Roots Music Extravaganza! Friday, January 9, 2026, 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, 2026 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, Luca Stricagnoli).
9:00-9:15: your co-host, Ken Waldman, with tonight's version of Ken Waldman & The Wild Ones, which means ace Brooklyn banjo player, Ilan Moss, plus guitarist, Erica Weiss. Ilan and Erica will show you how lucky Ken is to play with them. Fun, inspiration, surprises.
9:15-9:30: Elizabeth Mitchell is a Grammy-nominated Smithsonian Folkways recording artist and a legend in children's music (she transcends the genre--her music touches everybody). Lucky us, she's here as a duo with her daughter, Storey.
9:30-9:45: Cantrip is a powerful Scottish quartet that has been together for more than twenty years. Twin fiddles, pipes, guitar--think traditional gone wild over time. Their sound reflects this adventurous era where most anything is musically possible.
9:45-10:00: Grammy-winning Louisiana icon, Terrance Simien, has toured the world, taking his accordion, his Creole culture, and his Zydeco Experience band with him. Whether for an outdoor festival, a prestigious concert series, or for his Creole 4 Kidz education shows, you know you're in the presence of a master.
10:00-1015: A merging of violin, cello, and bouzouki, E.T.E. represents both the present and future of Quebecois music. This past August they were awarded the Creation Aldor 2025 award at Festival Trad Montreal. The trio has toured widely throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.
10:15-10:30: Barbra Lica, from Toronto, is a JUNO-nominated singer/songwriter/producer. She's headlined festivals in Japan, in the States, and in her home country. She blends pop, jazz, folk, and Americana into something wholly her own.
10:30-10:45: The Nightjars is the joining of three American virtuosos on fiddle, cello, and guitar. Smart, eclectic, and truly excellent, their mix of traditional string-band music with their own originals make them original. “Great, new, exciting.” --The Folk Show, WXPN, Philadelphia PA
10:45-11:00: We love that we're hosting Alla Boara, a Cleveland, Ohio sextet making a name for themselves playing traditional Italian folk music. Vocals, percussion, accordion, horns, and strings, they have it all!
11:00: A brief finale with Luca Stricagnoli (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 10, and you'll be happy right there in person!