DANCE
(Folk Dancing, Contra, etc.) The
Dance Gypsy
-
a dancer-supported site, best known for its "Summer Planner",
now available on-line. The Planner -- along with their other collections
of dance listings -- is among the most up-to-date and complete of any
on the net. In addition to the Planner listings for festivals nationwide,
they also maintain lists of performers and other dance related sites,
plus a regional guide to dances in New England. Covers all forms of
folk
and traditional dance.
DanceDB Huge online dance data base. Information about dances, venues,
bands, people, and the events that link them together.
Dance Flurry - a festival of music and dance held yearly in February
in beautiful and historic Saratoga Springs, New York Folk
Dance Association - An on-line directory of folk dance sessions, classes,
teachers and special events in
the United States and Canada. Hudson-Mohawk Traditional
Dances - Information on an array of dance events in the Capital District
area. Vanaver Caravan
- a wonderful New York State dance company directed by choreographer Livia
Vanaver and composer/musician Bill Vanaver.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
NY
Capital District area Black
Creek Fiddler's Reunion is
a participatory Old-Time music weekend at the Altamont Fairgrounds,
Altamont, NY. Memorial Day Weekend. Camping. Falcon
Ridge Folk Festival a four-day community of folk
music and dance at the foot of the Berkshires in east-central New
York State. Musical emphasis on the best in acoustic singer/songwriters. the
GottaGetGon is
an intimate family-oriented folk festival held at the Saratoga County
Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa (45 minutes northwest of Albany), over
Memorial Day weekend. Spring
Blossom Fiddle Jamboree - Long Lake, NY. All
fiddlers welcome to participate in this annual event by playing
three tunes of their choice. Not a contest. All fiddlers receive
stipend to offset travel. Phone: 518-624-3077, Email: longlake@telenet.net
Greater
US festivals About.com
listings - a
pretty comprehensive list of national folk festivals. Link from
there to international festivals. Eisteddfod-NY - A Festival of Traditional Music
at The Renaissance Charter
School, 35-59 81st St, Jackson Heights, Queens, NYC. 2007
dates: November 16-18 Folk
College, Folk College
with Simple Gifts is a fun, hands-on weekend of workshops, concerts,
jams, dancing, and friendship held at Juniata College in Huntingdon,
PA. All ages, instruments, and levels are welcome. The event
is designed for musicians with eclectic tastes. Within one weekend,
you’ll have a choice of workshops ranging from old-time to
celtic to international, and you’ll get to sing, dance,
play, and listen.
For more information: email the ,
or call 814/643-6220
Folk College website: www.simplegiftsmusic.com/folkcollege/ Greenwood
Furnace Folk Gathering, A fun weekend of workshops,
jamming, concerts, and a contradance for traditional musicians of all
ages and abilities. Featuring Pennsylvania Heritage Musicians demonstrating
fiddling techniques. Held at Greenwood Furnace State Park in central
Pennsylvania. For more information, contact
or call (814) 643-6220. Lowell
Folk Festival,
Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell, Massacusetts. The largest free
folk festival in the nation! The Lowell
Folk Festival has brought an international array of folk music, ethnic foods,
craftspeople and artisans to New England every summer for more than 20 years. Phone:
978-970-5000 or
Topanga
Banjo-Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival – Since 1961,
one of the premier contests and festivals in the country.
Directories of Festivals worldwide efolkmusic.com
- Folk Festival listings - comprehensive
listing of US folk festivals Festivals.com - bills itself as the internet's largest Festival and Event
resource.
KadmusArts
International Resource for Dance, Music and Theatre Festivals. Clean, uncluttered
and
loaded with useful information about events worldwide including The Old
Songs
Festival.
