Besides several jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, song swaps/in-the-rounds, open mics and informal jam sessions, the NERFA conference will also feature, informative panel discussions and workshops, one-on-one mentoring and peer & affinity group sessions, communal meals, awards presentations, an exhibit hall, a very special film screening, a reception, communal meals, a community meeting with NERFA’s volunteer board of directors, and lots of opportunities for schmoozing and networking. Singer-songwriters Flamy Grant and Janis Ian (best known for her early hits “Society’s Child” and “At 17”) will keynote the conference on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the conference; and many presenters and folk DJs do scout out new artists and those whom they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections, building community, and taking advantage of learning opportunities that can help enhance and enrich your professional and personal lives.

The conference’s programming committee, under the leadership of Ron Olesko, a NERFA board member and the creator and director of Folk Music Notebook (a 24/7 online radio station and community hub), has arranged a diverse array of workshops, panel discussions and special events.

“We are excited to present a special pre-release screening of a new film You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine,“ said Olesko. Filmed during a star-studded two-night tribute to the legendary songwriter at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium in October 2022, its national theatrical release is slated for later in November. Prine’s widow, Fiona Whelan Prine, president of Oh Boy! Records and a producer of the film will engage in a Q & A session following the screening. Anna Canoni, president of Woody Guthrie Publications, will give a presentation about her grandfather and the newly released Woody at Home: Woody Guthrie’s Home Recordings, 1951-1952. Buskin & Batteau, Christine Lavin, John Forster, and Carla Ulbrich — who occasionally perform together as the April Fools –will share some very funny folk songs. Also slated is a Friday morning production of Ms. Music: The Jackie Alper Story, a folk musical written and directed by Andy Spence and Sarah Dillon, that honors the late folk music legend in the New York Capital Region and an influential figure in the folk revival.

Also on the conference schedule are the ever-popular On the Griddle instant critique session during which a panel of folk DJs listen to the first 60 seconds of a number of songs and provides snap feedback. Sonny Ochs, a longtime folk DJ and sister of the late troubadour and activist Phil Ochs, will again host a Wisdom of the Elders session. It will feature acclaimed singer-songwriters Janis Ian and Tom Chapin a, along with Terry Thai (Bob Dylan’s first manager and former wife of Dave Van Ronk). Olesko joins Ochs in posing questions to them in a conversational format. A number of workshops and panel discussions designed to help artists and presenters as they try to navigate the challenges currently faced by the folk community are also on the agenda.

Juried Showcases Slated for Friday and Saturday Nights      

Taking center stage during the conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges from among more than 160 submissions – with each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set on Friday and Saturday nights – the most coveted performance opportunity at the conference. Showcasing their talents on Friday night will be Phil Henry, Judy Kass, Weary Ramblers, Connie Kaldor, Taylor Abrahamse, Elise Leavy, and Cassie and Maggie. Saturday night’s featured artists include The Levins, Sadie Gustafson-Zook, Beecharmer, Louie Lou Louis, Mystery Loves Company, Paul Colombino, and The Honey Badgers.

Judges for this year’s official juried showcases were Richard Cuccaro (publisher of Acoustic Live! in New York City & Beyond), Aaron Nathans (singer-songwriter and recording artist), and Mary Stewart (artistic director of Hugh’s Room Live in Toronto, Ontario)

On Thursday evening, the conference’s opening night, a Presenters Showcase will feature short performances by 14 artists/acts chosen by select folk DJs and concert & festival presenters. Listed in order of appearance, they are Haunted Like Human, Nico Padden, Christine Baillargeon, Nora Meier, Selena Tibbert, Halley Neal, Mirabelle Skipworth, Marc Apostoides, Sam Edelston, Ben Diamond (AKA Son Stone), Allison Strong, Francesca Panetta, Sam Berquist, and Mark & Jill.

