Prior to the evening concert on the park’s [Harry] Chapin Rainbow Stage, Michael Kornfeld, president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington and editor & publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com , conducts an on-stage conversational interview with the evening’s featured artists at 7:15 p.m. He also hosts a series of amplified showcases and song swaps from 2-5 p.m. near a canopy tent on the upper lawn area overlooking the stage. These will be preceded by an hour-long open mic hosted by singer-songwriter Toby Tobias, who runs the NorthShore Original Open Mic (NOOM), an Acoustic Ally of FMSH, from 12-1 p.m. and Remembering Lois Morton: A Musical Tribute from 1-2 p.m.

From 1-2 p.m, a number of artists will perform and share their reflections on Lois Morton, the late Huntington-based singer-songwriter who delighted audiences throughout the New York metropolitan area and beyond for years with her abundant charm and humorous songs of social commentary on such subjects as cell phones, clutter, diets, psychotherapy, and road rage. Participants in this tribute will include Josie Bello, Kirsten Maxwell, Larry Moser, Richard Parr, Glen Roethel, Dave Anthony Setteducati, Linda Sussman, and others. Here’s a link to a remembrance piece about Lois Morton: https://acousticmusicscene.com/2020/12/20/lois-morton-a-witty-singer-songwriter-1933-2020/.

The complete schedule for the Huntington Folk Festival appears below:

12:00 Open Mic
1:00 Remembering Lois Morton: A Musical Tribute (performances and reflections by Josie Bello, Kirsten Maxwell, Larry Moser, Richard Parr, Glen Roethel, Dave Anthony Setteducati, Linda Sussman, and others)
2:00 Song Swap: Hank Stone and Bob Westcott
2:30 Us!
2:45 Drew Velting
3:00 Christine Sweeney
3:15 Brett Altman
3:30 Allison Leah
3:45 Sea Chanteys: The Royal Yard and Alan Short
4:15 Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale
4:30 The Levins
4:45 Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes
5:00 Dinner Break
7:15 On-Stage Conversation with Paula Cole and Sophie B. Hawkins
8:00 Evening Concert on the Chapin Rainbow Stage: Paula Cole & Sophie B. Hawkins

Festivalgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets and a picnic supper (or they can walk into Huntington Village and enjoy a meal at one of its many restaurants).

Although the Huntington Folk Festival is free, attendees are asked to bring donations of nonperishable food to support Long Island Cares, Inc., the regional food bank founded by Harry Chapin. July 16 marks the 41st anniversary of the late Huntington-based singer-songwriter, social activist and humanitarian’s tragic death on the Long Island Expressway, while this year is the 50th anniversary of the release of Chapin’s breakout hit, “Taxi.”

The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington and presented by the Huntington Arts Council. Additional support is provided by Presenting Sponsor Canon U.S.A., with partial funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning.

The NERFA Conference – being held in Stamford for the first time after outgrowing its previous location in The Catskills of upstate New York — will feature several jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, song swaps/in-the-rounds, an open mic, informal jam sessions, informative panel discussions and workshops, a keynote by singer-songwriter Christine Lavin, mentoring sessions, a large trade show-like exhibit hall, 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 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 careers, promote the music, and attract audiences and listeners.

Among the more than 30 workshops slated during the conference are a two-hour songwriting session with Tom Paxton; a Wisdom of the Elders panel featuring Nora Guthrie, Tom Rush and Noel Paul Stookey, and a panel discussion on The Folk Revival of the ‘60s moderated by AcousticMusicScene.com’s Michael Kornfeld and interspersed with performances of songs from the era by panelists David Amram and Paxton. Rush also will participate in a short Q &A session following the screening of the documentary “Tom Rush – No Regrets.” By popular demand, there will be two fast-paced 90-minute “On the Griddle” instant critique sessions. Sarah Craig will explore “The Rebirth of Caffe Lena: How We Saved America’s Longest-Running Folk Club,” while Nora Guthrie, daughter of the legendary American folksinger and songwriter, will discuss Holy Ground: Woody Guthrie’s Yiddish Connection.” During other workshops and panel discussion, attendees will learn how to build a loyal audience for their venues, spruce up their online image, strengthen their bios and news releases, make a radio-ready recording, listen for that sideman, prepare contracts, and stay healthy on the road. Singer-Songwriters Amy Soucy and Karyn Oliver will lead morning yoga sessions, while MusiCares will fit folks for custom earplugs.

