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)

Song of the Year honors went to Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness’ recording of “$20 Bill (for George Floyd) by the late singer-songwriter Tom Prasada-Rao. In accepting the award, Navarro (a singer-songwriter and voice actor perhaps best known for co-writing the hit song “We Belong”) noted that more than 100 artists recorded a version of Prasada-Rao’s song in 2020 “but because of the impact and the challenges of the pandemic, it never really had a proper release and we decided we would do something about that.“ Dedicating the award to Prasado-Rao, who died last year, Navarro said: “This is not just the song of the year; it’s the song of the century and the song of a lifetime.”

Here’s a link to view a video of Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness performing “$20 Bill (for George Floyd)”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeHdq817B7Y

Susan Werner’s Halfway to Houston was named Album of the Year. A prolific and versatile singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on both guitar and piano and is known for her sassy wit and classy Midwest charm, Werner was unable to be in Montreal to accept the award and sent a short video, while fellow singer-songwriter Dar Williams picked up the award on her behalf.

In addition to these FAI member-voted awards – which were open to recordings released between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 – a number of special awards and honors were presented.

The People’s Voice Award recognizing an artist who embraces social and political commentary in his/her songs was presented to Gina Chavez, an Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter who has helped to amplify the voices of the marginalized.

The River Roads Festival received The Clearwater Award, honoring a festival that — like its Pete Seeger-founded namesake –- exhibits sound leadership in environmental stewardship and sustainable event production. A one-day event presented by Dar Williams and held in Easthampton, Massachusetts for the past two years, the next River Roads Festival is set for July 5 at Heuser Park in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Williams said that she was “so excited” to accept the award. She noted that, like Seeger was, she is a resident of New York’s Hudson Valley and recalled being on Conan O’Brien’s late-night TV talk show with him in 1998. Said Williams: “Music is an incredible force … The culture around the music can be a powerful vehicle for justice.”

The Rising tide Award, which is bestowed on an emerging artist/act of an age, went to OKAN, a female-led, Afro-Cuban roots and jazz duo.

Spirit of Folk Awards recognizing people and organizations actively engaged in the promotion and preservation of folk music were presented to Annie Capps, Innu Nikamu festival, Tom Power, and Alice Randall. Capps is a Michigan-based singer-songwriter and a longtime leader with Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), who has served as both its board president and conference director. Innu Nikamu is a Quebec-based festival of Indigenous music and culture that has taken place for more than 30 years. Power, best known as the host of CBC Radio One’s Q program, is also a musician who performs and records with The Dardanelles, a Canadian folk band. Randall is a hit-making country music songwriter who has been a trailblazer in folk and country music. She’s also a college lecturer and the author of My Black Country, which she describes as both a memoir and a history.

“I owe my sanity to folk music,” said Randall in accepting the award. “In My Black Country, I tell the story of climbing out of the hell of being raped by holding on to the sound of John Prine singing “Angel From Montgomery.” Prine’s label, Oh Boy! Records, also released a collection of songs entitled My Black Country. Randall noted that her book “is about the Black folk, including Black folk musicians, who made country country.”

2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients included the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls (whose eponymous debut album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording 35 years ago), the late Black Appalachian musician Lesley Riddle, and the global roots magazine Songlines. During the awards show, singer-songwriters Rose Cousins and Mary Bragg performed “Galileo,” one of the Indigo Girls’ hit songs, in tribute to the duo, while Black indigenous Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Taylor performed “Red River Blues” in tribute to Riddle.

Accepting the Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Riddle, who died in 1980 at age 75, Randall referred to him as a founder of country music and a practitioner of folk who collected and taught the Carter Family a lot of songs. “Tonight, Folk Alliance corrects an almost 100 year-old wrong” by recognizing him.

“We need folk music now more than ever,” said the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers in a pre-recorded video. “This Folk Alliance is a group that honors diversity, equity, inclusion, and access for all. Folk music is the music of truth telling. Amy [Ray] and I are, especially in this time, particularly honored to accept this award.” Echoing her sentiments, Ray urged folks to “Please stand up with us and make your voices heard in these times … Day by day, song by song, we can make this world a better place.”

Accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Songlines, James Anderson-Hanney, its publisher, said: “I think we’re the last world music magazine on the planet.” The UK-based, glossy bimonthly that comes with CD is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.Leading Quebecois folk ensemble Le Vent Du Nord, a 2023 Songlines award recipient, performed in honor of the magazine.

Five Inducted Into Folk Radio Hall of Fame

Eight years ago, Folk Alliance International established a Folk Radio Hall of Fame in order to recognize folk DJs and music directors for the vital role that they play by sharing the music with their listeners. Wanda Fischer, Longtime host of The Hudson River Sampler on WAMC Radio in Albany, New York and herself an inductee in the Hall of Fame, recognized this year’s inductees, while a video featuring visuals and information about them was also screened. The 2025 inductees include Taylor Caffery, Matthew Finch, Archie Fisher, MarySue Twohy, and Chuck Wentworth.

Taylor Caffery, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been the host Hootenanny Power of WRKF Public Radio in Baton Rouge, LA since it began airing in 1981. He’s also been recognized with WRKF’s Founder’s Award (2022) and with the Kari Estrin Founding President’s Award during the 2024 Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) Conference.