Following the juried and curator’s showcases each evening, a number of presenters, performers and others will host private showcases in first floor hotel rooms that extend from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of song swaps in place of its longtime popular Midnight Hoot on Thursday overnight.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com Showcase lineup:

10:30 p.m             Songs of Social Justice: Dan & Faith, Hank Stone

11:00 p.m.            Reggie Harris & Pat Wictor

11:30 p.m.            Long Island Sounds: James O’Malley, Roger Street Friedman

12:00 a.m.             Americana Folk: Lynn Crossett, Susan Kane, Carolann Solebello

12:30 a.m.             Mixed Bag: Miles & Mafale, Arielle Silver

1:00 a.m.                Funny Folk: Mark Allen Berube, Barry Rabin, Carla Ulbrich

1:30 a.m.                Tunes from Texas: Claudia Gibson, Mystery Loves Company

2:00 a.m.              Doug Mishkin, Stuart Markus

NERFA Leaders Share Their Thoughts on the Conference

“We are thrilled about our new location, nore central to our region in a beautiful and spacious hotel that offers ample opportunity for gathering on a single floor, which will encourage interaction and socializing,” Olesko told AcousticMusicScene.com. “It’s perfect for encouraging collaborations and sharing of best practices.”

Echoing his sentiments, Cheryl Prashker, president of NERFA’s board of directors, said:

“I am excited that we have brought the conference to Albany, New York for the first time. The Desmond Hotel is a perfect space for our community that gathers each year to share their music, their knowledge, and their passion for giving to each other. I cannot think of a more important thing at this time.” Expressing gratitude for a music community of which she’s been a part for more than 25 years, she said: “It has shaped who I am as a musician and a person. All I hope to be able to do is offer the young musicians coming up some love and support as they navigate the business of folk music.”

NERFA is one of five North American regional affiliates 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. Although folks from throughout North America attend its annual conference, NERFA’s geographic boundaries extend from the eastern provinces of Canada south to the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. More extensive information on the organization and its annual conference may be found online at www.nerfa.org and www.nerfaconference.org. The four other North American regions – Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), Folk Alliance Region – West (FAR-West), Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA), and Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) already held their 2025 conferences. Folk Alliance International’s next conference is set for January — — in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Editor’s Note: Besides hosting a late-night song swap-style artist showcase during the conference, as I have under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com most years since the online publication’s inception in 2007, I will be assisting two of my artist PR clients (Lynn Crossett and James O’Malley) and offering some one-on-one mentoring sessions on artist bios and one-sheets, EPKS, social media promotion, and various other aspects of public relations and strategic communications. As president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington (a nonprofit presenting organization on Long Island, NY), I also curated and will co-host a private showcase under its banner on Friday overnight. As a past president and former 15-year board member of NERFA who was not at last year’s conference, I really look forward to this one.

A 17-song tribute compilation, Long Journey Home: A Century After the 1925 Mountain City Fiddlers Convention celebrates the centenary of the iconic gathering of nearly 100 musicians in rural Mountain City, Tennessee. Produced by John McCutcheon (who also sings and plays banjo and fretless banjo on it), the album on Appalsongs showcases old-time fiddling and old time music with a number of today’s most celebrated old-time and bluegrass artists performing their own renditions of ballads, reels and tunes that have stood the test of time. Featured artists, in addition to McCutcheon and Tuttle, include Jake Blount, Old Crow Medicine Show, Tim O’Brien, Sparky & Rhonda Rucker, Becky Buller, Trey Wellington & Victor Furtado, Stuart Duncan, Cathy & Marcy’s Old Time Coalition, Kody Norris Show, Earl White Stringband, and Bruce Molsky.

Molly Tuttle, who is joined by Ketch Secor (who fronts and co-founded Old Crow Medicine Show) on “I’ve Always Been a Rambler,” is an acclaimed guitarist known for her prowess at flatpicking and cross-picking, as well as a singer- songwriter and banjo player. At age 24, she became the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year Award in 2017 and did so again the following year when the Americana Music Association also named her Instrumentalist of the Year. Tuttle has been the recipient of two Grammy Awards for Best Bluegrass Album for Crooked Tree and City of Gold in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Crooked Tree also was named Album of the Year in the International Bluegrass Music Awards, while its title track was feted as Song of the Year and she was named Female Vocalist of the Year. City of Gold, also recorded with her band Golden Highway, also was named Album of the Year during the 2023 International Folk Music Awards presented by Folk Alliance International.