Juried and Guerrilla Showcases Abound

After the formal showcases, attendees will shuffle between three conference ballrooms to catch short sets by 30 additional artists who were selected by a different set of judges. Performing in tricentric showcases on Friday night are The Brother Brothers, Cricket Blue, The Doll Sisters, Ian Foster, The Gaslight Tinkers, Manitoba Hal, Louise Mosrie, Red Tail Ring, Monica Rizzio, Ryanhood, Putnam Smith with April Reed-Cox, Carolann Solebello, Suzie Vinnick, Rupert Wates, and Dan Weber. Saturday’s Tricentric Showcase artists include Cliff Eberhardt, Freebo, Tret Fure, Connor Garvey, Dave Gunning, Heather Mae, Phil Henry Acoustic Trio, Tish Hinojosa, Kirsten Maxwell, Linda McRae, Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio, Tom Rush, Bethel Steele, Noel Paul Stookey, and Heather Styka.

Following the juried showcases each evening (as well as on Friday and Saturday afternoons), AcousticMusicScene.com will join dozens of presenters, performers and others in hosting guerilla showcases in their hotel rooms that extend through the early morning hours. Community sings, open mics, informal jam sessions, private showcases, thematic song circles and round-robin song swaps round out the musical mix. Musicians also are apt to stake out other areas of the hotel and jam until 4 or 5 a.m.


AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot Features Artists and Singing Folk DJs


An overflow crowd will likely descend on the AcousticMusicScene.com suite (2031) on Thursday overnight for its popular Midnight Hoot. Following the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase and extending from 11:45 p.m. to 3 a.m., the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged, round robin song swap featuring several singing folk DJs (Barbara and Graham Dean, Wanda Fischer and Jon Stein) and some 40 artists/acts – each performing one song.

Now in its 10th year, the Midnight Hoot is intended to shine a spotlight on several folk DJs who also enjoy singing, while providing them, presenters and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time.

A house band comprised of Mark Dann (bass), Efrat (violin), Eric Lee (violin), Marshal Rosenberg (percussion), and Nick Russo (banjo) also will be there for anyone who desires accompaniment.

As in recent years, the musical festivities in the AcousticMusicScene.com room will wrap up on Saturday overnight with an extended “O Canada” song swap. Carrying their instruments and the maple leaf, a number of talented Canadian artists will march into the room at 2 a.m. singing their national anthem.

Schedules for the AcousticMusicScene.com showcases appear below.

Thursday Night

11:45 p.m. – 3 a.m.

AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot

Featuring one song by each of the following (not listed in order of appearance)

Folk DJs: Graham & Barbara Dean, Wanda Fischer, Jon Stein

Artists: Jeremy Aaron, Antonio Andrade, Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches, The Belle Hollows, Jim Bizer & Jan Krist, Sophie Buskin, Rob Carlson, Meghan Cary: Sing Louder, Shawna Caspi, Greg Cornell and the Cornell Brothers, Cricket Blue, Vincent Cross, Crowes Pasture, Efrat, Freebo, Friction Farm, Gathering Sparks, Gathering Time, Generations: Mike & Aleksi Glick, Stuart Kabak, Brian Kalinec, Judy Kass, Ladybird, Eric Lee, Mara Levine, Gigi Love, Anna Ludlow, Kirsten Maxwell, Mike McKenna Jr., Emily Mure, Dan Navarro, Kaitlyn Raitz & Ben Plotnick, Red Tail Ring, Bill Scorzari, Hank Stone, Shawn Taylor, The End of America, The Everly Set, Avi Wisnia, The YaYas

Grassy Hill Youth Scholarship Recipients: Sara Chodak, Ayssa Dann

House Band: Mark Dann (bass), Efrat (violin), Eric Lee (violin), Marshal Rosenberg (percussion), Nick Russo (banjo)

