♡  The  SOUTH FLORIDA FOLK FESTIVAL is happening today ON Valentine’s Day, plus we include news of one of its featured artists playing next weekend,

AND,

♡  There’s a MASSIVE multiday FOLK-AMERICANA FESTIVAL later this week,

AND,

♡  There are BUNCHES of live streaming VALENTINE’S DAY CONCERTS

PLUS,

⊙  … after ubiquitous red hearts, Thursday is Red Planet time. For the first time ever, we’ll be able to HEAR what’s happening on Mars. In addition to all its other gee-whiz features, Perseverance has an open mic. We take you there!

Soooo,

LET’S GET STARTED!

___ ^ ___ ^ ___ ^ ___ ^ ___ ^ ___ ^ ___

1,000 ARTISTS, biggest-ever online festival, is also a BENEFIT…

Folk Alliance’s “Folk Unlocked fest,” happening Feb 22-26, is astonishing

They’ve announced the lineup and it’s totally wild, with over 1000 artists. It’s open to the public with admission coming by donation to the Village Fund, a COVID relief fund helping musicians and folk music workers.

“To my knowledge, Folk Unlocked, presented by Folk Alliance International aka FAI, is the largest-ever virtual music festival, with over 1,000 acts playing all forms of folk music from all over the globe,” says music industry guru Nick Loss-Eaton.

He adds, “The festival is open to the public and tickets are available now via donation to the Village Fund, FAI’s new relief fund for musicians and folk music workers which has already earned ink from Rolling Stone and Billboard.”

Folk Unlocked will be an incredible experience for the adventurous music fan seeking discovery; or the long-time festival goer enjoying GRAMMY-winning old favorites.

Here’s a SAMPLE from that thousand-musician lineup:

Los Lobos
Terrance Simien
Cedric Burnside
Jim Lauderdale
Keb Mo
The McCrary Sisters
The War and Treaty
A.J. Haynes of Seratones
… and they are just a sprinkling of stateside performers set to play.

We should clarify a point that’s caused some confusion:

■ The FOLK ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE is happening concurrently with the festival.

■ THE FESTIVAL will be open to the public by donation (all ticket links below); meanwhile, the CONFERENCE is pay-what-you-can for anyone in the music industry, including artists and performers who are not in attendance. Just check their site.

☆  Fans / Everyone who wants to catch the performances / virtually attend the FESTIVAL, get your login info with a donation here:
https://folk.org/showcasedonation

☆  Fans / musicians — if you can’t “attend” and want to help anyway, or just want to chip-in early for the benefit/festival, you can make a secure online donation to the fund at:
https://folk.org/resources/the-village-fund/

☆  Learn more about the The Village Fund at:
member.folk.org/donations/donate.asp?id=20519

Meantime, here are some notes on a few of the acts:

·      GRAMMY-winning zydeco artist Terrance Simien will perform; and, in a separate set, his daughter, Memphis’ Marcella Simien, will also play.

·      GRAMMY-nominated Mississippi bluesman Cedric Burnside, son of the legendary RL Burnside

·      Winner of NBC’s The Voice and singer-songwriter Sawyer Fredericks

·      GRAMMY-winner Keb Mo

·      Hit songwriting legend Jim Lauderdale

·      All-female mariachi band and Latin Grammy winners Flor de Toloache

·      Stars of the documentary film 20 Feet From Stardom the McCrary Sisters, who “seize and hold the spotlight,” according to the New York Times

·      Veteran of Newport Folk Festival and Americana Music Award nominee and AAA #1 hitmaker Jade Bird

·      “Stately. Ballads and choruses to shatter glass” (Pitchfork) of Katie Pruitt

·      Americana Music Award Emerging Artist winners, the soul duo The War and Treaty

·      North Carolina gospel family group Dedicated Men of Zion, fresh from their appearance on NPR Music x globalFEST.

·      “Inspiring artist” (Ann Powers, NPR) Michaela Anne.

·      AIR winner Emily Wurramara, a proud Indigenous performer from Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory.

·      BBC Folk Awards nominee and Irish Music Magazine award winner Karan Casey.

·      Irreverent cult favorite, the “talented” (NPR) Steve Poltz

Pour yourself a big mug of something that keeps you warm, then settle-in with this list (with bio/profile links) of the lineup. Fair warning, you’ll be there awhile  and there’s a risk of going hoarse saying, “Oh, wow!” over and over:

https://folk.org/unlocked/spotlight-showcase-artists/

Best of all, your wide-eyed, happy-eared enjoyment will help a lot of music folks in need. A hearty congratulations to Folk Alliance International for going immeasurably farther than what anyone might have dreamed.