Connie Kaldor is a three-time Juno Award-winning singer songwriter who has been writing and performing her songs for more than 45 years and has recorded 19 albums. Her new release, Wide Open Space, was the #2 album on the FAI Folk Chart in September. A member of the Order of Canada and a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award recipient, she also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Woodstock Folk Festival in Woodstock, Illinois earlier this year. Kaldor is based in Montreal and tours extensively. She is frequently joined in concert by her husband Paul Campagne and sons Aleksi and Gabriel Campagne. She will be among the official showcase artists during the Northeast Regional folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference in Albany, NY in November.

The September 2025 top albums, songs and artists charts are based on 10, 565 airplays reported on 347 playlists submitted by 93 different folk DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses.

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

Top Albums of September 2025 

1.Long Journey Home: A Century After the 1925 Mountain City Fiddlers
Convention by Various Artists (131)

2. Wide Open Spaces by Connie Kaldor (71)

3. Look to the Moon by Patty and Craig (51)
3. Stone by Stone by Friction Farm (51)
5. Connected by Darryl Purpose (48)
6. Song of the Bricoleur by Rags Rosenberg (42)
7. Lost & Found by Becki Davis (40)
8. Mother Mind by Tekla Waterfield & Jeff Fiedler (39)
9. Hummingbird Highway by Dar Williams (38)
9. Stay Put by Elexa Dawson (38)
9. The Last Bough by Kyle Carey (38)
12. Kentucky Queen by Carla Gover (34)
12. Songs That Sing Me by Becky Buller (34)
12. Now Then by Robbie Fulks (34)
15. Sweet Resilence by Jane Fallon (32)
16. So Long Little Miss Sunshine by Molly Tuttle (30)
17. Heavy on the Blues by Rory Block (29)
18. The Light Still Shines on the Main by Jory Nash (28)
19. The Ghost of Sis Draper by Shawn Camp (27)
20. The America Chronicles by Kemp Harris (25)
21. Drum School Dropout by Christine Lavin (24)
22. Time Out #3 by The Accidentals (23)
23. New Skin by Judy Kass (22)
23. NERFA Songwriters, Vol. 1 by Various Artists (22)
25. Perennial by Kate MacLeod (21)
25. You Climb the Mountain by The Onlies (21)
27. Bridging Divides by Billy Jonas (20)
28. Wild and Clear and Blue by I’m With Her (19)
28. Squirrels by Jubal Lee Young (19)
30. One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey by Maria Muldaur (18)
30. Crown of Rose by Patty Griffin (18)
30. Callin’ Me Back by Petunia & the Vipers (18)
30. The Woods Have Shown Us by Ponyfolk (18)
30. Seeds of Dreaming by Diyet and the Love Soldiers (18)
35. Bones of Trees by Tim Grimm (17)
35. Personal History by Mary Chapin Carpenter (17)
35. Hard Headed Woman by Margo Price (17)
38. Ghost of the Old West by George Mann and Mick Coates (16)

38. Lost & Found Highway by Joselyn & Don (16)
38. Lift Up the Old World by Hilary Hawke (16)
38. Dark Ages by Eliza Gilkyson (16)
42. Riding High in Texas by Asleep at the Wheel (15)
42. The Way I Tell the Story by David Wilcox (15)
42. American Romance by Lukas Nelson (15)
42. Kerrville Covers by Janet Feld (15)
42. Shadows of a Ghost Town by Meghan Clarisse (15)
47. American Portraits by Marty Cooper (14)
47. Airline Highway by Rodney Crowell (14)
47. Arcadia by Alison Krauss and Union Station (14)
47. The Way the West Was Won by Dallas Burrow (14)
47. We’re Only Human by Hayes Carll (14)

