The Annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance  conference includes:

1. Workshops,

2. Panel discussions,

3. Seminars,

4. Exhibit hall,

5. Formal showcase in the Manhattan Theater,

6. Quad Showcases in the Conference Center,

7. Private Showcases in designated areas with professional sound systems,

8. Guerrilla Showcases in designated hotel rooms,

9. Access to hundreds of folk musicians, agents, venues, festivals, folk DJs, business services and friends.

10. The opportunity to network with hundreds of other people involved in the folk music business.

The Cambridge Historical Society and the New England Folk Music Archives announce an evening of conversation and music at the Cambridge Historical Society, November 21, 2013.

At 6:00pm, a lively conversation between former WUMB program director Brian Quinn and Lorraine and Bennett Hammond will discuss and explore the rich history of folk music around the greater Boston area. This conversation will be recorded and deposited into The New England Folk Music Archives’ growing oral history collection.

Following the conversation, Lorraine and Bennett will perform traditional and original compositions on guitar, dulcimer, and harp, drawing on a long folk tradition.

Suggested donation for this event is $10 at the door, however additional support would be greatly appreciated to help the Cambridge Historical Society and The New England Folk Music Archives continue their important work in the community.

Lorraine and Bennett Hammond play and sing in perfect complement: blending their instruments with consummate skill, they create a new voice for music that ranges in style from classical through Celtic, blues and contemporary. The joy they take in their music is contagious, and their flair for tailoring their selection of songs and tunes for individual audiences lends a lively freshness to each performance.

Brian Quinn spent over 20 years managing all aspects of public radio station WUMB in Boston, recognized as the nation’s premiere station for folk and acoustic music.  For most of these years he served as the station’s program director. Brian also was instrumental in planning and overseeing the annual Boston Folk Festival, which annually drew thousands of participants to the University of Massachusetts. He has several years of experience producing events on The Boston Common, Copley Square, Sanders Theater and The Somerville Theater.

•The Cambridge Historical Society

Venue Address:  159 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Venue Web Site: http://www.cambridgehistory.org/

Cambridge Historical Society Phone: (617) 547-4252

The New England Folk Music Archives

Promoter Address:  319 Hurley St. #3, Cambridge, MA 02141

Promoter Website:  http://www.newenglandfolkmusic.org

Info Phone: 508-789-7611 (Brian Quinn)

Time Line

5:30 pm          Doors open

6:00                Oral History with Lorraine and Bennett Hammond

7:00                Concert

Lorraine and Bennett Hammond

http://www.greatacoustics.org/

“When you listen to 17-year-old folk singer Hayley Reardon, it’s hard to identify what’s more impressive: the fact that she’s already considered a seasoned folk artist or that she’s a national spokesperson for PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. In any event, both are laudable facts that dovetail nicely on her debut album Where The Artists Go.

Antje Duvekot has solidified her reputation as one of Boston’s top singer songwriters with “Big Dream Boulevard” her debut studio release and “the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer” her follow-up CD. The debut CD was produced by Seamus Egan, founder of the Irish super group, SOLAS. The project was released on acclaimed songwriter Ellis Paul’s label, Black Wolf Records and quickly attracted international attention for Antje. It was voted “#1 Folk Release of 2006” by the Boston Globe and was named to the “Top10 Releases of the Year” by National Public Radio’s, Folk Alley. Her follow up album “the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer” was produced by Richard Shindell and along side with Richard features other “folk royalty” such as John Gorka, Lucy Kaplancky and Mark Erelli. It was voted #1 album of the year 2009 by WUMB 91.9 fm in Boston.

“What a blessing to have worked with someone as talented as Antje. With a voice like hers, and songs as good as these, a producer (especially a first-time producer!) just tries to get out of the way, to do no harm, and to let the artist speak for herself.” – Richard Shindell

“Duvekot has gotten hotter, faster than any local songwriter in recent memory. Her songs feel at once fresh faced and firmly rooted, driven by the whispery sensuality of her voice. She believes in the redemptive power of the shared secret; and is utterly unafraid to mine the darkest corners of her life for songs that turn fear into resilience and isolation into community”. The Boston Globe

Antje has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the prestigious, Kerrville (TX) “Best New Folk Award” and in one of the nation’s top music markets, she won the Boston Music Award for “Outstanding Folk Act”, three of the top prizes in the singer songwriter world.

A Benefit for FOLK New England.

