly, there will be an open mic during a pool party at the Holiday Inn-Midtown, the conference’s host hotel, on Thursday night, along with a meal courtesy of Berkalin Records. Prior to the pool party, there will be several panels during the mid-late afternoon.

Performing Artists Will Have Lots of Opportunities to Showcase Their Talents; Official Showcases are Open to the Public on Friday and Saturday Nights

A number of unplugged in-room showcases will follow the Official Showcases on Friday and Saturday overnight from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com’s in-room showcase on Saturday overnight will feature a Midnight Hoot preceded by several song swaps. Although the online publication for the folk, roots and singer-songwriter communities has hosted showcases at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) and Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) conferences for many years, this marks the first time it is doing so during a SWRFA conference. A popular annual event at NERFA conferences since 2007, the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot at the SWRFA conference will feature two-dozen artists/acts — each performing one song between midnight and 2 a.m. A house band is available to accompany any artists on request.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

10:30 Song Swap: Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale, Shanna in a Dress

11:00 Song Swap: George Ensle, Tim Grimm

11:30 Texas Troubadours: Brian Kalinec, Randy Palmer, Joel White

12:00 AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot – Part 1
(One song per artist/act; order subject to change.)

Taylor Pie, Nancy K. Dillon, Michael Henchman, Libby Koch, Ken Gaines, Karyn Oliver, Jake Farr, Grace Morrison, Sarah Pierce, Kacey & Jenna, Roxi Copland, Erin Ivey

House Band: Merel Bregante (percussion), John Inman and Brian Kalinec (guitars)

1:00 AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot – Part 2
(One song per artist/act; order subject to change.)

Ryan Biter, Deidre McCalla, Carl Solomon, Carla Ulbrich, Vanessa Lively & Ben Bedford, Claudia Gibson, Alicia Stockman, Natalie Price, Carolyn Shulman, Dan Weber, Lynn McCracken

House Band: Merel Bregante (percussion), John Inman and Brian Kalinec (guitars)

The conference wraps up with an extended Sunday brunch during which songwriters who drew a random song assignment/topic upon picking up their credentials at the outset of the conference, will share the songs that they wrote over the weekend. “Getting to listen to the songs written during the conference from a prompt is still one of my very favorite things I do all year,” said Allen. Many artists and other conference attendees share her sentiments and have made the song-sharing event a longtime conference highlight.

SWRFA (swfolkalliance.org) is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International, a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. SWRFA includes the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Editor’s Note: Besides hosting a late-night song swaps and a midnight hoot during the SWRFA conference, I will assist PuffBunny Records (an indie label for which I provide PR counsel and services) with its in-room showcase and Taylor Pie with a Q & A following the screening of Nobody Famous, an award-winning documentary about her and the 1960s folk-pop trio Pozo Seco Singers of which she was the lead singer and a founding member (along with Don Williams and Lofton Kline). I also will take part in a panel discussion on showcasing and offer some mentoring sessions on various PR, social media and strategic communications topics. I am a board member of Folk Alliance International and NERFA.

The regional events provide useful and enjoyable learning and networking opportunities, not to mention plenty of listening and performing opportunities for artists, presenters, agents and managers, DJs, and others engaged in the folk music field. Booking gigs is a primary objective of some performing artists 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, these conferences are much more than that – they are really about forging connections and building community.

FARM Gathering in Illinois to Feature 14 Official Showcase Artists/Acts

The 14 artists/acts slated to perform during Official Showcases at the 2022 FARM Gathering on the evenings of October 21 and 22 are (listed alphabetically by last name or group name) Basset, Buffalo Rose, Sienna Christie, Djangophonique, Gina Forsyth, Ben Gage, Tim Grimm, House of Hamill, Jordan Hamilton, Donna Herula Trio, Spencer LaJoye, Annie Mack, Steam Machine, and Rupert Wates. Named as alternates were Tret Fure and Kelly Hunt featuring Stas Heaney. They were chosen from among nearly 170 entries. The FARM Gathering extends from October 20-23 at Doubletree Lisle Naperville in Lisle, Illinois -– near Chicago. Conversations and workshops during this year’s gathering will focus around themes of inclusion through song, storytelling, and community building. Grammy Award-winner Dom Flemons, The American Songster, will deliver a keynote address. While last year’s conference took place solely online, the 2022 Gathering will feature a combination of in-person and virtual content. For more information, visit farmfolk.org.