Friday Afternoon

2:30 Long Island Sound: Rorie Kelly, Scott Krokoff, Hank Stone

3:00 Keystone Staters: Ladybird, Robert Bobby Duo, The End of America

3:30 Keystone Staters: Meghan Cary: Sing Louder, Mist-Covered Mountains, Aaron Nathans

4:00 Joan & Joni: Allison Shapira & Kipyn Martin

4:30 “I’m From New Jersey”: Sharon Goldman, Dennis McDoNoUgh!, John Sonntag

Friday Late Night

11:45 CT State Troubadours: Kate Callahan, Kristen Graves, Lara Herscovitch

12:15 Rob Carlson and Benefit Street

12:30 Funny Folk: Lois Morton, Carla Ulbrich

1:00 Strings & Songs: Banjo Nickaru & Western Scooches, Efrat

1:30 Roots-Americana – Greg Cornell & the Cornell Brothers, He-Bird, She-Bird, Pluck & Rail

2:00 Mass. Appeal – Stephanie Corby, Neale Eckstein, Eric Lee, Steven Pelland, Monica Rizzio, Jim Trick

Note: Mass. Appeal will extend until 3 a.m.

Saturday Afternoon

2:00 Maine Event: Connor Garvey, Putnam Smith (with April Reed-Cox), Sorcha, Ashley Storrow,

3:00 Pirate Camp: Generations: Mike & Aleksi Glick, Diane Perry, Hank Stone

3:30 Pirate Camp: Jacob Johnson, Elaine Romanelli. The Whispering Tree

4:00 Pirate Camp: Susan Kane, Judy Kass

4:30 Pirate Camp: Freebo, Stuart Kabak, Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio

11:45 Pesky J. Nixon

12:00 Harmonic Convergence: Mike Agranoff, Gathering Time, Mara Levine

12:30 Female Folk: Kate Copeland, Rachael Kilgour, Kirsten Maxwell

1:00 Two Trios: The Boxcar Lilies, Cole, Nakoa & Treacher

1:30 The Belle Hollows and Friction Farm

2:00 O Canada: Shawna Caspi, Durham County Poets, Ian Foster, Gathering Sparks, Irish Mythen, Erika Kulnys, Anna Ludlow, Manitoba Hal, David Newland, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Suzie Vinnick, Katherine Wheatley, The Young Novelists (Percussion: Cheryl Prashker)

Note: O Canada will extend until 3:30 a.m. or thereabouts.

One-Day On-Site Conference Registration Available

Special one-day walk-up registration rates have been established for those actively engaged in the folk music community who are unable to attend the entire conference. For $100 on Friday or $120 on Saturday, folks will receive badges entitling them to sit in on workshops and showcases and to visit the exhibit hall. Meals are not included. Workshop descriptions and showcase listings and schedules may be found online at (www.nerfa.org.

NERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International, 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.

In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases during
the NERFA Conference and moderating the Folk Revival panel discussion, I will be promoting a few artists, participating on a panel entitled Strengthening Your Bio and Press Releases, and doing some mentoring. Currently vice president of NERFA’s board of directors. I also serve on the board of Folk Alliance International.

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, now in its 27th year, takes place July 31-Aug. 2 (with a pre-fest day of music and other activities on July 30) 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.

Artists slated to perform at the festival this year include Ray Bonneville, Brother Sun, Judy Collins, The Dukhs, Ellis, IlyAIMY, Martyn Joseph, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Pesky J. Nixon, Jim Photoglo, June Rich – Reunion Tour, Garnet Rogers, Roosevelt Dime, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Storycrafters, Ralph Sweet, Annie Wenz, Susan Werner, and more.