FOLK
ARTS ORGANIZATIONS Augusta
Heritage Center - The
Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia
is dedicated to making traditional music, crafts, dancing and folklore
available to visitors and residents alike. Calliope: The
Pittsburgh Folk Music Society - a nonprofit educational and presenting
organization that promotes and preserves traditional and contemporary
folk music and its allied arts. Center for Traditional Music
& Dance - New York City based organization
which develops performance and educational programs of music and dance
indigenous to the ethnic communities of the New York region. Common
Ground on the Hill - a traditional music and arts organization
whose purpose is to offer quality learning experiences with master
musicians, artists, writers and crafts people while exploring cultural
diversity in search of a "common ground" among ethnic, gender,
age, and racial groups. Held in Westminster, Maryland. Fiddle
and Dance at Ashoken - Study music or dancing with a carefully
chosen staff of exceptional teachers at three week-long summer programs
and a 3-5 day New Years Winter Camp. Fiddler's
Tour - Albany area Traditional Music Jam Session. Jam sessions
are FREE, and open to the public for your listening or playing pleasure! Folk
Alliance - the professional organization for North American
folk music and dance. An ever-expanding network with an amazing annual
conference. Folk
College See above under Festivals & Events Folk Song Society of Greater Boston - FSSGB is a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing opportunities for everyone to make,
enjoy, and support folk music, old and new. The Folklore Society
of Greater Washington - FSGW presents over 200 folk events in the
Washington, DC area each year. NYC Pinewoods
Folk Music Club - runs concerts, weekends, classes, singing parties,
and get-togethers, all with an emphasis on traditional folk music of
all flavors. NYC area. Old Town School
of Folk Music - Classes in the full gamut of folk music traditions,
plus performances and an annual festival. Chicago. Philadelphia Folksong
Society - While they are best known for their largest event, The
Philadelphia Folk Festival, other activities include bringing music
to schools, senior centers, hospitals, concert halls, libraries and
other locations. The Pickin'
and Singin' Gatherin' - A gathering of folks in the NYS Capital
District, dedicated to the appreciation and enjoyment of folks and
folk music. Susquehanna Folk
Music Society - dedicated to preserving and encouraging the traditional
arts in Central Pennsylvania. SFMS offers a wide range of folk activities
to experience and enjoy, from the traditional arts to contemporary
folk, and from local artists to international performers. Swallow Hill
Music Association - Swallow Hill serves as a regional resource
in Denver, Colorado for the presentation, teaching, preservation, and
encouragement of folk music and dance. Swannanoa -
A series of summer workshops in various folk arts held on the campus
of Warren Wilson College near Asheville in the heart of North Carolina's
beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Each week also features public concerts.
FOLK
RESOURCES - Lyrics, Tunes,
Music TRADITIONAL
FOLK Celtic
Lyrics - Listed by author and title The
Contemplator Folk Music of England, Scotland,
Ireland, Wales and America; tunes, lyrics, midi files,
historical background. Discography
of Recorded Traditional Music - Tradition Magazine's very extensive
compendium of recorded sources. Flying
Pigs - A great collection of campfire songs
on this British site. Folk
Music - an Index to Recorded Sources -
a large database of just that. Folk
Info - England-based site with a growing list of traditional
songs (mostly English/Celtic) and a folk-related forum. Songs
are presented in a variety of formats including midi, text only,
png and pdf. Plus, at the click of a mouse, songs can be transposed
into any key! Henrik
Norbeck's Abc Tunes - over 1,000 Irish
tunes grouped by type, presented in abc format, a very transportable
text-based format which translates easily into printable music with
the right software/freeware. Find out more at this site. The
Kitchen Musician - Downloadable
music for hammered dulcimer, fiddle, tinwhistle, recorder, etc. -
Celtic, North American, French and other. The
Leader in Lieder - a German site with tons
of folk lyrics and MIDI files from all over the world. Links
to 150 lyric/MIDI sites for further research. Mudcat Café Home
of the Digital Tradition Folksong Database. 8,000 titles and growing!
Great for finding lyrics fortraditional folk songs. Prairie
Home Companion's Camp-Song Songbook - The good, the bad, the
disgusting, the absurd and the utterly hilarious. A treasure trove
of camp songs compiled for A Prairie Home Companion's July 5, 1997
broadcast from Yellowstone Park. Speaking of Camp songs, there's a 141-page book
of such in pdf format online HERE.
May take some time to download if you have a slow connection. Shanties & Sea
Songs - salty songs for the sea-faring. Smithsonian
Folkways - The Smithsonian acquired Folkways Recordings from
the Moses Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
has
continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education,
increased
understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound. Great
seminal recordings and new ones, too. Traditional
Music Library - We're frankly flabbergasted by this incredible
online resource! An exceptional compendium of on-line tune
and song "books":
old-time, Irish, bluegrass, cowboy, '60s, bawdy songs, Christmas
songs, more.
Also an extensive traditional-oriented Music Encyclopedia, instrument
tutorials and much much more. Go there and see for yourself!
The Tune Web - Here's a great list of tunes with real "sheet music".
Many have audio files as well...all the better to hear you with. BLUES Harry's Blues Lyrics & Tabs -
and lots of it. GUITAR Acoustic
Fingerstyle Guitar - Sheet Music Site dedicated to all types
of fingerstyle guitar. Tabs, midi, lots more. Crossroads
Guitar Tabs - Crossroads online guitar tabs and guitar
lessons conducts streaming instruction for advanced or beginning
guitar students; try their free lessons before you purchase. CHILDREN'S SONGS Kididdles.com Mojo's
Musical Mouseum houses a great collection of song lyrics for kids. POPULAR MUSIC
—PLEASE TAKE NOTE: Before visiting
any of these or other popular music lyric sites, be aware that many
such sites will install spyware and tracking
files
on your
computer
without your consent. There's a good article about this at PCPitStop.com. Rare
Lyrics Leo's Lyrics Top 100 Lyrics Lyrics
Robot SEARCH ENGINES
One of the best ways to find song
lyrics is
simply to use a good search engine like Google or Teoma.