Top Songs of September 2025

1. “I’ve Always Been a Rambler” by Molly Tuttle (23)
2. “No Kings Here” by Tom Paxton (18)
3. “Love, Surround Me” by Patty and Craig (15)
4. “Cuckoo” by John McCutcheon (14)
4. “Me & Robbie Erenberg” by Darryl Purpose (14)
6. “Louder Than Guns” by Friction Farm (13)
7. “Hummingbird Highway” by Dar Williams (12)
7. “900 Miles” by Tim O’Brien (12)
9. “Goodnight America” by Kemp Harris (11)
9. “Bullfrogs” by Rags Rosenberg (11)
11. “It Ain’t Gonna Go Away (Ode to the Epstein Files)” by Cathy Fink
& Marcy Marxer (10)
11. “Memory of August” by Anne Hills (10)
11. “What You Gonna Do With the Baby” by Old Crow Medicine Show (10)
11. “Returning to Myself” by Brandi Carlile (10)
11. “The Last Bough” by Kyle Carey (10)
11. “Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase” by Cathy and Marcy’s Old Time Coaltion (10)
17. “Open All the Doors and Windows” by Billy Jonas (9)
17. “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down” by Sparky and Rhonda Rucker (9)
17. “Oh, Little One” by Jory Nash (9)
17. “House Carpenter” by Jake Blount (9)
17. “At Our Best” by Judy Kass (9)
17. “Dear Time” by Alison Brown and Steve Martin (9)
17. “Wide Open Spaces” by Connie Kaldor (9)
24. “Baling Hay” by Elexa Dawson (8)
24. “Early Fields” by Kate MacLeod (8)
24. “Millworker” by Becky Buller (8)
24. “The Edge” by Becki Davis (8)
24. “Something My Own” by Tekla Waterfield & Jeff Fiedler (8)
24. “Rocky Road to Dinah’s House” by Becky Buller (8)
24. “Bridget O’Brien” by Maggie’s Wake (8)
24. “Feel What Our Hearts Feel” by Darryl Purpose (8)
24. “Savannah Is a Devilish Girl” by Robbie Fulks (8)
24. “American Dream” by Friction Farm (8)
24. “This Car” by Connie Kaldor (8)
24. “Bright Side of the Blues” by Bryan Titus (8)

Top Artists of September 2025

1. Connie Kaldor (71)
2. Molly Tuttle (57)
3. Friction Farm (53)
4. Patty and Craig (51)
4. Darryl Purpose (51)
6. Becky Buller (50)
7. Dar Williams (49)
8. Tom Paxton (48)
9. John McCutcheon (44)
10. Rags Rosenberg (43)
11. Becki Davis (41)
12. Tekla Waterfield & Jeff Fiedler (39)
12. Elexa Dawson (39)
14. Kyle Carey (38)
15. Woody Guthrie (36)
16. Bruce Springsteen (35)
16. Robbie Fulks (35)
18. Carla Gover (34)
19. Jane Fallon (33)
19. John Prine (33)
21. Christine Lavin (31)
22. Jory Nash (30)
22. Cheryl Wheeler (30)
24. Rory Block (29)
25. Eliza Gilkyson (28)
26. Joni Mitchell (27)
26. Shawn Camp (27)
28. Tim O’Brien (26)
29. Kemp Harris (25)
29. Tim Grimm (25)
31. Kate MacLeod (24)
31. Mary Chapin Carpenter (24)
33. Guy Clark (23)
33. Pete Seeger (23)
33. The Accidentals (23)
36. Willie Nelson (22)
36. Judy Kass (22)
36. The Onlies (22)
39. The Kennedys (21)
39. Bill Monroe (21)

A platform for luminaries and rising stars, the annual conference is the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community. Folk Alliance International’s Official Showcases are jury-selected nightly mini-concerts featuring emerging artists and touring legends from around the world. The performances are 30 minutes in length and are held concurrently on ten full-production stages throughout the host hotel over three nights.

More than 800 artists/acts applied for the opportunity to perform for hundreds of festival and venue bookers, agents, managers, labels, media, and music industry representatives. The curated showcases feature artists representing a diverse array of folk genres including Appalachian, Americana, bluegrass, blues, Cajun, Celtic, global roots, Indie-folk, indigenous, Latin, old time, traditional, singer-songwriter, spoken word, and every imaginable fusion.

Breakthrough artists from previous conferences include The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Darlingside, David Francey, John Fullbright, Kaia Kater, Lake Street Dive, The Milk Carton Kids, Nickel Creek, The Stray Birds, Valerie June, The Waifs, and The Wailin’ Jennys. Past showcase performances have also included guest appearances by Judy Collins, Béla Fleck, Rita Coolidge, Ron Sexsmith, Archie Fisher, Peggy Seeger, and more.