Matthew Finch, who left our world unexpectedly in July 2024, was a beloved figure in New Mexico’s music scene, who devoted more than 20 years to KUNM in Albuquerque as its music director, and as a tireless advocate for local musicians. Through the programs Ear to the Ground and Studio 55, he created platforms for regional artists to share their music, showcasing live performances and celebrating the diversity of the state’s music community.

Archie Fisher hosted BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning Traveling Folk program for 27 years – promoting artists and musicians of the folksong revival throughout the British Isles. A talented artist in his own right, he also hosted studio sessions and interviews with such notable American and Canadian artists as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, David Francey, and James Keelaghan. Queen Elizabeth II presented him with a MBE in 2006 for his services to music.

MarySue Twohy is a program director at SiriusXM, who currently manages The Village, its folk channel, among others. She conducts artist interviews and produces a wide array of radio programs. Formerly an artist herself, she moved into broadcasting by hosting a two-hour program 20 years ago and quickly rose to PD. She also served on the FAI board of directors for seven years and continues to serve on national music committees, and to participate in conference panels and as a songwriting contest judge.

Chuck Wentworth, who passed away last year, was a revered figure on the New England music scene – best known for his long-standing contributions as both a radio show host and a festival producer. He began hosting a folk radio show on WRIU-FM, the college radio station at the University of Rhode Island, while he was a student and Traditions aired for 38 years. He also served as the station’s folk and roots music director and expanded its folk programming from one show to five nights a week. Wentworth was also the founder and producer of the Rhythm & Roots Festival, a three-day music and dance festival in Rhode Island.

[Here’s a link to view the International Folk Music Awards Show, which also was livestreamed via YouTube and was available for viewing via Folk Alley and NPR Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVE29BZ6fBg

The International Folk Music Awards was just one part, albeit an important one, of the 37th annual Folk Alliance International Conference that extended from February 19-23 and drew nearly 2,500 attendees. In addition to more than 2,700 showcases featuring more than 700 acts (including 183 juried official showcases plus many more showcases extending into the early morning hours), the conference included a keynote conversation with Allison Russell and Ann Powers [see below], Black American Music and International Indigenous Music Summits, a one-day legal summit, 45 panel discussions and workshops, a number of affinity and peer group sessions, six film screenings and discussions, lobby jams, meetings of FAI’s regional affiliates, a town hall meeting on P2 Visas – Working Through Parity at the Canada/US Border, a popular Meet the Folk DJs session, morning yoga, an exhibit hall, agent-presenter speed networking sessions, and lots of other networking opportunities.

Artist & Activist Allison Russell Engages in Keynote Conversation with Music Journalist Anne Powers

Allison Russell — a widely acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and activist –- returned to her hometown to engage in an hour-long keynote conversation with Anne Powers, a critic and correspondent for NPR Music. A soulful, Nashville, Tennessee-based, Montreal-born Scottish Grenadian Canadian, Russell is the recipient of more than a dozen awards. These include a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Music Performance for Eve Was Black,” a single off of her sophomore solo recording, Returner released in September 2023), Juno Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year (for her solo debut, Outside Child – 2022) and Music Video of the Year (for “Demons,” 2024), six UK Americana Music Awards, four Canadian Folk Music Awards, and two Americana Music Honors & Awards. In 2022, Folk Alliance International members voted Russell’s solo debut as Album of the Year and her as Artist of the Year. Outside Child was also named Contemporary album of the Year in the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards, while she was named Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of the emotion-laden album featuring 11 original songs “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family.”

Russell has previously spoken of the abuse and trauma that she faced in her youth and the major role that music has played in helping her to overcome it .In her conversation with Powers, she recalled how, at age 15, while unhoused, she slept in the pews at a church just a few blocks from Le Sheraton Centre.

Asked about her latest album, 2023’s The Returner, she noted how she had been a challenged, broken yet brave girl. “”We come from long, broken lines of survivors. We’re all miracles. We’re all returners. We are all overcoming things.”

Much of her on-stage conversation with Powers focused on her recent portrayal of Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s award-winning Broadway musical, Hadestown. Russell noted that it was her first professional acting role and that she had not acted since performing in a Shakespearean play while in high school.

Sharing her reflections on Hadestown just days after she concluded her 50-week run as Persephone and in keeping with the “Illuminate” theme of the conference, she said: Persephone is Hades’ only source of light, of illumination in the underworld. She was the light in his life.”

Playing a mythic goddess in this time took on new connotations, she acknowledged, citing “the current fear-mongering administration in Washington” and “the bigotry and bias that can really harm communities.”

Referring to herself as “a geriatric millennial,” Russell said: “When I came up 24 years ago, there weren’t too many others who looked liked me.” Acknowledging that “our [folk] community is growing more diverse,” she spoke of being a curator during the 2021 Newport Folk Festival tasked with featuring Black and Black & queer women and their allies in the center of a 90-minute set focused on roots and revolution. ”What could be more beautiful than to be conscious, to be mindful [woke],” said Russell, noting that she’s “a queer woman who somehow married a white man with a guitar.”

Prior to embarking on her solo career, Russell was a co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago and was part of Po’ Girl.

[Here’s a link to view a video recording of the keynote conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ne2-baY8g.]

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.

A list of winners in the Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field follows, while the complete list of Grammy Award recipients may be found at grammy.com.

