Folk Alliance Really Is International

Five Days and Nights of Intimate Global Music

One afternoon last weekend during the Folk Alliance International (FAI) 36th annual conference in Kansas City, one of the few civilians at the Westin Crown Center hotel asked in a crowded elevator: "What kind of folk music is this, anyway? I saw a list with hundreds of names and I never heard of any of them!"

The man had good reason to be curious. To be honest, I had never heard of 98 per cent of the artists either. (I did say hi to Tom Paxton, also in an elevator.) Which was exactly why I wanted to go. I felt the air getting stale in my room in Queens. I almost never go out to shows anymore, rarely get exposed to new music outside my rock/pop safe zone. I craved travel and fresh sounds. Last week I saw more live music in four days than I have in the last 25 years.

A few months ago, I got a press release announcing the FAI 2024 confab February 21-25 in Kansas City. My longtime acquaintance Nick Loss-Eaton, who I hardly ever see, and which is too often the way of the world these days, wa…