Bringing together musicians, educators, and music industry professionals from around the world, the Folk Alliance International Conference is known for its community atmosphere, business and networking opportunities, and as a hotspot for discovering new talent.

The 2018 conference will feature presentations by Mary Chapin Carpenter and Richard Thompson, the Louis Jay Meyers Music Camp, the International Folk Music Awards, and the third annual Kansas City Folk Festival. Celebrating 30 years of community and song, the conference will YEARS OF COMMUNITY AND SONG, honor the first three decades of the organization’s growth and activity, as well as the broader story of folk music during that time.

Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) is 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.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a news release issued by Folk Alliance International, on whose board of directors I serve. I’m also board president of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA), one of its five regional affiliates, which holds it annual conference, Nov. 9-12, in Stamford, CT. I am not involved in the selection of Official Showcase artists.

The always entertaining, genial and witty Quebecois folk artist Benoit Bourque and noted singer-songwriter Connie Kaldor hosted the gala event that also featured performances by Melisande, Pharis and Jason Romero, Jeffery Straker, Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra, Trent Severn and John Wort Hannam. The event marked the culmination of an awards weekend that began on Nov. 6 and included showcases by nominees

The Canadian Folk Music Awards were established in 2005 to bring greater exposure to the breadth and depth of Canadian folk music — celebrating and promoting it in all its forms. As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, this year’s nominees were announced Sept. 9 during a first-ever National Strum at Edmonton City Hall. The city’s folk community gathered together there to perform East Coast singer-songwriter Dave Gunning’s “These Hands,” a song of celebration and of recognition that everyone can be a hero of the human kind. A video featuring Gunning and a number of other artists singing verses of the song was screened during the awards gala.

Catherine MacLellan, a Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI)-based singer-songwriter, was named Solo Artist of the Year, while her latest release, The Raven’s Sun was recognized as the Contemporary Album of the Year. Amelia Curran of St. John’s, Newfoundland, bested MacLellan and three other nominees for Contemporary Singer of the Year and also was named English Songwriter of the Year in recognition of her album, They Promised You Mercy.

Quebec’s Louis-Jean Cormier was named French Songwriter of the Year for Les grandes arteres, while Raven Kanatakta and Shoshone Kish from Long Point First Nation in Winneway, Quebec, were honored with The Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year award for Digging Roots’ album, For The Light. “Our families and our communities have been at the core of making this politically charged music for maybe 10 years now,” said Kish in accepting the award. “I’m hoping that this is a moment of change for this country and, hopefully, the future looks bright.”

St John’s, Newfoundland’s Fortunate Ones were, indeed, fortunate to earn Vocal Group of the Year honors for The Bliss in a category that also featured such gifted artists as Good Lovelies, Pharis & Jason Romero and The Young Novelists.

Nova Scotia-based husband-and-wife fiddle and step-dancing duo Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy were named Instrumental Group of the Year for One, while Ontario’s Adrianna Ciccone received Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year honors for The Back of Winter. Lemon Bucket Orchestra (Moorka) was named World Group of the Year, while Kirasn Ahluwalia (Sanata: Stillness) was honored as World Solo Artist of the Year. Rebecca Lappa of Edmonton was named Young Performer of the Year for Tattered Rose. Newfoundland’s The Swinging Belles received the Children’s Album of the Year award for More Sheep, Less Sleep. PEI’s Daniel Ledwell was named Producer of the Year for Compostela, an album by his wife, Jenn Grant. Acclaimed Ontario-based guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Breit received the Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award.

One of the evening’s most touching moments was the presentation of the somewhat ironically named Unsung Hero Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to the promotion, preservation and presentation of Canadian folk, roots and world music, to Arthur McGregor by his daughter Hannah. One of the founders of the Canadian Folk Music Awards, McGregor resigned from the CFMA board last year and also established the Ottawa Folklore Centre, a much-loved music store and school that closed recently after 38 years in operation. Calling the awards a catalyst in helping to bring his life back into balance, McGregor invited everyone to join him in singing “Circle of Song,” a celebratory number by Tony Turner, a former Canadian civil servant who drew national and international attention earlier this year when he was suspended from his job for writing and performing “Harperman.” That song was sung by many during rallies against Canada’s former longtime Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose government was ousted in the recent Canadian national elections.