Best Folk Album: Revealer – Madison Cunningham

Best American Roots Performance: “Stompin’ Ground” – Aaron Neville With The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Best American Roots Song: “Just Like That” – Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

Best Americana Album: In These Silent Days – Brandi Carlile

Best Bluegrass Album: Crooked Tree – Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Best Traditional Blues Album: Get On Board – Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder

Best Contemporary Blues Album: Brother Johnny – Edgar Winter

Best Regional Roots Music Album: Live At The 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Ranky Tanky

Best Americana Performance: “Made Up Mind” – Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt also was the winner of the coveted Song of the Year award for “Just Like That” in the general field, while Brandi Carlile was recognized for Best Rock Performance for “Broken Homes” and Best Rock Song (“Broken Homes”) along with her co-writers Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth. Also of possible interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers: Willie Nelson received Grammy Awards for Best Country Solo Performance (“Live Forever”) and Best Country Album (A Beautiful Time), while Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) was named Best Historical Album.

The Recording Academy (grammy.com) represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Recording Academy honors music’s history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards.

Janis Ian, Molly Tuttle, Aoife O’Donovan, and Anais Mitchell Named 2023 International Folk Music Award Winners

A few nights prior to the Grammy Awards, Molly Tuttle & The Golden Highway’s Crooked Tree was named Album of the Year in the International Folk Music Awards presented by Folk Alliance International on the opening night of its annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to winning the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass album, Tuttle was among the nominees for Best New Artist.

Although she did not win any of the three Grammy Awards for which she was nominated, Aoife O’Donovan – who also is part of the trio I’m With Her (with Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz) and formerly co-founded and fronted the string band Crooked Still – shared the International Folk Music Awards’ Song of the Year honors with Anais Mitchell. O’Donovan was recognized for “B61,” while Mitchell, who created the hit Broadway musical Hadestown, was recognized for “Bright Star.”

Here’s a link to view the official video for Aoife O’Donovan’s “B61” and a link to view the official video for Anais Mitchell’s “Bright Star.”

Janis Ian was named Artist of the Year. The singer-songwriter best known for her early hits “Society’s Child” and “At 17,” also was a recipient of an Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award (Living) — along with the late Josh White (Legacy) and Oh Boy Records (Business/Academic). Ian was present in Kansas City to accept the award and share some remarks, while Josh White, Jr. accepted the award on behalf of his father – the most popular and influential Black folk singer of the 1930s and 1940s. Fiona Prine and her son accepted the award on behalf of their late husband/father John Prine, the revered, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and label co-founder. Following their remarks, Iris DeMent (who previously sang with Prine) and The Milk Carton Boys performed a couple of Prine’s songs.

In addition to the album, song and artist of the year awards that were voted on by FAI members, a number of other International Folk Music Awards were presented.

Singer-Songwriter Alisa Amador, a winner of NPR Music’s prestigious Tiny Desk Contest, was the recipient of the Rising Tide Award that was launched in 2021 to celebrate a new generation (under 30) artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through his/her creative work, community role, and public voice.

The Clearwater Award recognizing a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production was presented to the Shambala Festival — a four-day contemporary performing arts festival in Northamptonshire, England.

The People’s Voice Award was bestowed upon Leyla McCalla for unabashedly embracing social and political commentary in her creative work and career. The New Orleans-based artist, who grew up as part of a Haitian family in New York, is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Besides being a solo artist, she has been a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters.

A recording of the International Folk Music Awards show appears on Folk Alliance International’s YouTube channel. Here’s a direct link to it.

Founded in 1999, 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.

Editor’s Note: As a Folk Alliance International board member (2014-2023), it was my pleasure to present a Spirit of Folk Award to Steve Edge, a veteran folk DJ on CITR and longtime concert & festival presenter in Vancouver, Canada. Other Spirit of Folk Award recipients included Amy Reitnouer Jacobs (the executive director of The Bluegrass Situation and a former FAI board president), Marcy Marxer (a multi-Grammy Award nominee and recipient, along with her partner Cathy Fink), Adrian Sabogal (a musician, producer, researcher, and founder of Marimbea – an organization dedicated to the well-being of the Afro-Colombian communities from Colombia’s South Pacific coast), and Pat Mitchell Worley (the longtime co-host of the syndicated roots radio show Beale Street Caravan, as well as the president and CEO of the Memphis-based Soulsville Foundation that seeks to perpetuate the soul of Stax Records).

2021 Artist, album, and Song of the Year winners were selected by FAI’s voting membership from among groups of finalists based on U.S., Canadian, and international industry year-end lists, as well as folk radio airplay. As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com and recounted below, Lifetime Achievement and Spirit of Folk Awards were also presented, as were several other awards.

A co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago, and formerly part of Po’ Girl, Russell was recognized for her debut solo album, Outside Child. The album was also recently named Contemporary Roots Album of the Year in the Juno Awards and Contemporary Album of the Year in 2022 Canadian Folk Music wards, while she was named English Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of it. Outside Child also was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana album and is among the Americana Honors & Awards nominees for album of the year. Wrought with emotion, its 11 original songs are “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family,” says Russell, who faced abuse and trauma during her youth that music has helped her to overcome.

Here’s a link to view the official video for “Nightflyer, one of the tracks on Russell’s award-winning debut album Outside Child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNJgwj8d9eo.

Social Justice Songwriter Crys Matthews’ “Changemakers” Named “Song of the Year” for 2021

“Changemakers,” the title track of Crys Matthews’ 2021 release, the fourth most-played album of the year on folk radio according to the FAI Folk Charts, was named Song of the Year.

