Joe & Jean's Ramblings
Michael Godwin, the amazing guitar player with Gypsy Wind and Whitey Markle's Swamprooters, has opened up his own school. It's called the Modern Music Workshop at 5111 66 St N. Suite 513 in St. Petersburg 727-678 9948.
Michael also plays and teaches mandolin, and banjo and has a music degree--as will almost all of the other teachers on staff. The school will deal with all styles and instruments from classical to jazz. www.modernmusicworkshop.com
In June 2008, in Newport, Pennsylvania, at the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering, Mark Fackeldey was posthumously inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame.
Sad to report that FOFF member from Orlando, James Edward Swain, 52, died in June in Orlando, from lung cancer. He was an avid snake collector and handler as well as folk music enthusiast.
The 5th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) is now accepting
entries. IAMA promotes excellence in Acoustic Music Performance and
Artistry. Acoustic artists in various genres can gain exciting radio and
web exposure through this competition. Participating sponsors include
D'Addario Strings, New Music Weekly, Loggins Promotion, AirplayAccess.com,
Sonicbids.com, Acoustic Cafe Radio Show and XM Satellite Radio.
IAMA is open to all independent artists and labels. Unlike other music
industry competitions, IAMA focuses on developing new markets for Acoustic
artists, labels and with or without CD releases. Past year's winners
include Charlie Dore (UK), Randy Kohrs & The Lites (USA), Craig Bickhardt
(USA), etc. Win prizes in 8 different categories: Folk/Americana/Roots,
AAA/Alternative, Instrumental, Open, Bluegrass, Best Male Artist, Best
Female Artist, Best Group/Duo. There will also be an Overall Grand Prize
winner awarded to the top winner worth over US$11,000, which includes
radio promotion to over 250 radio stations in US and Canada. Winning
songs will be heard on radio! Winners and runner-ups will be featured on
our CD compilation. Also, we feature up to 10 different artists get
featured and promoted on IAMA website every month, which provides a
review, ratings, CD information and more. The sooner, you enter, the
sooner you get featured! Judging is based on excellence in music performance,
songwriting/composition/song choice, Music Production and originality.
(Please note that IAMA is a different competition from USA Songwriting
Competition). All entries must be postmarked by November 10 or earlier. Ways to enter: For the regular entry form, please go to: http://www.inacoustic.com/entryform.html or enter online to get the FREE Sonicbids subscription worth $18, *FREE EARLY ENTRY BONUS: First 1,000 entrants will each receive a FREE subscription to Sonicbids worth $18.00 (first 1,000 entrants, must be entered by Oct 31st or earlier, so hurry!) :
http://www.sonicbids.com/iama2008
FOFF Friends on MySpace.com. FOFF has joined the MySpace online community and finding other Friends of Florida Folks artists on MySpace.
MySpace is an online community that allows friends to keep in touch and meet
new people as well. It started out as a website that bands could use to promote
their music, but has since grown into a more general community of friends.
There is a link on the FOFF Home page of many Friends that are listed on the MySpace page. Each friend has his/her own Myspace page, which you can visit and learn more about the Folk Artists.
You can hear a sampling of their music, check their calendar, and even
discover some new artists that are linked to them. The "friends" concept is the heart and soul of MySpace. By building a list of friends, you have your own network of people readily accessible from your profile page.
When you click on a friend's image, you can view their profile and all their friends. This makes is easy to meet friends of friends, and their friends, and so on. FOFF has gotten some favorable comments from Florida artists who see this as a great way to network the artists and the folk and acoustic music community. Give a visit. You'll find the link on the right sidebar on the home page marked FOFF Friends on MySpace.com at http://www.foff.org
Congratulations to one of our folk community's finest singer/songwriters, Ellen Bukstel, for a fabulous performance in July in Washington, DC, where she performed her awarding-winning song "You're Not Better Than Me" at the annual conference for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). The link to her performance in Washington is below. The video showing on the screen behind Ellen is a photo montage that Ellen created to accompany her song, and she is singing to her CD/DVD. The music video/DVD is entitled "Faces of Violence (2)". To-date, the DVD has helped to raise nearly $1 Million in funds for various support organizations that help victims of domestic violence and the public they serve. In fact, if you or anyone you know would like to purchase a copy of the DVD to help "Break the Silence" through song (perhaps for fundraising events, training, or awareness building sessions), it is available through Ellen's website at www.bukstel.com (you may need to email Ellen directly). It is a very powerful and highly visceral tool for raising human awareness and sensitivity to the issue of domestic violence... please send this message to anyone who may wish to put it to good use toward supporting programs and efforts to help stop domestic violence. Link to Ellen's Washington performance video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWVYx506J-0 Link to the original, winning CD/DVD "Faces of Violence (2)" that Ellen submitted to the Breaking the Silence in Song theme song competition, which landed her first place!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPaeqqx-wGU
Re: Bob Rafkin: Orlando, Benefit was held on August 21 for BOB RAFKIN. Scheduled performers were: Blues Gotus, Stuart Hall & The Microtones, The Allen Family, Doug Spears, Cyd Ward, Susie Cool & The Coolottes, Ken & Leigh Skeens, The Porchdogs, Larry Dolamore, JD Smith, Donations accepted by mail. Info: Stuart: 407.898.8298 or halsey@aol.com or Larry: 497.365.6519 or larrydolamore@aol.com; http://www.theplazatheatre.com/ Snail mail donations to Larry at 2224 Red Ember Road, Oviedo, FL 32765
Evelyn Janaro has a new lap dulcimer CD with 25 songs on it, for sale for $10....she also teaches lap dulcimer at her home in Bradenton. Contact her at evedesoto@aol.com or 941-746-0269
Jean's Ramblings
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