Peter Yarrow. “We all know the music of Peter, Paul and Mary—folk classics that remain the soundtrack for generations. But our patrons were thrilled to experience the relevancy of that music, and how it resonates through today’s headlines, when Peter Yarrow brought his solo show to the Tower Theatre. It was so much more than a nostalgia show. Peter connected with the sold-out audience in ways that went well beyond a normal concert: he encouraged sing-alongs and audience participation; he signed autographs at intermission; he personally greeted each and every one of our VIPs and members; he even auctioned two personalized guitars to raise money for our educational outreach programs. Peter turned our theatre into his living room. He created an inclusive atmosphere, encouraging each of us to change our part of the world. It was a memorable evening rooted in the historic milestones of his past, yet focused on the current issues that continue to call him to activism. We all know how all the songs of Peter, Paul and Mary sound; what a rare treat to hear what Peter thinks of them. “

–Ray Solley, Executive Director, Tower Theatre Foundation, Bend, Oregon
Peter Yarrow’s talents as a creative artist—both with the legendary trio Peter, Paul & Mary and as a solo performer—are frequently directed at using music to convey a message of humanity and caring. His gift for songwriting has produced some of the most moving songs from Peter, Paul & Mary, including “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Day is Done”, “Light One Candle” and “The Great Mandala.” As a member of the renowned musical trio, Yarrow has earned multiple gold and platinum albums, as well as numerous GRAMMYs.

Over the years, many issues have moved Peter to commit his time and talent: equal rights, peace, the environment, gender equality, homelessness, hospice care, and education. All have utilized his skills as both a performer and an organizer. Peter Yarrow’s life and work – culminating in the founding and leadership of Operation Respect with its “Don’t Laugh At Me” initiative – is based on his passionate belief that music, with its power to build community and catalyze change, can be a particularly powerful organizing tool.

“Yes, it will be nostalgic for many. But on another level, it will bring them a sense of what is still possible. Yes, they will sing ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane,’ and I will give them a sense of the current history of what this music is doing, and why it’s important. So it will be a history lesson, it will be a singalong that inspires, but it will also assert the importance of the continuation of this kind of music in people’s lives today. And where we’re going from here in those terms. It’s not necessarily a big lecture — it’s inherent in the music. They’ll get it. I know it, ’cause that’s what I do.” – Peter Yarrow

Very special guest Michaela Anne will open the show.

Information and Tickets: Click Here

Dar Williams with Special Guest Catie Curtis

A benefit concert for Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Friday, February 5th at 7:30pm

Tickets and More Info: Click Here

“Dar Williams is a songwriter of immense talent” – Telegraph UK

Williams growth as an individual over her almost two-decade-long career has gone hand-in-hand with her evolution as an artist. Raised in Chappaqua, N.Y., and educated at Wesleyan University, Williams spent 10 years living in the thriving artistic community of Northampton, Mass., where she began to make the rounds on the coffeehouse circuit. Joan Baez, an early fan of her music, took Williams out on the road and recorded several of her songs.

Every new album from Dar Williams represents her thoughts and feelings about both her own life and larger forces in the world. But her ninth studio record, Emerald, marks a particularly dramatic confluence between her experiences and broader contemporary culture—and what it means to be a songwriter at this moment in history.

“I’m now experiencing the fruits of the alternative culture I was part of in the ‘90s,” she says. “I think I’ve made choices about how I lived my life, outside of the world that was going to fit me among the mainstream norms, and I chose to stay with my friends, to stay with my culture. That turns out to have been the sturdiest structure I could have built for myself. And that’s in my songs, it’s in my teaching. I’m a believer in what can happen when we make music together.” – Dar Williams

Special Guest Catie Curtis

Catie Curtis is a veteran on the singer/songwriter folk scene. She’s performed at the White House, two Presidential Inaugural Balls, with Lilith Fair, and at Carnegie Hall. Winner of several Boston Music Awards, she also took the Grand Prize in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition (out of 15,000 entries). The New Yorker called Catie a “folk-rock goddess.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a nonpartisan organization that lobbies, educates and litigates in order to preserve the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans.

Tickets and More Info: Click Here

The 20th Annual Healing Garden MusicFest Concert takes place on October 15, at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA. Sponsored by Patio Records this benefit concert is geared towards raising funds to build healing gardens at hospital treatment centers. Musicians include: Garnet Rogers, Barbara Kessler, Rick Fines, Suzie Vinnick and many more. More information about the Healing Garden Fest here.