Frequently described as a social justice songwriter, Matthews is a prolific lyricist, composer and multi-instrumentalist whose music blends Americana, blues, bluegrass, folk, funk, and jazz, along with socially conscious themes. Joined by Heather Mae on harmony vocals, she performed “Changemakers” during the International Folk Music Awards Show. Here’s a link to view that performance: https://youtu.be/zVSvYScUtnU?t=6856. And here’s one to view a World One Video recording of the song by JB Nuttle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZbJk-WXaSw.

As the daughter of an A.M.E. preacher, in a small town in southeastern North Carolina, Matthews, who is now based in Nashville, grew up singing in her family’s church and witnessed the power of music from an early age. She won the 2017 NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition and also was named the winner of the People’s Music Network’s Social Justice Songs Showcase during that year’s Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference.

“Thank you all so much for all of your love and support in helping to make “Changemakers” the International Folk Music Awards’ Song of the Year,” said Matthews. I could not be more humbled, pleased and overjoyed in having such an important song recognized in that way and that would have never happened if it were not for you – and that’s everyone from the fans who fell in love with that album and listened to it nonstop to, especially, the folk DJs who made sure that that song was in their rotation from the moment it came out well into now and just never let up and just kept showing the album in general so much love, especially “Changemakers,” the title track. I’m so grateful to all of you… This little Aries right here is humbled and in an absolute puddle of love and joy because of all of you.I am so filled with gratitude.”

Jason Mraz, Planet Bluegrass and Mali Obomsawin Honored

Jason Mraz, a multi-platinum Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter known for his positivity and commitment to conservation, ending world hunger, human rights, and LGBTQIA+ issues, received The People’s Voice Award, which is presented to an individual who unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in his/her/their creative work and public careers. Mraz took part in a nonprofit rescue mission in Ghana to liberate children sold into slavery, performed in Myanmar to raise awareness about human trafficking, participated in Farm Aid, visited Antartica to help raise awareness about the environment and climate change, and was present at Standing Rock. His own foundation supports multiple organizations addressing issues to which he is committed and, in 2020, Mraz donated all profits from his Look for the Good album to Black Lives Matter and other groups working toward equality and justice.

Mraz could not be in Kansas City and expressed thanks for the honor via a pre-recorded video. “I was a little shy at first, thinking I’m too young for this award, that I haven’t done or said enough,” he stated. “Then I realized those thoughts and feelings never go away, that nagging thought that I haven’t done enough. But it’s that nagging thought that is indication that we still have energy to give and want to and will,” Mraz continued. “In my few years lapping the planet, I found solace in seeing political and geographic borders dissolve when the lights go down and a concert begins – a clear reminder that we are all just humans connected by stories and/or the energy and vibe of a song… It’s always good to inspire in a song because you never know who’s listening… Thank you for this acknowledgement. It really means a lot.”

Steve Szymanski, vice president and co-founder of Lyons, Colorado-based Planet Bluegrass accepted the Clearwater Award, which is presented to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production. For more than 30 years, the organization that produces Telluride Bluegrass, Rockygrass Festivals, and Rocky MTN Folks Festival has embraced a “Leave No Trace” ethic and demonstrated environmental leadership by engaging in strategic community-level plans and programs to center the idea of stewardship. Planet Bluegrass is a certified public benefit corporation— a legal entity recognized formally as committed to business practices that are sustainable and beneficial to society and the environment. At each of its respective festivals, Planet Bluegrass incentivizes reuse over recycling. This includes a reusable plate program, annually monitoring and reporting on waste diversion of more than 60% (twice that of the U.S. national average), employing solar power to offset more than 10 tons of CO2 emissions annually, providing composting and compostable bottles, offering free filtered water on site, and donating leftover festival food to local community organizations.

Mali Obomsawin accepted the Rising Tide Award via a pre-recorded video. The award was established in 2021 to celebrate a new generation (under 30) artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through their creative work, community role, and public voice. An award-winning Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist from Odanak Wabanaki First Nation, Obamsawin is a member of the band Lula Wiles, as well as a journalist and the founder and executive director of the Bomazeen Land Trust.

Flaco Jiménez, Nanci Griffith and Swallow Hill Music Recognized for Lifetime Achievement

The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented annually to honor the cultural impact of legendary folk music figures: one Living, one Legacy, and one Business/Academic. This year’s honorees are Conjunto accordionist Flaco Jiménez; the late singer-songwriter and interpreter Nanci Griffith; and folk music organization Swallow Hill Music.

Nanci Griffith, whose music straddled the line between folk and country, a style that she affectionately called “folkabilly,” died on August 13, 2021 at age 68. She was best known for her colorful, narrative tales of small town life that she sang in her warm, crystalline pure voice with a Texas twang. Many of her songs were covered and recorded by other notable artists. An early Kerrville New Folk Winner and a 1995 inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame, Griffith was honored by the Americana Music Association with its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award in 2008 and received a BBC Radio 2 Folk Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. She released her 18th and last studio album, Intersection, in 2012. Griffith’s1993 Elektra release Other Voices, Other Rooms – featuring interpretations of 17 songs by other songwriters who had inspired her – won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

[Here’s a link to listen to Griffith’s poignant recording of “Love at the Five and Dime”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgGG61nQX0w.]