SWRFA Taps 16 Artists/Acts for its Official Showcases in Austin, Texas

SWRFA will host eight official showcases on Friday night, September 23 and another eight on Saturday night, September 24. The showcasing artists are listed below in order of performance (subject to change if needed). Sept. 23: Jean Rohe, David Starr, Karyn Oliver, Noah Zacharin, Deidre McCalla, Grace Morrison, Javier Jara, and Violet Bell. Sept. 24: Vanessa Lively, Erin Ivey, George Ensle, Shanna in a Dress, Abigail Lapell, Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale, Natalie Price, and Justin Farren. The Official Showcases will be held in the ballroom at the Holiday Inn-Midtown in Austin, Texas. In addition, an Alternates Official Showcase featuring Alicia Stockman, Beth//James, Ryan Biter, Leeann Atherton, Jason Erie, and Wild Ponies will take place in another room at the hotel following a pool party on Thursday night, September 22. The 23rd Annual SWRFA Conference extends from September 21-25. For more information, visit swfolkalliance.org.

A Bit About FAI, NERFA and Other Regional Affiliates

Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA.org), which draws the largest number of people to its annual conferences of any FAI region, will announce its juried Formal Showcase artists in August. Its conference is slated for November 10-13 in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with Formal Showcases at the legendary Stone Pony. A hybrid event, much of the NERFA conference will also be livestreamed. Although NERFA is no longer accepting applications for its in-person formal showcases, conference attendees (in-person and virtual) may still apply for virtual showcases until August 15. Artists must be registered for the conference in order to do so.

Folk Alliance Region-West (FAR-West) has opted not to host a conference this year, while Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) annual conference attendees converged on Black Mountain, North Carolina in May and will again.

Folk Alliance International (folk.org) — which hosts its 35th annual conference, February 1-5, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri — is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through preservation, presentation and promotion. Its conference theme is Facing the Future: Sustainability on Folk Music.

Editor’s Note: I serve on the boards of directors of both Folk Alliance International and NERFA and am a past president of NERFA. I have been a workshop presenter, moderator and/or mentor at FAI, FARM virtual, FAR-West, NERFA and SERFA conferences and will be participating in this year’s SWRFA conference. I am not involved in the selection of juried showcase artists, although I host late-night showcases under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com at conferences.

Appearing in this year’s Emerging Artist Showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance): Answer the Muse, James Lee Baker, Suzie Brown, Wes Collins, Scott Cook, Corner House, Karen Dahlstrom, Sarah Eide, Roger Street Friedman, GoldenOak, Hawthorn, Lara Herscovitch, Kaiti Jones, Travis Knapp, Grace Morrison, Mosa, Zoe Mulford, Karyn Oliver, The Promise is Hope, River Run, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Ellen Shae, Deborah C. Smith, and Dan Weber. Named as alternates were South for the Winter, Shawna Caspi, Jim Allyn, and Banjo Nickaru. 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 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 Quarter Horse, Solebello and Justin Farren.

An opportunity to be seen and heard in a large amphitheater setting, with hundreds of folk fans, presenters, agents, media and other music industry professionals in attendance, the showcase was open to all performing artists who have not previously showcased their talents at Falcon Ridge in the last two years and who will not be appearing on its stages in any other capacity this year. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges looked for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material that need not be original. This year’s judges were Bruce Swan and Louise Baker from Baker Booking and WPKN (Bridgeport, CT) working as a team, Bruce Martin from Blues Café in Southbury, CT, and Pam Robinson from The Folk Project and curator of he New Jersey Uke Fest.

Artists slated to perform during the festival – in addition to those in the Most Wanted Song Swap — include Michael Allman & the Mile High Band, Annie & the Hedonists, Bettman & Halpin, BoDeans, Buddy System, Jim & Madeline Christensen, Emma’s Revolution, The Gaslight Tinkers, The Ivy Vie Players, Martyn Joseph, Stephen Kellogg, Low Lily, G,eorge Marshall with Wild Asparagus, Crys Mathews, Pamela Means Band, Mid-City Acres, Beth Molaro, Mustard’s Retreat, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Patti O’Brien Melita, Pete’s Posse, Kerri Powers, Paul Rosenberg, Rowan Brothers, Ryanhood, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Storycrafters, Tame Rutabaga, Andrew VanNorstrand, Kathryn Wedderburn, and Annie Wenz. The Falcon Ridge House Band — featuring Rad Lorkovic, Mark Dann and Eric Lee –also will be on hand to accompany a number of other artists.

