Out walking the dog yesterday, I ran into Susan Levine, a fine folksinger and songwriter who lives a couple of blocks from HubArts World Headquarters in Newburyport. She said she's gearing up for a trip to the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas at the end of this month. She's one of 32 finalists in the festival's New Folk competition. Chris O'Brien and Laura Bullock, both of Somerville, and Emily Elbert of Boston are also listed in the competition. But if you've heard Susan's album, "Atlas," recorded at (her husband) Tom Eaton's studios in Newburyport, then you know why my money's on her.
Read my Globe profile of Susan published last fall.
Sez the Wikipedia entry on the fest, "A win at Kerrville carries considerable prestige in the singer-songwriter community. This is in part due to the peer-professional judging and the festival’s long history of recognizing emerging artists who have later gone on to wider success." Two other Massachusetts names are among the most notable recent winners: Mark Erelli of Amherst in '99 and Ellis Paul of Wayland in '94. (Erelli contributes guitar on "Atlas.") Go back farther and names like Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle and my fave James McMurtry (a winner in '87) have appeared in the competition. Michelle Shocked's first album, "The Texas Campfire Tapes," was famously recorded at one of the fest's informal, late-night gatherings.
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