About Patio Records

The Mary Eagan Garden Fund was created in memory of Mary (1947-1992), who succumbed to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Mary, a mother of four children, requested that any monies raised in her honor be directed towards building a patio for future patients’ well-being during their times of receiving cancer treatments.

While working with local hospitals towards patio construction, a concurrent pursuit is the universalization of the concept of having such a facility be part of an overall treatment plan for those unfortunate to be so afflicted. The Waltham (MA) Hospital embraced this goal, and on April 27th, 2001, saw the opening ceremony and ribbon cuttting of the magnificent Mary Eagan Garden adjoining the Cancer Care Center; providing a setting of comfort and solace for people who our hearts go out to.

The first Mary Eagan Garden in Canada was opened within the the 4.5 acre Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park in Ottawa on September 24, 2008.

Annual Benefit Concerts have led the way as a fundraising vehicle. To date, Patio Records has hosted nearly 40 events in New England and Canada, featuring lineups of Canadian and U.S. virtuosos.  These exceptional musicians have been enthusiastic in response to the concert series.

This will be THE folk singer/songwriter event of the year.  Tickets Here

For over forty years, Dick Pleasants was a mainstay on Boston radio, as well as part of the Boston and New England music community.

Proceeds from this concert will go to “The Richard E. Pleasants Supplemental Needs Trust.”

We have some of the most respected musicians lending their talents for this show. Lori McKenna, Patty Larkin, Garnet Rogers, Cliff Eberhardt and Mark Erelli.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKenna puts a magnifying glass on un-championed lives. She doesn’t just notice the quiet and ordinary, she delights in it – effortlessly transforming the average to extraordinary. Lori is one of the most sought after songwriters in the industry with her songs recorded by top artists including Reba, Alison Krauss, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. McKenna’s songwriting credits include the 2x Platinum Billboard No. 1 hit, I Want Crazy, by Hunter Hayes. She penned the 2015 massive Little Big Town hit, Girl Crush, which reached 11 weeks on the Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and netted McKenna a CMA Award, NSAI Songwriters and her first Grammy. She wrote Tim McGraw’s hit, Humble & Kind. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart marking the first time in more than four years a song written by one writer topped the chart.

Patty Larkin

Patty Larkin redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics. Acoustic Guitar hails her “soundscape experiments” while Rolling Stone praises her “evocative and sonic shading.” She has been described as “riveting” (Chicago Tribune), “hypnotic” (Entertainment Weekly) and a “drop-dead brilliant” performer (Performing Songwriter )

Cliff Eberhardt

Cliff Eberhardt knew by age seven that he was going to be a singer and songwriter. Growing up in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, he and his brothers sang together and their parents played instruments. His dad introduced him to the guitar and he quickly taught himself to play. Fortunate enough to live close to the Main Point (one of the best folk clubs on the East Coast), he cut his teeth listening to the likes of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, and Mississippi John Hurt — receiving an early and impressive tutorial in acoustic music. At the same time, he was also listening to great pop songwriters like Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Rodgers and Hart, which explain his penchant for great melodies and clever lyrical twists.

Garnet Rogers Photo -Steve Ide

Garnet Rogers has established himself as “One of the major talents of our time”. Hailed by the Boston Globe as a “charismatic performer and singer”, Garnet is a man with a powerful physical presence – close to six and a half feet tall – with a voice to match. With his “smooth, dark baritone” (Washington Post) his incredible range, and thoughtful, dramatic phrasing, Garnet is widely considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the finest singers anywhere.

Mark Erelli

Mark Erelli has won several prestigious awards, including the Kerrville New Folk Contest and the International Song Contest, where a song he co-wrote with Catie Curtis (“People Look Around”) bested 15,000 entries to win the grand prize. He has maintained a rigorous touring schedule, appearing onstage everywhere from coffeehouses and major folk festival stages (Newport, Philadelphia) to Fenway Park, where he once sang the national anthem before a Red Sox game. In recent years, Mark has gained notoriety as a multi-instrumentalist sideman and producer, accompanying GRAMMY-winning artists such as Lori McKenna, Paula Cole and Josh Ritter everywhere from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry to London’s Royal Albert Hall.

More information and tickets here.

Presented by Barnes Newberry of My Back Pages Radio & Brian Quinn of Last Dance Productions