More information on the awards may be found at www.folkawards.ca.

This year’s nominees were announced Sept. 9 during a first-ever National Strum at Edmonton City Hall. The city’s folk community gathered together there to perform East Coast singer-songwriter Dave Gunning’s “These Hands,” a song of celebration and of recognition that everyone can be a hero of the human kind.

The Canadian Folk Music Awards were established 12 years ago to bring greater exposure to the breadth and depth of Canadian folk music, celebrating and promoting it in all its forms. Outstanding achievements will be recognized in 19 categories, while Unsung Hero and Folk Music Canada’s Innovator Award recipients will also be honored. 73 artists and groups from nine provinces and three territories in Canada received nominations.

Musicians Benoit Bourque and Connie Kaldor host the bilingual gala awards presentation that marks the culmination of a CFMA weekend that begins on Nov. 6 and will feature two nights of showcase events prior to the Nov. 8 gala. Tickets for the gala show are $48, while the showcase events are $25 each evening. Links to purchase tickets, along with more information on the awards and showcases, may be found online at www.folkawards.ca.

A complete list of 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows.

Young Performer of the Year:

Robbie Bankes – Through February Snow
Coastline – Coastline
Rebecca Lappa – Tattered Rose
Mira Meikle – MIRA
Benjamin Dakota Rogers – Strong Man’s Address to the Circus Crowd

New/Emerging Artist of the Year:

Crooked Brothers – Thank You I’m Sorry
Fortunate Ones – The Bliss
The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer – A Real Fine Mess
The River and the Road – Headlights
The Young Novelists – made us strangers

Oliver Schroer Pushing the Boundaries Award:

Kevin Breit – Ernesto and Delilah
The Jerry Cans- Aakuluk
The Shoeless – The Shoeless
Dana Sipos – Roll Up the Night Sky
Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned

English Songwriter of the Year:

Catherine Allan and Andrew James O’Brien – The Bliss (Fortunate Ones)
Jon Brooks – The Smiling and Beautiful Countryside (Jon Brooks)
Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy (Amelia Curran)
Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland – Leave No Bridge Unburned (Whitehorse)
Jenn Grant – Compostela (Jenn Grant)

French Songwriter of the Year:

Jocelyne Baribeau – Entre toi et moi (Jocelyne Baribeau)
Louis-Jean Cormier – Les grandes artères (Louis-Jean Cormier)
Benoit Pinette – Panorama (Tire le Coyote)
Dany Placard – Santa Maria (Dany Placard)
Geneviève Toupin – Willows (Willows)

The Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year:

Miranda Currie – Up in the Air (Miranda Currie)
The Jerry Cans – Aakuluk (The Jerry Cans)
Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish – For the Light (Digging Roots)
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power in the Blood (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
Laura Vinson and Free Spirit – Warrior (Laura Vinson and Free Spirit)

World Group of the Year:

Ayrad – Ayrad
Alex Cuba – Healer
Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Moorka
Monsoon – Mandala
Ventanas- Arrelumbre

World Solo Artist of the Year:

Kiran Ahluwalia – Sanata: Stillness
Jean-François Bélanger – Les vents orfèvres
Elage – Diame
Emmanuel Jal – The Key
Wagner Petrilli – Confissão

Traditional Album of the Year:

Matthew Byrne – Hearts & Heroes
Le Vent du Nord – Têtu
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy – ONE
Pharis & Jason Romero – A Wanderer I’ll Stay
Jayme Stone – Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project

Traditional Singer of the Year:

Michael Jerome Browne – Sliding Delta
Matthew Byrne – Hearts & Heroes
Tamar Ilana – Arrelumbre by Ventanas
Annie Lou – Tried and True
Pharis Romero – A Wanderer I’ll Stay (Pharis and Jason Romero)

Contemporary Album of the Year:

Jon Brooks – The Smiling and Beautiful Countryside
Jenn Grant – Compostela
Catherine MacLellan – The Raven’s Sun
The Once – Departures
Gabrielle Papillon – The Tempest of Old

Contemporary Singer of the Year:

Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy
Peter Katz – We Are the Reckoning
Sarah MacDougall – Grand Canyon
Catherine MacLellan – The Raven’s Sun
Jory Nash – The Many Hats of Jory Nash