Emerging Artists Showcase Their Talents on Friday Afternoon, July 31

As previously reported, 24 artists/duos/groups have been selected by a panel of judges to perform in this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase on Friday afternoon, July 31, from 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. Listed alphabetically by last name or name of group, not in order of appearance, they are Annika (Blauvelt, NY), Mark Allen Berube (Brooklyn, NY), Meg Braun (Nashville, TN), Josh Brooks (Vergennes, VT), Mya Byrne (New York, NY), Meghan Cary with Analog Gypsies (Erdenheim, PA), Chasing June (Rockaway, NJ), Katie Dahl (Baileys Harbor, WI), Gina Forsyth (New Orleans, LA), Matt Harlan (Houston, TX), Jay Hitt (Butler, PA), Katrin (Brookline, MA), Bernice Lewis (Williamstown, MA), Liz & the Family Tree (New York, NY), Neptune’s Car (Sutton, MA), Mason Porter (Honey Brook, PA), Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers (Fayetteville, NY), Skout (New York, NY), Teresa Storch (Longmont, CO), Jessy Tomsko (Astoria, NY), Mare Wakefield & Nomad (Nashville, TN), Dan Weber (Vancouver, WA), Camela Widad (Mechanicsburg, PA), and Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes (Jersey City, NJ).

Late-Night Musical Revelry is a Festival Highlight

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. Indeed, the late-night musical revelry is one of the festival’s true highlights, and AcousticMusicScene.com has been proud to be a part of it for a number of years – initially in partnership with Tribes Hill and, since 2012, with Pirate Camp.

The musical revelry under the AcousticMusicScene.com tent kicks-off late Thursday night, July 30, after the music ends on The Lounge Stage that is hosted by Pesky J. Nixon and friends. Pre-arranged, invitational late-night song swaps also are set for Friday and Saturday overnight after the music ends on the Main Stage. An hour-long sea chantey sing-along, led by Stuart Markus of the folk harmony trio Gathering Time, takes place on Saturday from 5-6 p.m., while spontaneous informal song circles and jams may break out at other times.

AcousticMusicScene.com @ Pirate Camp 2015

THURSDAY Overnight

11:15 Welcome & A Song for Jack Hardy: Stuart Kabak & Michael Kornfeld

11:30 Aaron Nathans & Michael Ronstadt, Hugh O’Doherty, Jude Roberts

12:00 Freebo, Davey O, Debbi Palmarini

12:30 Open Song Circle (guest host: Denise Jordan Finley)

FRIDAY Overnight

12:15 A Baker’s Dozen: Mark Allen Berube, Meg Braun, Meghan Cary with Analog Gypsies, Gina Forsyth, Cosby Gibson, Matt Harlan, Jay Hitt, Susan Kane, Bernice Lewis, Neptune’s Car, Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Teresa Storch, Dan Weber

1:15 Young Folk: Annika, Kirsten Maxwell, Hayley Reardon

1:45 Bandemonium: Pesky J. Nixon, Miles to Dayton & Friends

SATURDAY

5:00 Sea Chantey Sing (hour-long)

(Led by Stuart Markus of Gathering Time)

SATURDAY Overnight

12:15 Stu’s Picks: Monty Delaney, Mike Laureanno, Heather Pierson Trio, Don Sparks, Cecilia St. King,

1:00 Women of Song: Katie Dahl, Honor Finnegan, Rachael Kilgour, Sharon Klein, Karyn Oliver, Camela Widad

1:30 A Couple of Most Wanted Artists: Matt Nakoa, Jean Rohe

2:00 Harmonic Convergence: Gathering Time, Mara Levine, The Levins

2:30 Arggh! That’s All Mates: Mya Byrne, Stuart Kabak, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes

More than five years after Jack Hardy’s passing, Pirate Camp retains much of its initial warm spirit of camaraderie — with folks stopping by throughout the day to share a tune or just schmooze. The partnership with AcousticMusicScene.com and the addition of invitational song swaps has added a new element that is designed in part to help keep Pirate Camp alive and vibrant.

Three-day festival tickets are $180 with camping or $145 without camping. Single-day tickets are also available. Gates open for campers on Wednesday afternoon, July 29. More information, including the official festival schedule, 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): Annika (Blauvelt, NY), Mark Allen Berube (Brooklyn, NY), Meg Braun (Nashville, TN), Josh Brooks (Vergennes, VT), Mya Byrne (New York, NY), Meghan Cary with Analog Gypsies (Erdenheim, PA), Chasing June (Rockaway, NJ), Katie Dahl (Baileys Harbor, WI), Gina Forsyth (New Orleans, LA), Matt Harlan (Houston, TX), Jay Hitt (Butler, PA), Katrin (Brookline, MA), Bernice Lewis (Williamstown, MA), Liz & the Family Tree (New York, NY), Neptune’s Car (Sutton, MA), Mason Porter (Honey Brook, PA), Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers (Fayetteville, NY), Skout (New York, NY), Teresa Storch (Longmont, CO), Jessy Tomsko (Astoria, NY), Mare Wakefield & Nomad (Nashville, TN), Dan Weber (Vancouver, WA), Camela Widad (Mechanicsburg, PA), and Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes (Jersey City, NJ).

