UPDATED: 2/27/07

The Central New York Friends of Folk is a loosely knit community of people encouraging and supporting the presentation of folk and acoustic music in this region.

We began in roughly 1996, trying to bolster the market for traditional and contemporary folk music in our Utica-to-Rochester, Watertown-to-Binghamton corner of the universe—encouraging venues, pushing radio stations, presenting and publicizing shows, agitating in the media, and creating this website and listserv. We more or less succeeded. There is more folk/acoustic music in upstate New York in any given month than there used to be in a full year.

Now Friends of Folk (FOF) carries on just to keep us in touch with one another, and to help publicize upcoming events. If you share our interest in this genre of music — or if we've succeeded in piquing your interest — please join us (which entails little more than joining the listserv). By doing so, you'll be joining a growing community of Central New Yorkers delighted to discover that they share a passion for tasteful, intelligent, acoustic music.

The FOF Listserv. This group e-mail list allows folk/acoustic music fans in the area to exchange opinions and advisories about the local scene. Included are weekly (though always tasteful and on-task) announcements from the Folkus Project and local venues about upcoming shows. Otherwise, the list contains an occasional query, recommendation, or review. It's definitely not the kind of listserv that will overwhelm your Inbox. Why not subscribe and see what others are saying? To learn how, visit the FOF Listserv Website.

Common Threads. CNY Friends of Folk helped create the folk-and-acoustic music radio show that you can now hear every Sunday, from 2 'til 5, on WAER, FM-88. For more information, visit the WAER website. Or you can e-mail Common Threads host Larry Hoyt with comments and suggestions.

The Folkus Project. This is a tiny non-profit organization that presents, funds, and promotes folk/acoustic shows in the area, currently at three different venues. While continuing to present weekly (or more) shows at Happy Endings Cake & Coffeehouse, Folkus is now affiliated with the monthly series at the Westcott Community Center and a new series at May Memorial church. By visiting the Folkus website, you were learn about almost (not quite, but almost) every folk/acoustic, singer-songwriter, and even a few bluegrass/old-time shows coming to the area. You can e-mail Folkus director Joe Cleveland with comments and suggestions.

• Local Folk/Acoustic Performers,
• Local Folk/Acoustic Venues, and
• Other Folk/Acoustic Resources.

FolkNotes. We used to publish a quarterly newsletter, containing articles about local and regional performers active in the area, and the places you can see them. It's on hiatus permanently, but you can still read many of the On-Line Articles.