Swallow Hill Music is a Denver, Colorado-based nonprofit music organization that provides music education, outreach, programming, and concerts for more than 138,000 people annually. Focused on diverse music traditions on stage and in the classroom, Swallow Hill’s organizational values promote inclusiveness. Its school offers music education to all ages, while Swallow Hill also hosts open stages and jams that are open to members and non-members alike. Its community and school outreach programs (including assemblies, field trips and in-school and after-school enrichment activities) have reached thousands of students in the Denver metro area.

Six Individuals Receive Spirit of Folk Awards

Spirit of Folk Awards honor and celebrate people and organizations actively involved in the promotion and preservation of folk music through their creative work, community building, and demonstrated leadership. Recipients included Eugene Rodriguez (musician, educator, documentary producer, and founder of Los Cenzontles — both as a band and as a nonprofit music academy and community space for Latinx artists, youth, and families in the San Francisco Bay area); Lilli Lewis (composer, producer, performing artist, and vice president & head of A &R for Louisiana Red Hot Records); Gaelyn Lea (musician, disability rights activist, co-founder and vice president of RAMPD – Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities, 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner, and an in-demand speaker); Erin Benjamin (president & CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association, and formerly a singer-songwriter, label owner, and the first executive director of Folk Music Ontario); Amado Espinoza (Bolivian-American multi-instrumentalist, composer and instrument maker, and co-founder of Resonation Music and Arts — using educational programming to inspire curiosity and respect for world cultures through music, dance, and storytelling); and Shain Shapiro (Sound Diplomacy founder and CEO, whose work has influenced more than 75 cities and countries to invest in music and culture).

In addition to the awards, Angela Page (host of Folk Plus on hydro-powered WJFF 90.5 FM Radio Catskill in Jeffersonville, New York since the early 1990s) and Dr. Jonathan Overby (a DJ and Wisconsin Public Radio host who is also an internationally recognized ethnomusicologist and scholar) were inducted into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame.

Folk Alliance International (folk.org) is a Kansas City, Missouri-based nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. Founded in 1989 to connect folk music leaders aiming to sustain the community and genre, it is currently led by Aengus Finnan, who steps down as its executive director next month. “It’s been the personal and professional honor of my life to serve this community and this organization,” he said during the awards show. Finnan, himself, was honored the previous week with the SERFA Founders’ Award during the annual Southeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Editor’s Note: As a Folk Alliance International board member, it was my pleasure to join my friend and board colleague Rosalyn Dennett, executive director of Folk Music Ontario, in presenting the Spirit of Folk Awards to Amado Espinoza and Gaelynn Lea.

A soulful Nashville, Tennessee-based, Montreal-born Scottish Grenadian Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and activist, Allison Russell is also a co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago and was part of Po’ Girl. Outside Child is her debut solo album and was also recently chosen as Contemporary Album of the Year in the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards, while she was named English Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of it.

Wrought with emotion, Outside Child features 11 original songs “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family,” says Russell, who faced abuse and trauma during her youth that music has helped her to overcome. She is also among the nominees for both Album and Artist of the year in the International Folk Music Awards to be presented by Folk Alliance International on May 18 in Kansas City, Missouri on the opening night of its annual conference.

Maria Dunn is a Scotland-born, Edmonton, Alberta-based singer-songwriter who describes herself as a storyteller through song and accompanies herself on both guitar and accordion. She writes melodic, often socially aware, songs about ordinary people, while her music fuses Celtic folk with elements of bluegrass and country.

Joyful Banner Blazing is Dunn’s first release in four years and her seventh in a career spanning more than 20 years. Produced by Sharon Johnson of the Juno Award-winning band The McDades (as were her six previous independent releases), Joyful Banner Blazing celebrates resilience, grace, gratitude, solidarity, joy, and the love that fires our actions to make the world a better place. Thrice nominated for Junos, Dunn won an Edmonton Music Prize for her previous album, 2016’s Gathering. Her songs have been recorded Niamh Parsons and The Outside Track, among others, while one of them (“God Bless Us Everyone”) appears in the Rise Again songbook.

A complete list of Juno Awards winners can be found, along with additional information, on line at junoawards.ca.

Flaco Jiménez, Nanci Griffith and Swallow Hill Music to be Recognized for Lifetime Achievement

The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented annually to honor the cultural impact of legendary folk music figures: one Living, one Legacy, and one Business/Academic. This year’s honorees are Conjunto accordionist Flaco Jiménez; the late singer-songwriter and interpreter Nanci Griffith; and folk music organization Swallow Hill Music.

Griffith, whose music straddled the line between folk and country, a style that she affectionately called “folkabilly,” died on August 13, 2021 at age 68. She was best known for her colorful, narrative tales of small town life that she sang in her warm, crystalline pure voice with a Texas twang. Many of her songs were covered and recorded by other notable artists. An early Kerrville New Folk Winner and a 1995 inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame, Griffith was honored by the Americana Music Association with its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award in 2008 and received a BBC Radio 2 Folk Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. She released her 18th and last studio album, Intersection, in 2012. Griffith’s1993 Elektra release Other Voices, Other Rooms – featuring interpretations of 17 songs by other songwriters who had inspired her – won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Here’s a link to listen to Griffith’s poignant recording of “Love at the Five and Dime.”