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 at the Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, Pirate Camp and elsewhere. Singer-songwriters Terry Kitchen and Tony Kearney host the Nite Owl Swap and Nite Owl Hoot.

More information can be found and tickets for the festival may be ordered at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Editor’s Note: I have attended the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival each summer almost since its inception. It was an honor to serve as an Emerging Artist Showcase judge last year. For nearly a decade, I also arranged and hosted late-night song swaps at Falcon Ridge under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com in partnership with Tribes Hill and, later, Pirate Camp. While I continue to camp with friends at Pirate Camp, I have enjoyed visiting various campsites and checking out a number of artists who are new to me over the past several years.

Lisa Bastoni (Northampton, MA), Liv Greene (Washington, DC), Scott Mulvahill (Nashville, TN), Daniel Neihoff (Paducah, KY), D.b. Rielly (New York, NY), and Aaron Smith (Harrison, AR), will each perform 20-minute sets during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners concert at the festival on Sunday afternoon, June 2, and will receive cash honorariums and other prizes. They were selected as 2019 New Folk Winners by songwriters Joe Crookston, Ellis Delaney and Rebecca Loebe who served as judges. More than 500 songwriters had initially submitted entries.

Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk Concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles. It is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America.

“New Folk is our way of finding new, exciting, excellent songwriters from around the world,” said Dalis Allen, producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival. “Our line-up every year is full of artists who have remained a part of the festival long after their first introduction in the competition.”

Kerrville, completing its 48th year, extends through Sunday, June 9. Besides concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, late-night and afternoon song circles and jam sessions at various campsites, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe and kayak trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a three-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops. For more information, visit www.kerrville-music.com. A listing of all of this year’s New Folk Finalists was included in a previously posted article: https://acousticmusicscene.com/2019/04/16/2019-kerrville-new-folk-finalists-announced/

Justin Farren is Top Winner in Songwriter Serenade

Neihoff was also among the winners in the 13th annual Songwriter Serenade that took place on May 4 in Moravia, TX. First-Place honors in that competition went to Justin Farren, a Sacramento, California-based singer-songwriter, who was also a 2016 Kerrville New Folk Winner and is one of the “Most Wanted to Return” artists at this summer’s upcoming Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, NY, following audience voting after last year’s Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase. He was chosen from among 15 semi-finalists in the Songwriter Serenade by a panel of judges who evaluated them based on lyrics (imagery, story, creativity, and originality), melody (structure, phrasing, and rhythm), and performing ability (vocals, musicianship), as well as stage presence/audience rapport.

Taking second through seventh place, respectively, were Scott White, Wyatt Espalin, Daniel Neihoff, Kyle Donovan, Kora Feder, and Scott Marin. In eighth through 15th – in alphabetical order – were Hilary Adamson, Helene Cronin, Teghan Devon, 
Jackson Emmer, Claudia Gibson, 
Keith Larsen, 
John Statz, and
Alicia Stockman. Prize monies were awarded to all of the finalists.

Singer-songwriters Mary Bragg (last year’s first-place winner), Susan Gibson and Walt Wilkins judged the Songwriter Serenade.

An opportunity to be seen and heard in a large amphitheater setting, with hundreds of folk fans, presenters, agents, media and other music industry professionals in attendance, the showcase is open to all performing artists who have not previously showcased their talents at Falcon Ridge in the last two years and who will not be appearing on its stages in any other capacity this year. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges will look for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material that need not be original.

Selected artists, to be notified by June 10, will be assisted by a stage and sound crew and may have their mailing lists, CDs and other merchandise available in the festival’s sales tent. Their names will also appear in the festival program book. 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. There is a $20 showcase application fee. Artists may submit materials online via Submittable: https://showcasefalconridgefolkfestival.submittable.com.

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 next year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap. This year’s Most Wanted Song Swap will feature Quarter Horse, Carolann Solebello and Justin Farren.

