What happens when you gather over 150 folk artists from across the world in one hotel? Magic, lots of spontaneous jam sessions and a fair number of East Coast musicians.
From Feb. 13th to 17th, in Montréal’s Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, musicians from around the world will have a chance to meet, greet and network with other musicians and representatives from the music industry at the Folk Alliance International Conference. For many artists, it can result in festival and club bookings and radio airplay, said Sheri Jones, manager of Halifax-based artist management company, Jones & Company Artist Management.
Even better, this year the East Coast makes up just over 10 percent of the official showcase roster despite being far less than 10 percent of the world’s population.
It’s a great promotion of East Coast talent, says Kimberly Sinclair, owner and operator of SpinCount, a promotions and publicity firm that represents many musicians attending the event.
“It really shines a spotlight on the amount of talent that we have in [the] east coast that is being presented at the international level in the folk community this February.”
Sinclair has attended for the past five years under many different titles within the music industry, such as public relations for Folk Music Canada or in a management representation capacity for artists. She said every year, the east coast room is packed.
“Everyone wants to meet you when you go there. Everyone is there to meet, network, connect and listen to amazing music… There’s never an opportunity when you’re not networking or meeting and/or chatting with folks.”
It puts the international folk community in one place,” says Sinclair.
There are definitely other places to connect with international buyers, Sinclair says, but this conference is genre-specific, is larger than most and features artists from around the world.
And the FAIC happens in one hotel which allows for easy access to all showcases and events. The conference will also feature staggered start times of official showcases, which allows attendees to see every showcasing artist. No other official showcases, private showcases or conference activity goes on during that time to allow all showcases to be seen by the attending delegates, potential managers, agents, buyers and representatives from folk festivals around the world.
“The excitement in the air around this event is a bunch of like-minded people coming together in the spirit of folk music but really getting to connect with other people in their musical world as well as industry.”
For the artists themselves, the Louis Jay Meyers Music Camp offers the chance to learn from the best. As the Folk Alliance International Conference website states, “pros study with legends and dedicated hobbyists learn from the best in the field.”
According to Sinclair, jam sessions also happen all day and all night long. These give musicians the opportunity to meet other musicians from around the world and build connections in the folk community.
Sinclair says that during the conference, one can be sure to see people running towards performances. It’s a representation of the growth of folk music and its expanding genre, and surely a representation of the strength of East Coast musicians.
“The musical community is being drawn back into the folk world. Whether it’s because of the politics that are going on, folk is music for the people. It’s also driven by songwriters and here, on the east coast, we have all of that going on.”