The 25th Anniversay Tucson Folk Festival will take place on Saturday &
Sunday, May 1st & 2nd, 2010.
The center of Festival activity, including the Plaza Stage, Kitchen Store
and Vendors area, is El Presidio Park in Downtown Tucson. Additional stages
are located within walking distance of the park at the historic Old Pima
County Courthouse, Old Town Artisans and the Tucson Museum of Art.
The Tucson Folk Festival is an acoustic event; however, electronic pianos
and bass amps are allowed.
Sets are 25 minutes long on a half-hour schedule.
The Tucson Folk Festival is produced by TKMA, an all-volunteer non-profit
organization, with funding from Tucson Pima Arts Council, Arizona Commission
on the Arts, local businesses and members. Funds are limited for this
event, so a stipend cannot be offered to performers.
Application Information
The deadline for Performer applications is
February 16, 2010.
The Performer application requires a
non-refundable fee of $20.
The fee includes a one-year individual membership in TKMA.
Checks must be postmarked by February 16, 2010,
or payment may be made online.
Demo CDs must be postmarked by February 16, 2010, or
demo tracks may be uploaded to our website. No tapes will be accepted.
Changes From Last Year
The application deadline is two weeks later than in previous years.
We are abandoning the controversial “Three Band Rule”. There is
no a priori limit on the number of bands a musician can be a
part of.
Instead, we are asking bands to identify both “core performers”
and “side performers”:
In order to provide opportunities for as many musicians as possible, and
to increase the diversity of the lineup, we try to avoid having bands
with the same core performers performing similar material under multiple
names.
We try very hard not to schedule two acts at the same time when they
have a core performer in common.
Musicians are welcome to sit in as side performers with as many acts as
they wish. However, we can't guarantee to schedule things so that every
side performer can join every act he or she wants to.
Performers applying under the same name as last year may choose have us
reuse last year's demo CD rather than sending a new one.
Selection Process
The selection committee's goal is to create a diverse program of
high-quality music including new performers as well as perennial favorites.
Preference is not given to local performers, or to people who
support TKMA in other ways.
Prior TKMA membership is not required to apply
(all applicants become members for one year whether they are selected to
perform or not).
We use a very broad definition of “Folk Music,” and like to
include performers who bring something a bit out of the ordinary to
the Festival.
For the Festival as a whole, we try to achieve a balance between original
material, covers of less-well-known songs and popular standards (especially
innovative arrangements of the latter). Individual acts may focus on one of
these, or a mixture of them all.
Your demo tracks should reflect the way your performance will sound at the
festival, with members and instrumentation as similar as possible.
Although we do not judge you on recording quality, we encourage you to send
a good-quality recording simply because it gives us a better idea of what
you sound like.
The selection committee will do a “blind” listening to all demo
tracks, ranking them on several factors.
After the blind listening, the selection committee will consider other
information submitted with the application to choose between
similarly-ranked performers.
Other
Performers may sell their CDs on consignment through the TKMA Kitchen Store
with TKMA keeping $1 per CD. CDs are typically priced at $15, but you can
price yours as you wish.