Type in the title and/or a snippet of lyrics that you're certain
of in quotation marks and search away. For example: "You are
my sunshine" "please don't take my sunshine away".
Again, though, be aware of those big, "we have everything" lyric
sites as mentioned above under popular music.
MAGAZINES,
PUBLICATIONS, NEWSLETTERS Fiddler Magazine -
60 + pages of columns, features & tunes for fiddlers of all levels
and style. Folk Times -
bi-monthly calendar of music & dance events, festivals & family
shows in Eastern New York/Vermont/Western Massachusetts. Write Folk
Times, 969 County Rt 10, Corinth, NY 12822 or call 518/696-2221 to
subscribe. Folk Roots -
The U.K.'s essential guide to folk, roots and world music. Folker -
German language website for one of Europe's premiere folk & roots
magazines. Reviews and links readily available on site - limited access
to articles (for that you need an Abo.). Folkworks – Excellent source for Folk/Traditional Music, Dance,
Storytelling & Related Folk Arts - So. Calif. event calendar Living Blues -
the blues magazine The
Living Tradition - Britain's fine magazine of traditional music. The Old Time
Herald - the magazine dedicated to Old-Time Music since 1987. Sing Out! - The
preminent folk song magazine for over 50 years. Their site features
a direct link to the Music-Cal folk concert calendar. ON-LINE-ONLY
MAGS, NEWSLETTERS:
Acoustic
Music Scene - News & Commentary for the Folk, Roots & Singer-Songwriter
Communities The Back Porch News -an online newsletter for folk and traditional music. Folk World -
News, reviews, articles in German and English (content not necessarily
the same), covering the continent and beyond. Greenman Review -
CD reviews from a wide variety of traditional veins. Also concert reviews,
venue links. Musical
Traditions - Extensive resources for traditional music throughout
the world including reviews, 130 articles, and a voluminous Traditional
Music Discography. Roots World -
a magazine of music from around the world with an emphasis on local
sounds and new ideas. Tradition
Magazine - British folk magazine featuring articles, CD reviews,
events listings.
MAIL
ORDER Andy's
Front Hall No
longer a
full-service mail order business, Front Hall still offers their own acclaimed
recordings and several excellent book/CD tutors Elderly Instruments Big source for folk and acoustic instruments, books,
CDs and DVDs. Harp
Depot - Where harmonicas rule. Your first stop for harmonicas, harmonica
accessories and more. Homespun Tapes The
largest catalog of music lessons on videos, DVDs and CDs available
anywhere. Lark in the Morning The
world's largest selection of ethnic musical instruments. Books, recordings
and videos, too. OzPCTrader - Music Buy
and sell music CDs and DVDs at OzPCTrader. Choose from over 8,000 Folk
and 500,000 other music titles. You can also advertise
your old CDs for free.
FOLK
WEBCASTING/RADIO All
Things Acoustic - from Alabama Public RadioFriday
nights 7:30-9:30pm. Listen to archived shows anytime. BBC Radio is
a happenin' place with a fair amount of great folk and world music
broadcasting (check the next link for a taste), musical games and lots
more. (Check out interactive
music games on BBC Radio 3 for some serious fun) BBC
Radio 2 - Folk & Acoustic - The place to go to keep tabs on
the British folk scene. Listen to Mike Harding's show, revisit the
ground-breaking "Radio Ballads" - documentaries from the 1960s with
music by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger - and check out the new Radio
Ballads with songs specially composed by Jez Lowe, Karine Polwart and
others. Bound For Glory is
the longest-running folk-music radio show with a live audience in the
United States. Dancing On
the Air Radio Archive - An absolute treasure
trove of live folk performances! Jay Ungar and Molly Mason host a monthly
NPR radio show with terrific live
folk
music. It's all archived here by individual song. You can browse through
it and build your own playlist on the site. Folk Alley -
Folk Alley is produced by WKSU-FM in Kent, OH. Streaming music programming
is created and hosted by Jim Blum, who includes his own special mix
of the best of singer/songwriter, Celtic, acoustic, traditional, and
world sounds. Registration required to use, but at no charge. Folk Image archived
folk programming in Real Audio format Folk Directions with
Gerry Goodfriend. Weekly folk show from Montreal (CKUT 90.3). Thursday
mornings 9:00-11:00 am EST FolkScene -
Best in folk and acoustic music with the Lehrmans The Honking Duck -
Here are hundreds of recordings of old time music from 78s! in
streaming RealAudio format. 88 tracks alone of the Carter family. KVMR -
from Nevada City, CA. Great varied programming -folk, world and more. Mountain Folk Bluegrass,
folk, old-time, acoustic, outdoor and mountain music Online
Folk Festival - a looped, streaming Internet-only station hosted
by www.live365.com. Radio
Britfolk - A terrific new web broadcast of folk music of
the British Isles put together by performers of the same - people
like Jez Lowe, Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman, Pete Coe, Dick Gaughan
and Anne
Lister. Britfolk aims to offer something akin to an on-line folk festival
with 'Main Stage'-type shows, Session-type shows and Workshop-type shows
(how to play an instrument, etc.). Excellent! Smithsonian
Folkways Radio Player - Access this little juke box from the
Smithsonian Folkways Homepage (www.folkways.si.edu)
and listen to the best of authentic folk music. WAMC - Albany, NY's
NPR station broadcasts Wanda Fischer's fine folk show, Hudson River
Sampler, on Saturday evenings from 8:00pm to 10:30. (Also: visit Wanda's
homepage.) Woodsongs -
Weekly Old-Time Radio Hour (Monday 6:45pm EST) and dozens of archived
shows available to listen to 24/7. WPKN -
Folk from Connecticut, plus lots of other stuff. WRPI - Troy, NY.
