More than a dozen folk DJs from the northeast and beyond will introduce each other and other early arrivers to the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference to a number of artists who may be new to them during the annual folk DJ showcase on Thursday night, November 12, from 8:30 p.m. to midnight, at the Hudson Valley Resort & Conference Center in Kerhonkson, New York. The popular event, which precedes the formal start of the conference on Friday, has been renamed the Suzi Wollenberg DJ Showcase this year in honor of the former folk music coordinator and host of “Roots” on Tuesday mornings on WVUD 91.3 FM, ”the voice of the University of Delaware,” who died suddenly on August 8. At the time of her death, Wollenberg was serving as president of the Green Willow Folk Club in Wilmington, DE and was active in helping to organize the Folk DJ Showcase.
Listed below are the participating folk DJs and the artists they will introduce.
Ken Batista, WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA): Anne Walker
Mary Cliff, WAMU (Washington, DC): Dale Robin
Graham & Barbara Dean , WBCR (Great Barrington, MA): Bev Grant
Wanda Fischer, WAMC/Northeast Public Radio (Albany, NY): The Rhythm Angels
Sue Kessell, WNUR (Chicago, IL): Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop
Sonny Ochs, WRPI (Troy, NY): Brad Yoder
Ron Olesko, WFDU (Teaneck, NJ): Mara Levine
Angela Page, WJFF (Jeffersonville, NY): Michael McNevin
John Platt, WFUV (Bronx, NY): Joe Iadanza
Gene Shay, WXPN (Philadelphia, PA): Carsie Blanton
Pamela Smith, WPKN (Bridgeport/New Haven, CT): Emma Cook
Rich Warren, WFMT (Chicago, IL): Robyn Landis
Editor’s Note: Rich Warren, who organizes this annual event, is the longtime host of the nationally syndicated show “The Midnight Special” and of “Folkstage.”
In addition to those listed above, several alternate artists nominated by DJs and drawn from a hat are slated to perform. They are Bread and Bones (nominated by both Mary Cliff and Wanda Fischer), Putnam Smith (nominated by Ken Batista), Gypsy Dave & The Stump Jumpers (nominated by Ron Olesko), and Beth DeSombre (nominated by Angela Page).
Following the Suzi Wollenberg DJ Showcase, AcousticMusicScene.com will afford folk DJs Graham & Barbara Dean and Wanda Fischer, along with 35 pre-selected artists, an opportunity to strut their stuff during its popular Midnight Hoot. Each singing DJ and independent artist will perform one song during the three-hour event that was launched three years ago to afford folk DJs who also have released albums an opportunity to be heard, while bringing them and artists together. The format also enables early-arriving presenters to see and hear a number of artists before the conference gets into full swing on Friday and to decide if there are some whom they would like to check out further on Friday and Saturday.
Joining the Deans and Fischer in the AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot will be Marc Douglas Berardo, Marc Black, Meg Braun, Robert Bruey, Buskin & Batteau, K.C. Clifford, Todd Coyle, RJ Cowdery, Wyatt Easterling, John Flynn, Friction Farm, Gathering Time, Jenny Goodspeed, Melissa Greener, Loretta Hagen, Jenee Halstead, Lara Herscovitch, Brendan Hogan, Joe Iadanza, Joe Jencks, Brian Ashley Jones, John Kribs, David LaFleur, Layah Jane, Mara Levine, Allison Lickley, Lucky 13, Jaime Michaels, Danielle Miraglia, Kathy Moser, Karyn Oliver, Roger Silverberg, Joe Stone, Reed Waddle, Shannon Wurst, and Brad Yoder.
More information on the NERFA Conference — including the artist lineups for AcousticMusicScene.com’s late-night showcases and special Saturday afternoon Long Island Sound Showcase and Wine Tasting (courtesy of Martha Clara Vineyards) — will be posted later this week on AcousticMusicScene.com.
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