Roots Music Extravaganza! Friday, January 15, 2027, 8:30 pm-11:05 pm
If you found your way here, Ken Waldman must have reached out, or somehow you found a link from Ken Waldman's home page, and clicked it. What a year it's been, 2025, a time of tumultuous change. If this showcase evening coming up is any indication, 2027 will be extraordinary (and, guaranteed, a time of healing).
Ken Waldman founded a version of this always-Friday-APAP-showcase-evening in 2010, and in 2023 brought on Danielle Devlin of Canis Major Music as co-producer. In addition to the individual artist showcases, it's a full show that spotlights the kind of artists Ken likes to feature when he brings a whole troupe for certain main stage series. The first half hour is a sampler so attendees get a sense of all these artists (and inevitably some attendees who thought they were only going to stay a little while, stay for the whole thing--everybody is always that good, and it doesn't hurt to have an iconic (and intimate) space, professional sound and lights, and free drinks, all an easy and safe walk from the Hilton).
The venue: Don't Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th, a ten-block walk from the conference hotel. It's 46th St. between 8th and 9th Avenue. We're in a back cabaret room, the same space Ken has used for a decade of producing APAP showcase evenings. It seats 80, and like recent years we'll be full (while it's ostensibly a public show, tickets are $100 since we expect to be filled--and want it filled--with industry colleagues who we comp). Reservations for this show, which could be the line-up of any major international festival stage, are strongly recommended. There's a two-drink minimum, also our dime, Ken and Danielle's treat for conference attendees. We'll begin at 8:30. Doors at 7:45, I believe. But if you arrive earlier to grab a meal, or a drink in another of the rooms, it's a cash-only establishment.
The schedule (which is subject to change):
8:30-9:00--a 2- to 3-minute intro piece by all participants--no set order who'll go when, but it'll all go by quick (this is so you all get a quick peek of everybody before we get to the main showcases, and you'll also catch a sampler by tonight's special guest, Caitlin Warbelow).
9:00-9:15: your co-host, Ken Waldman, with tonight's four-piece version of Ken Waldman & The Wild Ones. Fun, inspiration, surprises.
9:15-9:30: Le Diable a Cinq is a powerful Quebecois quintet that merges tradition with powerful originals.
9:30-9:45: Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalists here showcasing their From China to Appalachia trio project.
9:45-10:00: Fredy Clue is a one-of-a-kind Swedish nyckelharpist. Theirs is a fusion of music, art, fashion.
10:00-1015: The Hilary Hawke Band takes banjo, guitar, fiddle to new heights.
10:15-10:30: The Pine Tree Flyers, from Maine, excite with New England music that expands the tradition.
10:30-10:45: Fiddler/guitarist/singer/dancer, Sophie Mae Wellington, will wow you.
10:45-11:00: We love that we're hosting Kalos, the virtuosic fiddle/accordion/guitar trio.
11:00: A brief finale with Caitlin Warbelow (plus Ken Waldman shares a fiddle tune or poem, with or without The Wild Ones, and anyone else, who's up for it; we'll end this as it ought to be ended).
If you want a taste of what this showcase evening was like in one of the pre-pandemic years, this will make you happy: https://youtu.be/TSpXx48lvTA. Come by on Friday, January 15, and you'll be happy right there in person!