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 Caitlin Canty, Matt Nakoa, Hayley Reardon, and Jean Rohe.

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, now in its 27th year, takes place July 31-Aug. 2 (with a pre-fest day July 30) 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.

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. AcousticMusicScene.com will again host late-night music at Pirate Camp, located on the 10-Acre field. Pre-arranged unplugged late-night song swaps will take place on Friday and Saturday overnight after the music ends on the Main Stage, as well as on Thursday night after the music ends on The Lounge Stage. More information on these will be posted in July.

Three-day festival tickets are $155 with camping or $120 without camping, if purchased by June 30, and rise by $25 after then. Single-day tickets are also available. Gates open for campers on Wednesday afternoon, July 29. More information can be found at www.falconridgefolk.com.

More than 800 performing artists, presenters, promoters, agents and managers, folk DJs and others actively engaged in contemporary and traditional folk music will converge on the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, New York, Nov. 13-16, 2014, for the 20th Annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference. AcousticMusicScene.com will again have a major presence as it hosts afternoon and late-night song swaps, in addition to its popular Midnight Hoot at the close of the conference’s first day.

The NERFA Conference will feature several jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, open mics, song swaps and informal jam sessions, informative panel discussions and workshops, a keynote by acclaimed composer and multi-instrumentalist David Amram, one-on-one and group mentoring 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 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 careers, promote the music, and attract audiences and listeners.

Taking center stage during this year’s conference will be 15 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges, with each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set in the resort’s theater on Friday and Saturday nights. Slated to perform on Friday are Bobtown, Claudia Schmidt, Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Guy Mendilow Ensemble, Harpeth Rising, Dave Gunning, and David Jacobs-Strain. Saturday’s Formal Showcase lineup features Shtreimi & Ismail Fencioglu, SONiA disappear fear, Modern Man, Burning Bridget Cleary, No Fuss & Feathers Roadshow, Jory Nash, The Don Juans, and Tim Grimm Band.

After the formal showcases, attendees will shuffle between four conference rooms to catch short sets by 40 additional artists who were selected by a different set of judges. Performing in Quad Showcases on Friday night are Kristin Andreassen, Brothers McCann, Ellen Bukstel, Bumper Jacksons, Kate Callahan, Roger Street Friedman, Connor Garvey, Loretta Hagen, Phil Henry, Lara Herscovitch, JEWMONGOUS, Libby Koch, Mara Levine, Lords of Liechtenstein, Lois Morton, Hannah Shira Naiman, Jeff Scroggins & Colorado, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes, and Young Novelists. Saturday’s Quad Showcase artists include Beaucoup Blue, Nancy Beaudette, Jeff Black, Chasing June, RJ Cowdery, Doll Sisters, Driftwood, Folk Goddesses, Matt Harlan, Jesse Stuart Few, Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards, Matt Nakoa, No Good Sister, Rose Sheehan & Colin de la Barre, John Sherman & Randy Clepper, Lyal Strickland, Jesse Terry, Ernest Troost, and Victor & Penny.

Following the juried showcases each evening (as well as during the afternoons), AcousticMusicScene.com will join dozens of presenters, performers and others in hosting guerilla showcases in their hotel rooms that extend through the early morning hours. Open mics, informal jam sessions, private showcases, thematic song circles and round-robin song swaps round out the musical mix. It’s not unusual to see musicians staking out other areas of the hotel and jamming until 4 or 5 a.m.

AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot Features Artists and Singing Folk DJs

An overflow crowd will likely again descend on the AcousticMusicScene.com room (1506) on Thursday overnight for its popular Midnight Hoot. Following the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase and extending from 11:45 p.m. to 3 a.m., the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged, round-robin song swap featuring several singing folk DJs (Barbara and Graham Dean, Wanda Fischer and Jon Stein) and some three-dozen of artists/acts – each of whom will perform one song.

