2008 Folk Music Year in Preview

CDs Due Out in 2008: January:
Rhonda Vincent - Good Thing Going
Sia - Some People Have Real Problems
The Steeldrivers - The SteelDrivers
The Blind Boys of Alabama - Down in New Orleans

February;
k.d. lang - Watershed
Blue Highway - Through the Window of a Train
Carrie Newcomer - The Geography of Light
Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Revisited

March:
Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge

Also...
Brandi Carlile - (tentative release in autumn)
David Grey - (tentative release in autumn)
Gillian Welch - (tentative 2008)
Rachel Yamagata - (tentative 2008)

Artists to Watch in 2008: Some new artists from this year are sure to make more waves next year. If I were you, I'd keep an eye on Eilen Jewell, Eliza Lynn, The Avett Brothers, Horse Feathers, and Chatham County Line. This may be the time to see these folks before they start selling out larger venues.

Folk Festivals to Watch in 2008: Wintergrass (Tacoma, WA)—line-up includes Chris Thile, Seldom Scene, Dale Ann Bradley, Bobby Osborne, The Grascals, Infamous Stringdusters, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and more.

MerleFest (Wilkesboro, NC)—line-up includes the Avett Brothers, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Ruthie Foster, Hot Buttered Rum, Claire Lynch, and more.

Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF, Black Mountain, NC)—2008 schedule is out Jan. 1, but previous LEAFs have welcomed Doc Watson, Michael Franti, Tony Trischka, The Wilders, and others.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (San Francisco, CA)—past festivals have included T Bone Burnett, Iris DeMent, Hazel Dickens, Ramblin Jack, Tim O'Brien, and others....for free!

Also....
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Kerrville Folk Festival
Boston Folk Festival
Rocky Mountain Folks Festival