Instrumental Group of the Year:

Coastline – Coastline
Shane Cook and Jake Charron – Head to Head
Lemon Bucket Orkestra – Moorka
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy – ONE
Monsoon – Mandala

Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:

Jean-François Bélanger – Les vents orfèvres
Adrianna Ciccone – The Back of Winter
Nick Hornbuckle – 12×2(+/-1)
Patti Kusturok – Milestone
Wendy MacIsaac – Off the Floor

Vocal Group of the Year:

Fortunate Ones – The Bliss
Good Lovelies – Burn The Plan
The Lucky Sisters – So Lucky
Pharis & Jason Romero – A Wanderer I’ll Stay
The Young Novelists – made us strangers

Ensemble of the Year:

Big Little Lions – A Little Frayed, a Little Torn
The Once – Departures
Jayme Stone – Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project
The Sweet Lowdown – Chasing the Sun
Whitehorse – Leave No Bridge Unburned

Solo Artist of the Year:

Michael Jerome Browne – Sliding Delta
Amelia Curran – They Promised You Mercy
Lizzy Hoyt – New Lady on the Prairie
Catherine MacLellan – The Raven’s Sun
Oh Susanna – Namedropper

Children’s Album of the Year:

Ginalina – Forest Friends’ Nature Club Album
Henri Godon – La vie rêvée!
Hilary Grist – Tomorrow is a Chance to Start Over
Stella Swanson – I’m Not a Bunny
The Swinging Belles – More Sheep, Less Sleep

Producer of the Year:

Daniel Ledwell – Compostela (Jenn Grant)
Jory Nash, Chris Stringer – The Many Hats of Jory Nash (Jory Nash)
Les Cooper – Burn The Plan (Good Lovelies)
Murray Pulver, Dave Zeglinski, Steve Bell – Pilgrimage (Steve Bell)
Pharis & Jason Romero, David Travers-Smith – A Wanderer I’ll Stay (Pharis & Jason Romero)

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.

Named as alternates were Billy Jonas and the Billy Jonas Band and SONiA & disappear fear.

With only 14 artists/acts chosen for 15-minute performance slots on Friday and Saturday nights, the Formal Showcase is the premiere and most coveted performance opportunity at the conference. Formal Showcases take place in the resort’s theater between 7 and 9:30 p.m. each night, and nothing else is allowed to compete with them.

Meanwhile, June 17 is the application deadline for the conference’s Quad Showcases. A series of 15-minute showcases set for Friday and Saturday evenings, between 9:45 and 11:30 p.m., four Quad Showcases take place concurrently in nearby conference rooms equipped with professional sound and production services. Like the Formal Showcases that immediately precede them, nothing else is allowed to compete with the Quad Showcases during the conference. Artists may apply for these showcases via the NERFA website (www.nerfa.org) or SonicBids.

“Dianne Tankle, our longtime conference coordinator, and I have heard from many performing artists who consider being selected for one of these juried showcases to be quite an honor,” says Cheryl Prashker, NERFA’s president and percussionist to the folkies. “Many festival and concert series presenters — for whom we offer incentives to attend — have featured artists they’ve discovered in these showcases and had opportunities to speak with during our conference,” she adds. “Indeed, for some, the NERFA Conference serves as a primary vehicle for booking talent.”

As in years past, the NERFA conference, which drew a record attendance of some 850 people last year, will feature a diverse mix of folk and acoustic music presented by artists from throughout the U.S. and Canada, informative panel discussions and workshops, mentoring sessions, communal meals, a large exhibit hall, and lots of opportunities for schmoozing and networking. After the juried showcases each evening, AcousticMusicScene.com will join dozens of presenters, performers and others in hosting guerilla showcases in their hotel rooms that extend through the early morning hours. Open mics, informal jam sessions, private showcases, thematic song circles and round-robin song swaps round out the musical mix.

A nonprofit organization for those engaged in traditional, contemporary and multicultural folk music, the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) is the regional arm of Folk Alliance International that seeks to strengthen and advance organizational and individual initiatives in folk music, dance and related performing arts through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.

Editor’s Note: I have been attending and actively participating in this conference as a panelist, moderator and showcase host for a number of years and currently serve as vice president of NERFA’s board of directors.