Swallow Hill Music is a Denver, Colorado-based nonprofit music organization that provides music education, outreach, programming, and concerts for more than 138,000 people annually. Focused on diverse music traditions on stage and in the classroom, Swallow Hill’s organizational values promote inclusiveness. Its school offers music education to all ages, while Swallow Hill also hosts open stages and jams that are open to members and non-members alike. Its community and school outreach programs (including assemblies, field trips and in-school and after-school enrichment activities) have reached thousands of students in the Denver metro area.

Jason Mraz, Planet Bluegrass and Mali Obomsawin to be Honored

Jason Mraz, the multi-platinum Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter known for his positivity and commitment to conservation, ending world hunger, human rights, and LGBTQIA+ issues, will receive The People’s Voice Award, which is presented to an individual who unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in his/her/their creative work and public careers. Mraz took part in a nonprofit rescue mission in Ghana to liberate children sold into slavery, performed in Myanmar to raise awareness about human trafficking, Participated in Farm Aid, visited Antartica to help raise awareness about the environment and climate change, and was present at Standing Rock. His own foundation supports multiple organizations addressing issues to which he is committed and, in 2020, Mraz donated all profits from his Look for the Good album to Black Lives Matter and other groups working toward equality and justice.

Colorado-based Planet Bluegrass will receive the Clearwater Award, which is presented to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production. For more than 30 years, the organization that produces Telluride Bluegrass, RockyGrass , and Rocky MTN Folks Festival has embraced a “Leave No Trace” ethic and demonstrated environmental leadership by engaging in strategic community-level plans and programs to center the idea of stewardship. Planet Bluegrass is a certified public benefit corporation— a legal entity recognized formally as committed to business practices that are sustainable and beneficial to society and the environment. At each of its respective festivals, Planet Bluegrass incentivizes reuse over recycling. This includes a reusable plate program, annually monitoring and reporting on waste diversion of more than 60% (twice that of the U.S. national average), employing solar power to offset more than 10 tons of CO2 emissions annually, providing composting and compostable bottles, offering free filtered water on site, and donating leftover festival food to local community organizations.

Mali Obomsawin will receive the Rising Tide Award that was established in 2021 to celebrate a new generation (under 30) artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through their creative work, community role, and public voice. An award-winning Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist from Odanak Wabanaki First Nation, Obamsawin is a member of the band Lula Wiles, as well as a journalist and the founder and executive director of the Bomazeen Land Trust.

FAI Members to Determine Album, Song and Artist of the Year Award Recipients From Among 15 Finalists

A listing of the finalists for the 2021 album, song, and artist of the year awards based on US, Canadian, and international industry year-end lists, as well as folk DJ airplay, follows. Winners are determined by the voting membership of FAI (with the ballot open until April 15).

Album of the Year

They’re Calling Me Home by Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Wary + Strange by Amythyst Kiah
Un Canto por México, Vol. 2 by Natalia Lafourcade
Outside Child by Allison Russell
The Fray by John Smith

Song of the Year

“On Solid Ground” by Reggie Harris
“Painted Blue” by Sarah Jarosz
“We Believe You” by Diana Jones
“Call Me A Fool” by Valerie June
“Changemakers” by Crys Matthews

Artist of the Year

The Longest Johns
Kalani Pe’a
Allison Russell
Arooj Aftab
John Francis Flynn

Six Spirit of Folk Awards to be Presented

Spirit of Folk Awards honor and celebrate people and organizations actively involved in the promotion and preservation of folk music through their creative work, community building, and demonstrated leadership. The 2022 recipients will include Eugene Rodriguez (musician, educator, documentary producer, and founder of Los Cenzontles — both as a band and as a nonprofit music academy and community space for Latinx artists, youth, and families in the San Francisco Bay area); Lilli Lewis (composer, producer, performing artist, and vice president & head of A &R for Louisiana Red Hot Records); Gaelyn Lea (musician, disability rights activist, co-founder and vice president of RAMPD – Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities, 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner, and an in-demand speaker); Erin Benjamin (president & CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association, and formerly a singer-songwriter, label owner, and the first executive director of Folk Music Ontario); Amado Espinoza (Bolivian-American multi-instrumentalist, composer and instrument maker, and co-founder of Resonation Music and Arts — using educational programming to inspire curiosity and respect for world cultures through music, dance, and storytelling); and Shain Shapiro (Sound Diplomacy founder and CEO, whose work has influenced more than 75 cities and countries to invest in music and culture).

Folk Alliance International is a Kansas City, Missouri-based nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. For more information on the organization, its annual conference, Artists in Residence program, online programming, and the International Folk Music Awards, visit folk.org. Click here to view a recording of the April 7 awards announcement.

Scott Cook, a Canadian prairie roots balladeer, was the top choice “with an amazing 49% of voters in his corner,” according to Anne Saunders, the festival’s artistic director. An internationally touring Edmonton, Alberta-based troubadour, Cook has been playing an average of more than 150 shows and a dozen festivals annually since 2007. His sixth album, Further Down the Line (2017), is packaged in a 132-page softcover book that features a look back, in words and pictures, on his first decade of near-incessant rambling. A straight-talking, keenly observant singer-songwriter, Cook delves in folk, roots, blues, soul and country, and accompanies himself on fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo.