Now in its eighth year, the Midnight Hoot is intended to shine a spotlight on several folk DJs who also enjoy singing, while providing them, presenters and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time. It also enables artists to enjoy each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday (although since increasingly more people have been arriving on Thursday, some intensive workshops will take place that afternoon).

A house band comprised of David Buskin (keyboards), Mark Dann (bass) and Marshal Rosenberg (percussion) also will be there for anyone who desires accompaniment.

Schedules for the AcousticMusicScene.com showcases appear below. Craft beers and wine are being graciously provided by Blue Point Brewing Company (Patchogue, NY) and Clovis Point (a boutique winery on Long Island’s North Fork).

Thursday Night 11:45 p.m. – 3 a.m.

AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot

Featuring one song by each of the following (not listed in order of appearance)

Folk DJs: Graham & Barbara Dean, Wanda Fischer and Jon Stein

Artists: Annika, Robert Sarazin Blake, Robert Bruey, Ellen Bukstel, Burning Bridget Cleary, Dan and Faith, Gathering Time, Marci Geller, Generations: Mike & Aleksi Glick, Rick Gottlieb, Loretta Hagen, Christopher Mark Jones, Stuart Kabak, Susan Kane, Judy Kass, Savannah King, Terry Kitchen, Libby Koch, Mara Levine, Bernice Lewis, Rob Lytle, Lois Morton, Zoe Mulford, Jory Nash, Aaron Nathans, Dan Navarro, Hugh O’ Doherty, Karyn Oliver, Amanda Pearcy, Glen Roethel, Elaine Romanelli, Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, Sorcha Cribben-Merrill, Hank Stone, Chuck Williams

House Band: David Buskin (keyboards), Mark Dann (bass), Marshal Rosenberg (percussion)

Friday Afternoon

12:15 Lower Hudson Valley Songsters: Susan Kane, Judy Kass, Glen Roethel
12:45 I’m From New Jersey: Christine DeLeon, Loretta Hagen, Kathy Moser, John
Sonntag
1:30 Brooklyn in da House: The Lords of Liechtenstein, Alex Mallett, Matt Nakoa
2:00 Texas Troubadours: Matt Harlan, Libby Koch & Amanda Pearcy
2:30 Long Island Sounds: He-Bird, She-Bird, Hank Stone, The Folk Goddesses
3:15 Long Island Sounds: Robert Bruey, Jerry DeMeo, Gathering Time, Rorie Kelly

Friday Night

11:45 Dan Navarro

12:00 Funny Folk: JEWMONGOUS featuring Sean Altman, Mark Berube, Lois Morton

12:30 Harmonic Convergence: Gathering Time, Mara Levine, Jeff Scroggins & Colorado

1:00 The Wisch List: Robert Bruey, Jenai Huff, Eugene Ruffolo
1:30 Folk You Should Know: Kristin Andreassen, Rob Lytle, Teresa Storch

2:00 Mass. Appeal: Brothers McCann, Danielle Miraglia, Pesky J. Nixon

Saturday Afternoon

1:45 Pirate Camp: Monty Delaney, Laura Joy, Stuart Kabak, Mike Laureanno

2:30: Salty Songs & Sailor Slang: Stuart Markus & Robin Greenstein

2:45 Pirate Camp Part II: Mya Byrne, Elaine Romanelli, Hank Stone, Jesse Terry

3:30 New Englanders of Note: Marc Douglas Berardo. Heather Pierson, The Boxcar Lilies

Saturday Evening

11:45 Burning Bridget Cleary

12:00 Funny Folk II: Modern Man and Lois Morton

12:30 POSItively Good Music: Freebo, Glen Roethel, David Roth

1:00 CT State Troubadours: Kristen Graves and Lara Herscovitch

1:30 Folk You Should Know: Friction Farm, Robinson Treacher, Laura Zucker

2:00 O’ Canada: Shawna Caspi, Irish Mythen, Young Novelists: Graydon James & Laura Spink, Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Manitoba Hal, Jory Nash, David Newland, Cheryl Prashker

NERFA (www.nerfa.org) is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International, an association that seeks to foster and promote contemporary, traditional and multicultural folk music.

