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Over two-thousand artists will gather on February 10 in Austin, Texas, for the 18th North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance convention. They will spend four days listening to and discovering new talent as well as discussing how to effectively market folk music around the world.
The conference, which studies the business world of traditional and contemporary folk music and dance through showcases, films and educational workshops, will feature many well-known names as keynote speakers including Arlo Guthrie, Kinky Friedman and Peter Yarrow. There will also be special concerts every evening; performers include Judy Collins, Peter Yarrow, and Lowen & Navarro. The trade show, which is sold out, has 115 booths of artists, publications, recording companies and other aspects of the industry.
Over 200 artists will perform for promoters, booking agents, and record label representatives. The attendees will also have the chance to mingle with radio and print media, music publishers and others in the music industry. During the conference, registrants will attend panels that provide useful insight for achieving success in the field of folk music and dance. A complete “Performance Alley” showcase schedule is up on the web at folk.org.
This year there will be special focus on Texas, with the series of events called “Texas Trails“ which will highlight the blues, conjunto, Texas swing, mariachi, and cowboy music. It will also highlight Texas photographers, Austin music business professionals, and Texas singer/songwriters groups.
On February 13, the first Folk Music Awards and Folk Alliance Music Business Awards show will be held. It will be hosted by Ray Wylie Hubbard and feature such names as Jonathan Edwards, Marshall Crenshaw, Danny O’Keefe, Willis Alan Ramsey, and Susan Gibson. Lifetime achievement awards will be presented to Tom Paxton, Clifton Chenier, and Kenneth Goldstein.