Here’s a link to a video by JB Nuttle of Cook performing “Fellas Get Out The Way”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q3iGNvkPM8praie

Zoe Mulford, a transatlantic singer-songwriter, is, perhaps, best-known as the writer of “The President Sang Amazing Grace,” which was covered by Joan Baez on her 2018 album Whistle Down the Wind and was named Song of the Year in the 2018 International Folk Music Awards presented by Folk Alliance International. Baez’s recording was the most-played song on folk radio during March 2018, while Mulford’s own rendition of it appears on her 2017 release Small Brown Birds that was the most-played album on folk radio in February of that year, according to the Folk DJ Charts.

Here’s a link to view a video by JB Nuttle of Zoe Mulford performing the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qdB1EypJFU

Mulford, who originally hails from Pennsylvania, has released five albums on the cooperative Azalea City Recordings label. She now lives in the North of England and tours on both sides of the Atlantic.

South for Winter is a genre-bending Nashville, Tennessee-based trio whose music fuses folk, blues, classical, jazz and rock elements. Band members cite The Civil Wars and The Lone Bellow among their influences. Initially a duo featuring Colorado singer-songwriter Dani Cichon and New Zealand musician Nick Stone who met while doing volunteer work in Peru in 2014, South for Winter became a trio with the addition of Michigan cellist Alex Stradal in 2017. The group released its debut EP in January 2018 and a follow-up EP that August before embarking on its first national tour. The band has since toured Canada as well.

Here’s a link to view the official video for South for Winter’s song “All We Have”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnjwe7k6Mp4

Popular Festival is Set for July 31-August 2, 2020

Although many of the festival’s participating artists are still to be announced, its popular Friday Night Summer’s Eve Song Swap will feature Vance Gilbert, Matt Nakoa, Susan Werner and one more TBA. Longtime festival favorites Katryna and Nerissa Nields and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams also have been confirmed for the weekend.

Apply Now for Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase

Applications also are now being accepted for this year’s Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase. From among all entries received by May 10, 24 artists/acts will be selected for two song/10-minute spots on the main stage on Friday afternoon, July 31, during the festival.

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 15, 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.

New Orleans resident Leyla McCalla, part of Our Native Daughters along with Kiah and also a former member of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, served as the evening’s emcee. In addition to the FAI member-voted awards for artist, song and album of the year that were chosen from among a list of nominees culled from a number of top folk DJ charts, publications, lists and other awards rosters around the world, Lifetime Achievement, Spirit of Folk, Clearwater, and People’s Voice Awards also were presented.

The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented annually to a living recipient, a memorial recipient, and an organization or recognized academic. Honored this week were Grammy Award-winning Cajun band BeauSoleil (avec Michael Doucet) – Living; the “Queen of Gospel” Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972) – Legacy; and New Orleans’ Preservation Hall – Organization/Academic.

Spirit of Folk Awards honor and celebrate people and organizations actively involved in the promotion and preservation of folk music through their creative work, their community building, and their demonstrated leadership. Recipients include Ellen Bello (Native American Music Awards), Ephraim Bugumba (refugee-artist), Laura Hassler (Musicians Without Borders), Ake Lundstom (Nordic Folk Alliance), Jan Ramsey (OffBeat Magazine), and Ben Sandmel (folklorist and writer).

Ani DiFranco is this year’s recipient of he People’s Voice Award that is presented to an individual who unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in his/her creative work and public career. A vocal activist and female icon whose folk roots run deep, Ani DiFranco’s international career was made notable through meaningful songwriting that embraces and embodies social activism. DiFranco launched Righteous Babe Records in 1990 and has released more than 20 albums to date.

Pickathon, based near Portland, Oregon, received the Clearwater Award recognizing a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production.

Featuring 180 juried official artist showcases and several-thousand private ones, a wide array of workshops and panel discussions, keynotes by Rhiannon Giddens and Mavis Staples, mentoring and peer group sessions, a large exhibit hall, an associated music camp, receptions and networking opportunities galore, the Folk Alliance International Conference is the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community – drawing some 3,000 participants this year. Through its theme of The Story of People and Place, this year’s conference is focusing on cultural equity — with some programming exploring such topics as diversity, inclusion, immigration, intersection, and influence.

Folk Alliance International is a Kansas City, Missouri-based nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. For more information on the organization, visit www.folk.org.

Cockburn, a prolific Canadian singer-songwriter and pioneering guitarist, received his 13th Juno Award for Bone On Bone. The Ottawa, Ontario native, who won his first Juno in 1971, has released 33 albums during a career spanning five decades.

Themes of social justice permeate many of Cockburn’s songs, while he also has championed environmental and indigenous people’s issues. Last year, he received the inaugural People’s Voice Award during the International Folk Music Awards Show held in conjunction with the 2017 Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. He also was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame last fall and was previously inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame (2002). Cockburn is the subject of a full-length feature documentary, Pacing the Cage, and penned a memoir, Rumours of Glory, that was published in 2014.

The Dead South was honored for its album, Illusion & Doubt. The Regina, Saskatchewan-based folk, bluegrass and alt. country ensemble has released three albums since forming in 2012. The group’s musical inspiration comes from an old-school feel that is combined with a punk influence, according to vocalist-guitarist Nate Hilts.

Medicine Songs by Buffy Sainte-Marie, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her thought-provoking lyrics and her passionate advocacy for aboriginal people, was named Indigenous Music Album of the Year. In addition to a music career spanning more than 50 years, Sainte-Marie has been a social activist, educator and philanthropist and has sought to protect indigenous intellectual property and championed indigenous artists and performers. In recognition of those efforts, she received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award during last year’s JUNO Awards ceremonies. Medicine Songs also was among this year’s nominees for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year.