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, takes place August 2-4, 2019 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 (including 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.1, featuring locally grown food, drink and artisanal items, along with performances by a number of artists from 5-11 p.m. on The Lounge Stage presented by Tribal Mischief Productions.

Artists slated to perform during the festival – in addition to those in the Most Wanted Song Swap — include Michael Allman & the Mile High Band, Annie & the Hedonists, Bettman & Halpin, BoDeans, Buddy System, Jim & Madeline Christensen, Emma’s Revolution, The Gaslight Tinkers, The Ivy Vine Players, Martyn Joseph, Stephen Kellogg, Low Lily, George Marshall with Wild Asparagus, Crys Mathews, Pamela Means Band, Mid-City Acres, Beth Molaro, Mustard’s Retreat, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Patti O’Brien Melita, Pete’s Posse, Kerri Powers, Paul Rosenberg, Rowan Brothers, Ryanhood, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Storycrafters, Tame Rutabaga, Andrew VanNorstrand, Kathryn Wedderburn, and Annie Wenz. The Falcon Ridge House Band — featuring Rad Lorkovic, Mark Dann and Eric Lee –also will be on hand to accompany a number of other artists.

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 at the Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, Pirate Camp and elsewhere. Singer-songwriters Terry Kitchen and Tony Kearney host the Nite Owl Swap and Nite Owl Hoot.

Early-bird three-day festival tickets priced at $160 with camping or $115 without camping are available through May 15 and rise in cost incrementally after then. Children 12 and under will be admitted free with an adult, while three-day tickets for teenagers, ages 13-18, are $95 and $65, respectively. Single-day tickets are also available. Gates open for campers on Wednesday afternoon, July 31. More information can be found at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Appearing in this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase are (listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance):

Ari & Mia (Jamaica Plain, MA), Orly Bendavid (Brooklyn, NY), Burns and Kristy (Ithaca, NY), Sam Luke Chase (Braintree, MA), Andrew Delaney (Arlington, TX), Kyle Donovan (Hygiene, CO), EFRAT (Woodbridge, NJ), Nicolas Emden (Brookline, MA), Emerald Rae ((Ashburnham, MA), Justin Farren (Sacramento, CA), 5J Barrow (Kerhonkson, NY), Ian Flanigan (Saugerties, NY), Kyle Hancharick (Warwick, NY), Amy Kucharik (Somerville, MA), Mike Laureanno (Providence, RI), Eliza Novello (Milton, NY), Oliver The Crow (Nashville, TN), Quarter Horse (Selden, NY), Jude Roberts (Woodstock, NY), Katherine Rondeau (Burlington Township, NJ), Dan Santos (Glendale, MA), Carolann Solebello (Brooklyn, NY), Devan Tracy (Washington, DC), and Rupert Wates (New York, NY). In addition, the following three artists/acts were unable to accept this year’s invitation to showcase their talents: AMISTAT (Melbourne, Australia), Jaime Harris (Austin, TX), and Swearingen & Kelli (Brentwood, TX)

This year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase performers were selected by a panel that included Sarah Craig (Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY), Michael Kornfeld (AcousticMusicScene.com and Folk Music Society of Huntington) and Peter Shafran (River Spirit Music). The showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se, although the audience will be surveyed as to which showcase 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 The End of America, Ryanhood and Heather Aubrey Lloyd.

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, now in its 30th year, will take place August 3-5 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.2, 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 Adam Ezra Group, The Gaslight Tinkers, Vance Gilbert, John Gorka, racy Grammer, Greg Greenway, Kim & Reggie Harris, The Kennedys, Laura Love, Magpie, Dan Navarro, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Tom Paxton & The Don Juans, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Jason Spooner Band, The Storycrafters, Tempest, Sloan Wainwright, Annie Wenz, and Dar Williams, among others. The Falcon Ridge House Band — featuring Rad Lorkovic, Mark Dann and Eric Lee –also will be on hand to accompany a number of other artists.

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 at the Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, Pirate Camp and elsewhere. Singer-songwriters Terry Kitchen and Tony Kearney host the Nite Owl Swap and Nite Owl Hoot.

