To be successful in the business of music, you first need to be successful in the business of YOU! This interactive workshop will help you clarify your strategy as a music creator through discussion and hands on work. Understand your brand identity and how it is foundational to your success in building your audience.
Bonus! All workshop attendees will receive a free digital copy of Tara's book "YOU and the Music Business: A Self-Care Guide to Finding Balance and Joy in Today’s Music Industry".
This interactive session will offer invaluable insights and stories from folk music legends. Engage in discussions, ask questions, and gain wisdom on navigating the folk music landscape from these seasoned artists. Perfect for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the folk tradition and its future.
This instructional panel will provide essential techniques and practices to maintain vocal health on the road. Learn from experts about effective voice care strategies, exercises, and tips tailored for touring singers to ensure peak performance and longevity in your career. With facilitators Grace Morrison (Somatic Voicework™ Levels I, II, III), Michelle Rosen (certified Somatic Voicework™ instructor), and vocal coach Louise Taylor (Hawaii School of Voice).
In this panel, we will explore partnerships between venues and artists, discovering how creative programming can grow sustainable audiences. We’ll discuss how to introduce listeners to nationally touring as well as local talent, and build regular engagement via monthly series and residencies. We’ll delve into innovative ways to use performance spaces to elevate artists, and excite audiences. Join us as we uncover the strategies behind these collaborations, and learn how they cultivate community, engage new music-lovers, and nurture artistic endeavors.
In this instructional session, Melissa Ferrick and Dr. Su Langdon will delve into key strategies for maintaining mental well-being in our demanding industry. Attendees will gain practical tips and techniques to stay balanced, focused, and resilient, helping to optimize performance both on and off the stage.
Facilitated by Tom Bianchi, Jessica Smucker, and AJ Kiernan, discover how regular series and residencies can build audiences. In this 60-minute instructional panel, you will discover the essential elements for a successful residency from artist, presenter, and promoter perspectives. Learn about the benefits for both artists and venues, while gaining insights into the whys and hows of establishing and maintaining a thriving residency program.
This panel will focus on taking songs and albums from the seed of an idea, through seeing it out in the world. We will focus on strategies for pre-production, picking your team, the actual recording, and finally the release. We will come at this from the perspective of the artist, the producer, and the promoter.
Join MLC Education Ambassador Melissa Ferrick as she demystifies the blanket mechanical license and explores how the MLC has transformed the music industry. This session will provide a comprehensive overview of the MLC, offering valuable insights into its membership and processes. Attendees will learn about the roadmap to accessing the rightful compensation that belongs to them, ensuring they receive the earnings they deserve.
Join us for a panel discussion featuring Matt Smith, Managing Director of Passim, Shea Rose, Consultant to Passim, along with members of The Folk Collective [Cliff Notez, Aleena Solomon, Lydia Harrell, Maxfield Anderson]. How can venues leverage their legacy to create a future folk music scene that authentically represents a wide range of voices, themes, and artistic expressions? Moderated by Jami Smith, creator of Songs That Saved Your Life, a queer rock history radio show and newsletter, this conversation will explore how The Folk Collective model, created and curated by Shea Rose, is helping to redefine perceptions of folk music by uplifting the often overlooked rich tapestry and diversity of its creators. Hear about their experiences both navigating challenges and celebrating successes on the way to better embodying our diverse and inclusive folk music scene.
The Folk Collective at Passim supports diverse folk music artists in greater New England by providing them with a platform to reach new audiences, hone their craft, and amplify their unique voices. This innovative two-year cohort-based model addresses the challenges underrepresented artists face in the folk music industry by offering professional development, mentorship, collaborative space, and performance opportunities. For more information about The Folk Collective at Passim visit: passim.org/folkcollective
This discussion centers on the evolution of Women's Music with an intersectional lens for today. Celebrate women and gender expansive artists with singer/songwriter Marissa Levy, Debby Xiadani, Artistic Director of The Rockwell Theatre in Cambridge, and legendary founding member of Club 47, Betsy Siggins, as Moderator.
Pamela Means, through decades of touring, and a one year Brooklyn guitar repair shop apprenticeship, has developed a skillset for small instrument repairs and maintaining her own guitars. Pamela will demystify the particulars and show you how to perform your own setups, proper restring locking technique, how to check and adjust the action, clean input jacks, check and adjust intonation, and basically nerd out on all.
Virtuoso guitarist, singer, and composer Vicki Genfan will demystify some open tunings (G, D & C, and Diatonic Chords), by teaching a simple method that will allow us to find our way around the fretboard in any key. With the addition of percussive techniques like thumb slaps, harmonic tapping and (guitar)body percussion, you’ll leave this workshop with an entirely new toolkit for composing your songs.
Up your streaming game "beyond Zoom" with tips and tricks that don't require a comp-sci degree or a huge budget. Learn about pros and cons of platforms like Riverside, Afton, and Streamyard, and encoders like OBS. Our panel of artists and gear experts also demonstrate/talk tech and techniques to increase engagement, while elevating and monetizing your online shows.
An Artist Management Review
One of the most hands-on jobs within the music industry is that of the artist manager. While no two stories or pathways will ever be the same in this sector of the business - there are shared strategies that enable artist development and growth. Join established entrepreneurial artist managers sharing their extensive knowledge, expertise and advice on all aspects of the business. What are the key roles and responsibilities of an artist manager? What does it take to discover and develop great talent? We'll discuss how to nurture the manager-artist relationship, navigating different ways to market an artist, along with how to grow and sustain long-term artist careers.
When the spaces between your songs are as strong as your songs, the audience is constantly engaged. Humor is a powerful tool for holding any audience's attention. We will demystify the basic tools that comedians and storytellers use to get people laughing that I have learned in over forty years of performing. Having these skills can expand your audience and increase the impact of your songs.
A performance class that will give you a new way to look at your own performances whether you are a seasoned performer or a complete novice! We’ll look at performance from the center of the song, using techniques borrowed from theater to help deepen your connection to the song and your audience and to give you some simple tools to perform authentically each time! Using this technique, you will create meaningful, never boring - ‘in the moment’-performances eliminating any traces of stage fright! This is a fun, active, on-your-feet class, so be prepared with a song (your own or a cover that you know by heart and do not need lyrics in front of you.) Bring your instrument and an open, curious mind.
Greetings first timers and veteran conference-goers alike! Hear from experienced attendees on how to navigate showcases, appropriately approach venues/bookers, and make the most out of your NERFA experience. Learn about new features of our gathering, and take tips home with you to ensure productive follow-up.