“This virtual confab will satisfy both our bylaws’ requirements for an annual general membership meeting, and our yen for the live performances we have come to love through our official and private guerilla showcases,” according to a Sept. 24 news release issued by the nonprofit organization. “The show, and the love, must go on.”

The organization’s annual general membership meeting kicks off the day at 11:30 a.m. PDT. In addition to a brief discussion of board and organizational business, the meeting will afford members of Folk Alliance International who reside in the western United States and Canada an opportunity to ask questions and make comments.

A two-hour FAR-West Livestream Concert Revue is slated to start at 12:45 p.m. PDT via the FAR-West YouTube channel. It will feature live performances by well-known acts from the West and beyond, as well as a few up-and-coming artists.

Performers include Grammy® winners and nominees Laurence Juber, John McEuen, Danny O’Keefe and Wendy Waldman; up-and-comers The Black Feathers, Crys Matthews and Raye Zaragoza; storyteller Tim Hernandez; stalwarts Joe Craven, David Jacobs-Strain, Joel Rafael and Beth Wood and David Jacobs-Strain. Tom Prasada-Rao will sing his much-covered social justice anthem, “$20 Bill” (For George Floyd), a poignant and heartbreakingly powerful song that he wrote in the days following the senseless murder of a 46 year-old black man by a Minneapolis, MN police officer after he allegedly bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. To cap off the musical festivities, Dan Navarro will perform a newly-written version of the classic song “We Belong” that he co-wrote with his late musical partner Eric Lowen; Pat Benatar’s recording of “We Belong” was a best-selling hit.

Here are the online links for the meeting and the concert:

Zoom Meeting: www.zoom.us or on the Zoom app • Meeting ID: 927 0725 3654 / Passcode: 945043

YouTube Concert:
www.youtube.com/user/farwestconference

One of five North America-based regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International, FAR-West (far-west.org) seeks to foster and promote traditional, contemporary and multicultural folk music, dance, storytelling and related performing arts in the Western United States and Canada. 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.

Local, national and international touring artists whose performances are slated to stream @ https://facebook.com/michiganirish over the extended weekend include (in alphabetical order) The Alt, An Dro, Blackthorn, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, Bohola, Daimh, Doolin’, Ian Gould, Shane Hennessey, Seamus Kennedy, The Kreelers, One for the Foxes, Peat in the Creel, RUNA, Scythian, Sharon Shannon, Trout Steak Revival, and Uneven Ground. Singer-Songwriter Ashley Davis will host a songwriters circle featuring Dave Curley, Doolin’, Colin Farrell, and Shane Hennessey, while Shannon Lambert-Ryan, RUNA’s lead vocalist, will host a family-friendly presentation on “Baking with Babies.”

The schedule for the virtual festival appears below. Videos may also be posted on the festival’s Facebook page for replay later if you miss or want to see any of the acts again.

Thursday
5-7 pm Sounds Like Ireland Radio Program
8 pm Runa
9 pm Seamus Kennedy
10 pm An Dro

Friday
6 – 9 am Michael Patrick Shiels The Big Show radio show broadcast live from downtown Muskegon
5 pm Ruth and Max Bloomquist
6 pm Ian Gould
6:30 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Colin Farrell and Dave Curley)
7 pm Dave Curley
7:50 pm Five Farms
8 pm Best of Scythian on Dan’s Wedding Day!
9 pm Shane Hennessy
10 pm The Kreellers

Saturday
12 pm Conklin Ceili Band
1 pm Peat in the Creel
1:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith Storyteller – Seanín the Piper
2 pm Kennedy’s Kitchen
2:30 Bob Harke with Kennedy’s Kitchen
3 pm Baking with Babies
4 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Doolan’)
5 pm the Alt
5:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith – Questions about the Irish Wake
6 pm Friel Sisters
7 pm One for the Foxes
8 pm Daimh
9 pm Doolin’
10 pm CrossBow

Sunday
11 am Uneven Ground
11:30 am Deb O’Carroll’s Irish Magic Show
12 pm Runa featuring Eamonn and Cormac de Barra
1 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashely Davis (featuring Shane Hennessy)
2 pm Trout Steak Revival
3 pm Bohola
4 pm Best of Sharon Shannon
5 pm Blackthorn