Editor’s Note: My thanks to Stuart Kabak, with whom I partner in hosting late-night song swaps and open circles under the AcousticMusicScene.com Tent @ Pirate Camp during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, for providing a carpeted wooden platform stage and stage lights for this year’s AcousticMusicScene.com showcases. Thanks also are due to him and fellow singer-songwriters Glen Roethel and Hank Stone for graciously offering to host afternoon showcases, and to Amy Blake, Sybil Moser and Gary Schoenberger for the loan of folding chairs.

In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot and other showcases during the NERFA Conference, I will be participating in a panel discussion on social media and offering some group mentoring sessions focused on artist bios and one-sheets, electronic press kits (EPKs), media relations, social media, website content, and what presenters look for when considering artists for their concert series and festivals. I also serve on the board of directors for both Folk Alliance International and NERFA.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the annual NERFA conferences, and many presenters and folk DJs do scout out new artists and those whom they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections, building community, and attending workshops and seminars to learn about options to further careers.

As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, taking center stage during this year’s conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges, with each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set in the resort’s theater on Friday and Saturday nights. Slated to perform on Friday are Billy Jonas and The Billy Jonas Band, Tall Heights, Connie Kaldor, OCEAN, Jean Rohe and the End of the World Show, Darryl Purpose, and The Hickory Project. Saturday’s Formal Showcase lineup features Comas, Natalia Zukerman, Miles to Dayton, Amy Speace, Roosevelt Dime, Buddy Mondlock, and The Boxcar Lilies.

After the formal showcases, attendees will shuffle between four conference rooms to catch short sets by 40 additional artists who were selected by a different set of judges. Performing in Quad Showcases on Friday night are Mike Agranoff, C. Daniel Boling, Meg Braun, Michael Braunfeld, Jon Brooks, Cary Cooper, Joe Craven, John Flynn, Fred Gillen, Jr., Hannah & Maggie, Matt Harlan, Kim & Reggie Harris, Kate Klim, Zoe Mulford, Jory Nash, Red Moon Road, Janet Robin, SONiA, Spuyten Duyvil, and Sloan Wainwright. Saturday’s Quad Showcase artists include Amy Black, Roy Bookbinder, Rich Deans, Aengus Finnan, Ian Fitzgerald, Harpeth Rising, Robby Hecht, Louise Mosrie, Murphy Beds, Karyn Oliver, Panache Quartet, Jim Photoglo, Hayley Reardon, Red Tail Ring, Cosy Sheridan, Sultans of String, Vinegar Creek, Anne Weiss, The Whispering Tree, and Brooks Williams.

Following the juried showcases each evening (as well as during the afternoons), AcousticMusicScene.com will join dozens of presenters, performers and others in hosting guerilla showcases in their hotel rooms that extend through the early morning hours. Open mics, informal jam sessions, private showcases, thematic song circles and round-robin song swaps round out the musical mix. It’s not unusual to see musicians staking out other areas of the hotel and jamming until 4 or 5 a.m.

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

Now in its seventh year, the Midnight Hoot is intended to shine a spotlight on several folk DJs who also enjoy singing, while providing them, presenters and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time. It also enables artists to enjoy each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday (although since increasingly more people have been arriving on Thursday, some intensive workshops will take place that afternoon).

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

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

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

Friday Afternoon
(Hosted by Hank Stone and Connor Garvey)

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

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

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

Friday Evening
(Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)

11:45 Mara Levine (accompanied by Gathering Time)

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Afternoon
(Hosted by Stuart Kabak and Michael Kornfeld)

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Evening
(Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)

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

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

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

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

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

NERFA (www.nerfa.org) is part of the larger Folk Alliance International, an association that seeks to foster and promote multicultural, traditional and contemporary folk music, while strengthening and advancing organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.