Great college radio station with varied programming. Hosts the long
time folk show "Mostly Folk" on Sunday evenings, currently
5:30pm - 7:30pm. WUMB - Folk Radio
from Boston. Two 24-hr. Folk Streams: Traditional
Folk with Sandy Sheehan and Contemporary Folk with Brian
Quinn
VARIOUS
FOLK RELATED SITES About
Folk Music - with John Babich. Lots of information about all aspects
of contemporary and traditional folk and blues with extensive links.The
folk section has been absorbed under Blues for some reason, so you have
to search for it a bit. AcousticMusic.com - "We
work to promote Acoustic Music and Acoustic Music Venues online." Links
to acoustic music venues' home pages, links to performers' home pages,
The Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange: reviews of folk and acoustic
recordings. Capital
District Folk Music - LInks to Folk events, venues and more in
the Albany/Schenectady/Troy vicinity. Cyberpluckers Autoharp
Page - The cyberpluckers are a collection of autoharp players and
autoharp music lovers who work and play (when they're not playing music)
on the Internet. They span state and national borders, and keep in
touch by means of an electronic mailing list. This page offers links
to online autoharp stuff. ezFolk.com - Richard
Hefner’s instructional site for banjo, guitar, ukulele, and harmonica.
The ezFolk website contains hundreds of pages of tablatures and tutorials
as well as the ezFolk Link Directory, with links to more than 2500
music sites! Fasola: Sacred Harp
and other American Shape Note traditions FiddleFork -
A FIDDLE website created and maintained by fiddle players from
around the world, FiddleFork's mission is to provide a one stop platform
for exchanging fiddle tunes, fiddle information and anything fiddle
related. The
Folk Music Home Page - a great starting point with lots of good
information and links. Folking.com -
a British folk site with listings for artists, reviews, radio shows,
and more. Folkmusic.org - "If
it's Folk, it's here". FolkStreams.net -
A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures,
streamed with essays about the traditions and filmmaking. The site
includes transcriptions, study and teaching guides, suggested readings,
and links to related websites The Folkus Project -presenting
folk and acoustic music in Syracuse and Central New York. KiwiFolk.com -
lots going on in folk music in New
Zealand, judging by this
site. Lost Trails -
is an educational multi-media web site with a focus on Greek culture
and history. There's an ongoing project to record and place free
examples of their recordings of authentic folk music on their site.
They currently have folk music they've recorded in Greece, Romania
and Bulgaria on the site with more coming. The music page: www.losttrails.com/pages/music.html Mudcat
Café - An online magazine dedicated to blues and
folk music. Featuring the Digital Tradition Folksong Database and
the very popular Mudcat Forum. The
Muse of Joy and Sorrow - Why We Play the Fiddle -A great compendium
of stories and poems related to the FIDDLE edited by Donna Hebert. Musical Saw -
How to play 'em, where to get 'em, everything you always wanted to
know about the musical saw but were afraid to ask. SONGMAKERS – So. Calif. Folk Music Club featuring Hoots, Song
Circles, Musical Get-togethers and Get-Aways Stringband.com - The purpose of this web site is to provide a place
for string band fans and players to find information on bands and artists
worldwide, upcoming festivals, reviews of albums and performances,
and anything else string band related that comes our way.
Traditional Adirondack
Music & Music Making - Great new site with a
wealth of information on music of the Adirondacks. The Tune Web -
Here's a great list of tunes with real "sheet music".
Many have audio files as well...all the better to hear you with.
Find a bad link?
Let us know. Email
Old Songs, Inc.,
PO Box 466, Voorheesville, NY 12186-0466
Phone: 518/765-2815