As noted in my previous post, a big part of the Folk Alliance International annual conference are the showcases, both official and unofficial. The official performances take place from around 6pm to 10pm in hotel ballrooms, with professional sound and lighting. Depending on the size of the room attendance can go from a few dozen to a few hundred. The unofficial performances happen in individual hotel rooms. Lighting and sound range from professional to bedroom lamps and no mics. And they go until 3am or later. Except for a couple of suites, there’s no way to cram more than a couple of dozen people into a room, and average audience size is more in the 10-12 range.
With 9 official stages, and upwards of 100 simultaneous unofficial sets, there’s no way to do much more than scratch the surface of the artist list. While you can dart from room to room to increase how many performers you see, the logistics involved can stymie even the best planners. There’s a growing trend for the benefactors hosting rooms to use an “in the round” format with 3-4 performers sharing a 30-45 minutes slot. That certainly increases how many artists you see, but can limit your ability to hear them do more than a couple of songs. First world problems. Here are my favorites from the week.
In the Round Success: The aforementioned format dealt me a few pleasant surprises. While happy to see old faves Adrian + Meredith, I was impressed by their stage mates: Kerrville New Folk winner and Christian chart-topping drag queen Flamy Grant, as well as the sublime RJ Cowdery with an irresistible folk rap number. I made it a point to go see The Montvales and Beth Bombara, and was equally happy to discover Jay Gavin and Emily Hicks.
New To Me: Folk Alliance is always filled with a lot of musical discovery, and this year was no different. Humbird, out of Minneapolis, put an indie rock vibe to the folk-friendly unofficial set I saw, and rocked out in their public performance. Australian duo The Pleasures drove a lo-fi raucous sound that their web site describes pretty accurately as Jack-White-meets-George-Jones. LA artist Abby Posner seemed to know half the people at the conference and managed to round up an impressive impromptu band any time she played her mixture of rock, folk, and pop.
Better Than Ever: Local-to-me band AJ Lee & Blue Summit have been on my radar for a few years now, but they’ve really stepped things up a few notches. Clearly one of the buzz bands of the conference, I saw them 3 different times with barely a repeat of any single song, ranging from snappy originals to old traditional numbers to a Beatles cover done bluegrass style. The Steel Wheels have evolved from an old timey, single mic acoustic band to full-on progressive bluegrass, and they shined in their official showcase appearance. Viv & Riley have been quietly building a catalog and following with their incredible harmonies and emotional lyrics. Not that Gillian and Dave have gone anywhere, but if you want to see their successors, this duo is it.
Wrapping things up, all I can say is I can’t wait until next year.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.