Three-day festival tickets are $170 with camping or $125 without camping through July 10 and rise by $25 after then. Single -day tickets also are available. Gates open for campers on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 1. More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Editor’s Note: It was an honor to be among the three judges for this year’s Emerging Artists Showcase and a pleasure to listen to songs submitted by so many talented artists – many of whom I was not previously familiar. Regrettably, only 24 of the entrants could be selected for this showcase opportunity.

Although I 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 again this year. I enjoyed visiting various campsites and checking out a number of artists who were new to me over the past two years and plan to do so again. I’m coordinating the free, daylong Huntington Folk Festival on Long Island, NY on the Sunday prior to Falcon Ridge.

The ten finalists selected by a panel of judges, based on both their songwriting craft and the presentation of their songs, are Hannah Bethel (Tennessee), Kevin Chambers (Tennessee), Nathan Evans Fox (Texas), Mike Laureanno (Rhode Island), Heather Mae (Washington, DC), Tom Meny (Texas), Emmeline Miles (Texas), Emily Scott Robinson (Texas), Marilyn Rucker (Texas), and Mike P. Ryan (Virginia).

After showcasing their talents on Saturday, May 20, four of the finalists will receive $500 each and will perform in a 75-minute spotlight round on Sunday afternoon, while $100 will be awarded to the remaining six. All ten finalists will also be invited to perform sets on the festival’s Courtyard Stage.

Other artists slated to perform on the Singer Songwriter Stage during the festival include Albert and Gage, Rj Cowdery, Joe Crookston (who also presents a day-long songwriting workshop on Friday that’s limited to 30 students), Jon Christopher Davis, Justin Farren, The Flyin’ A’s, John Fullbright, Butch Hancock, Shake Russell and Michael Hearne with Mike Roberts, Ryanhood, 2-Bit Palomino, and Beth Wood.

In addition to its Singer Songwriter and Courtyard Stages, Wildflower! will feature several other stages with an eclectic array of musical artists (ranging from rockers The B-52s and Lynyrd Skynrd to southern country rockers The Outlaws, folk-rockers Orleans, and soulful blues and folk singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster), as well as the Wild! Marketplace, a Taste of Texas Food Garden, a Kidz Korner family area and petting zoo, strolling entertainers, and more.

Three-day festival passes may be purchased online for $65, while single-day adult tickets are available for $30 online and $40 at the gate. For more information, including performance schedules and a ticket link, visit www.wildflowerfestival.com.

Songwriters may send two original songs (written after Jan. 1, 2015) on a home-burned CD to the Kerrville Folk Festival office, email them in .mp3 format along with a completed entry form, or submit them online via Sonicbids. The entry fee is $25. Official guidelines, along with entry information and forms, are posted at www.kerrvillefolkfestival.org/new-folk.

Six songwriters will be named as 2017 New Folk Winners after performing, along with 26 other finalists, in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Concerts in May at the Threadgill Theater on the Quiet Valley Ranch Campgrounds. A Kerrville New Folk Winners concert is slated for Sunday, June 4.
The six songwriters named as winners in last year’s competition were Addie Brownlee, Ben De La Cour, Justin Farren, Rachel Laven, Emily Scott Robinson and Joe Shields.

Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk Concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles. It is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. In addition to receiving cash awards and additional performance opportunities, being named as a New Folk Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

Addie Brownlee (Brooklyn, NY), Ben de la Cour (Nashville, TN), Justin Farren (Sacramento, CA), Rachel Laven (San Antonio, TX), Emily Scott Robinson (Chattanooga, TN) and Joe Shields (Alto, MI) will each perform 20-minute sets during a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winners concert at the festival on Sunday afternoon, June 5, and will receive cash honorariums and other prizes.

Established in 1972 at the urging of Peter Yarrow, the Kerrville New Folk Concerts have become a highlight of the annual festival that is geared towards singer-songwriters of various musical styles and is the longest continuously running festival of its kind in North America. Being named as a New Folk Winner is regarded as a very prestigious honor.

In addition to concerts each evening, Kerrville features “Ballad Tree” song-sharing sessions, campfire jam sessions, concerts and activities for children, organized canoe trips on the Guadelupe River and Hill Country bike rides, a professional development program for teachers, as well as a three-day songwriters school and instrumental workshops. The festival extends through Sunday, June 12. For more information, visit www.kerrville-music.com.