Showcase concert to feature Lynn Noel, Corvus, Wear My Letter and Marylou Ferrante, Friday, March 23 , 8 p.m.
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Although the New England Folk Festival has been around since 1944 and in April will present its 68th annual edition in Mansfield, “NEFFA” (the “a” stands for “association”) is not, to the general populace, necessarily a household word. To increase public awareness, and to entice new patrons to the festival, the non-profit educational and cultural organization, whose mission is “to encourage, sponsor, and preserve high standards of performance of the folk arts and traditions in New England and elsewhere” will present in Somerville a pre-festival “showcase” concert featuring a representative sample of four distinct music genres that are typically found at the festival.

“The festival is well known to and attended by those already connected with folk arts, and NEFFA produces a weekly contradance series at the Scout House in Concord. But at our 2011 retreat and subsequent meetings, the board of directors decided that more could be done to bring folk music to the community,” said Jeff Boudreau, who serves on the NEFFA board.

The New England Folk Festival has many components: folk arts and crafts; folk music, including concerts, workshops, and jams; International Dance Performance in traditional costumes; Ritual Dance Performances; and participatory dancing, including International line dance, Couple dance, and Contra/Sqaure dancing and other traditional dance forms. When NEFFA says “folk” it means “folk”. “The general public often confuses “contemporary” singer-songwriter music with folk music, NEFFA presents the real deal, the kind of music and dance that has been handed down from generation to generation. The showcase will present an opportunity to experience a taste of what NEFFA has to offer.

“Using the roster of some 400+ artists who will be performing April 20-22 in Mansfield, we selected four distinct musical genres to present at the showcase,” The four acts, all residents of the Commonwealth, are Lynn Noel – solo voice/group sing, Marylou Ferrante – pre-war blues, Wear My Letter – old-time music and Corvus – Celtic. “With a deep talent pool, it was very difficult to select just a few performers for the showcase. We hope that this concert becomes a tradition each year, so that we can feature different performers.

The NEFFA Showcase will be presented at Unity, 6 William Street (near Davis Square), Somerville, March 23.  Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for NEFFA members. The 68th annual New England Folk Festival will be presented April 20-22 at the Mansfield, MA Junior and Senior High Schools. Membership, showcase and festival information and tickets are available at http://neffa.org.  Information is available by calling the NEFFA office, (617) 299-1590.

In addition to his duties as a NEFFA director, Boudreau also hosts a folk music program on community radio WCUW in Worcester (91.3fm, http://wcuw.org/). NEFFA showcase and festival specials will air on Tuesday, March 20, Tuesday, April 3, and Tuesday, April 17th. Watch the NEFFA and WCUW websites for more information.