A complete list of JUNO Awards winners can be found, along with additional information, on line at www.junoawards.ca.

In recent years, Amram has shown a particular affinity for the folk community – as an active participant in Folk Alliance International and Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conferences. Although now 86 years young, he has more energy and vigor than many people much younger than him. As folks who have sat in on the late-night showcases I host at NERFA Conferences can attest, Amram is generally the last man standing at 3 a.m. playing one of his many instruments as he improvises and accompanies other artists – particularly young and emerging ones.

Many honors have been bestowed on Amram — including the second annual Pete and Toshi Seeger Power of Song Award in 2012, several other lifetime achievement awards, and six honorary doctorates. I’m so delighted that Folk Alliance International members voted to honor him this year and that he was in Kansas City to accept his award from Deana McCloud, executive director of the Woody Guthrie Center.

Bruce Cockburn, The Great Hudson River Clearwater Revival and Others are also Honored

Others honored during the awards show hosted by Grammy Award-winning artist Paula Cole and celebrating excellence, tradition, innovation, and the collective history of the global folk community included:

Bruce Cockburn – The Canadian folk-rocker – who has highlighted environmental, social and indigenous issues globally over the past 40 years — was on-hand to accept the inaugural People’s Voice Award. Artist and activist Kris Kristofferson presented the award to Cockburn in recognition of his commitment to incorporating social and political commentary in his creative work and folk music career.

The Great Hudson River Clearwater Revival received its namesake Clearwater Award, established this year and set to be presented annually to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production. Launched by the late Pete and Toshi Seeger, the Great Hudson River Clearwater Revival celebrates environmental activism, music and education. Festival director Steve Lurie accepted the award from artist and activist Eliza Gilkyson.

Barbara Dane, Chloe Goodyear, Michelle Conceison, Ramy Essam, Si Kahn, and SONiA disappear fear were the recipients of Spirit of Folk Awards presented in recognition of their active involvement in the promotion and preservation of folk music through their creative work, community building and demonstrated leadership.

In addition, Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning actress Megan Mullally (of Will and Grace fame), who is also a singer – and impressed as part of the duo Nancy and Beth — presented the following member-voted Best of 2016 awards:

Album of the Year: Undercurrent by Sarah Jarosz

Song of the Year: “Black Man in a White World” by Michael Kiwanuka and Inflo

Artist of the Year: Parker Millsap

Although none of the “Best of” award-winners were in attendance, each recorded a video that was screened during the awards show.

Folk DJ Hall of Fame Inducts Its Inaugural Class

Inducted into a newly established Folk DJ Hall of Fame in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the preservation, promotion, and presentation of folk music, as well as demonstrated and inspired leadership in the broadcast field, were Oscar Brand (the late host of the world’s longest-running radio show, Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival, which aired for 70 years on WNYC AM 820 in New York City); Mike Regenstreif (an Ottawa, Canada–based veteran music journalist, broadcaster and host of Folk Roots/Folk Branches, which was heard on Montreal’s CKUT from 1994-2007, and who recently returned to the airwaves as a rotating host of both Saturday Morning and Canadian Spaces on Ottawa’s CKCU); and Howard and Roz Larman (the late hosts of FolkScene, a highly influential syndicated music program, emanating from KPFK-FM in Southern California, that aired from 1970-2016. Also recognized in the Hall of Fame’s inaugural year were folk DJs and past FAI- award recipients Rich Warren (longtime host of Midnight Special on Chicago’s WFMT, that also is nationally syndicated on some 70 stations) and Gene Shay (former longtime host of The Folk Show on Philadelphia’s WXPN-FM).

Note: Here’s a link to a previous AcousticMusicScene.com article about Oscar Brand:

https://acousticmusicscene.com/2016/10/08/remembering-oscar-brand-1920-2016/

29th Folk Alliance International Conference Attracts Nearly 3,000 People

The International Folk Music Awards was just one among many highlights of the 29th Folk Alliance International Conference, Feb. 15-19, which had as its theme “Forbidden Folk,” celebrating activism in art. Billy Bragg, a Grammy Award-winning British singer-songwriter and activist, delivered a stirring keynote and also headlined the second annual Kansas City Folk Festival that capped it on Sunday afternoon, while singer-songwriter and social activist Ani DiFranco also spoke, shared a couple of songs, and engaged in an on-stage Q & A interview.

The conference, which drew nearly 3,000 people from some 20 countries – and more for select events that were open to the public — featured several days of panel discussions and workshops, mentoring sessions, regional and peer group meetings, receptions, an exhibit hall, a health fair, and lots of music and networking. During four nights (and several afternoons), emerging and renowned touring artists from throughout the world showcased their talents for hundreds of concert and festival presenters, agents, managers, media, and music industry representatives in hundreds of juried and private in-room showcases, in-the-round song swaps, and jams that extended well into the early morning hours. Many also could be found plying their craft in the lobby, stairwells and other nooks and crannies of The Westin Crown Center — the hotel that played host to the conference for the fourth consecutive year.

Editor’s Note: An elected member of the Folk Alliance International board of directors, I also serve as board president for its largest regional affiliate — Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA), whose boundaries extend from Washington, DC’s northern Virginia suburbs to eastern Canada. I moderated a well-received panel discussion on “The Art of Adventurous Programming” for presenters, mentored a few artists, and led a regional meeting during the conference.