Editor’s Note: My thanks to Stuart Kabak, with whom I partner in hosting late-night song swaps and open circle under the AcousticMusicScene.com Tent @ Pirate Camp during the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, for providing a carpeted wooden platform stage and stage lights for this year’s AcousticMusicScene.com showcases. Thanks also are due to him and fellow singer-songwriters Connor Garvey and Hank Stone for graciously offering to guest host afternoon showcases, to Amy Blake , Gary Schoenberger and Sybil Moser for the loan of folding chairs, and to Karen Finkenberg for her assistance in designing flyers.

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

One of the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, Falcon Ridge takes place at Dodd’s Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, New York, located in the foothills of the Berkshires, near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Falcon Ridge features dozens of artists performing on several stages, a dance tent, children’s music and activities, and a wide array of crafts, food and other vendors. Among the artists performing this year will be CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, Mary Gauthier, Vance Gilbert, Eliza Gilkyson, The Grand Slambovians (always a highlight at the dance tent), The Kennedys, Jay Mankita, Mike Ford & Dave Matheson (formerly of Moxy Fruvous), Dan Navarro, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Red Molly, The Jason Spooner Band, Spuyten Duyvil, The Stray Birds, Susan Werner, Dar Williams, and more.

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

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

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

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

Late-Night Music is a Festival Highlight

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

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

Yarr, All Ye Pirates and Chantey Singers!

AcousticMusicScene.com-Pirate Camp Music Schedule

Thursday Night

11:00 p.m Open Song Circle

Friday

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

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

Saturday Overnight

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

Opening the evening concert on the Chapin Rainbow Stage, beginning at 8:30 p.m., will be Long Island’s own Marci Geller (a piano-based contemporary singer-songwriter with folk sensibilities) and singer-songwriter and guitarist Josh Joffen (a two-time Kerrville New Folk Winner and 2011 Great American Song Contest Winner). Marshal Rosenberg joins them on percussion.

An afternoon of unplugged showcases and song swaps, from 12 noon to 6 p.m., featuring artists from the New York metropolitan area and beyond will precede the concert. Hosting them near canopy tents will be Acoustic Live! in New York City and Beyond and AcousticMusicScene.com.

Acoustic Live! (Emcee: Richard Cuccaro)

1:00 Joe Iadanza
1:15 Tony Denikos
1:30 John Sonntag
1:45 Steve Chizmadia
2:00 Susan Kane
2:15 The YaYas
2:30 Honor Finnegan
2:45 Paul Sachs
3:00 Ina May Wool
3:15 The Levins
3:30 David Goldman
3:45 Christopher Brown
4:00 Arlon Bennett
4:15 Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes
4:30 Jeremiah Birnbaum
4:45 Stuart Markus
5:00 Larry Kolker
5:15 Brad Cole
5:30 Drew Jacobs
5:45 Lois Morton

AcousticMusicScene.com (Emcee: Michael Kornfeld)

12:00 Island Songwriters Showcase: Suzanne Ernst, Walt Sargent
12:30 Long Island Fingerstyle Guitar Club: Dan Doll, Lisa Doll, Bill Scorzari
1:00 FMSH Members Showcase: Eli Maniscalco, John Taylor, Bob Westcott
1:30 Music From the Hive: Naomi Margolin & Mark Newman, Roger Silverberg, Ivette Torres-Albano
2:10 Kerrville New Folk Winners: Honor Finnegan, Paul Sachs
2:30 Tribes Hill-Hudson Valley Song Circle: Susan Kane, Judith Kass, Larry Kolker, The Levins, Lisa Jane Lipkin, South County
3:30 Brad Cole, Joe Iadanza
4:00 Funny Folk: Drew Jacobs, Lois Morton
4:30 Arlon Bennett, Tony Denikos, Hiroyo Tsukamoto
5:00 Peter Calo, Steve Chizmadia, Kat Quinn
5:30 Jeremiah Birnbaum, Sarah Blacker, Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes

Co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington (www.fmsh.org) and the Huntington Arts Council (www.huntingtonarts.org), the Huntington Folk Festival is part of the 48th Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival presented by the Town of Huntington, produced by the Huntington Arts Council, and sponsored in part by the New York State Council for the Arts, the County of Suffolk and Canon USA.

Festival goers are advised to bring lawn chairs or blankets and to consider bringing a picnic supper or venturing into nearby Huntington Village for dinner.