2007年VOA标准英语-Musicians, Writers Network at 2007 Folk Allianc

By Katherine Cole
Washington
12 March 2007

From weekend sports clubs and service organizations to college alumni groups and professional societies, thousands of associations currently exist in the U.S. The Folk Alliance is an organization for those involved in folk music and dance. VOA's Katherine Cole recently attended the group's annual conference, and tells us more.

The Folk Alliance musicians who took over a downtown hotel in Memphis, Tennessee for five days of performances were doing it not for the applause of fans, but to win over potential booking agents, managers, music critics and radio programmers; in other words, the people who might boost their career.

Among the performers was Nashville's Jeff Black.

 
Jeff Black
Jeff Black already has a booking agent. His CDs are regularly played by many of the radio programmers who attend Folk Alliance. So what drew him to the conference?

"I think just the opportunity to come down and play, and see old friends," he said. "I may find out about a venue¹, or an acoustic² music series, or something else that I didn't know about, that I'll get a chance to go play. They do call it a 'conference,' but it's more about the music than anything else. I don't come here with any expectations. I come here expecting to play and that's about it. Share some songs and tell some stories."

 
Dan Navarro and Eric Lowen

While many of the performers at Folk Alliance are relatively³ unknown, others like Rosalie Sorrels, Peggy Seeger and The Roches have been in the business for decades. So has Dan Navarro, one-half of Lowen and Navarro. The other half is Eric Lowen. The pair is probably best-known outside the Folk Alliance for writing hits for artists like Pat Benatar, who had a hit with their song "We Belong."

Lowen and Navarro released their first album in 1990, and their ninth, Hogging⁴ the Covers, last year. It is a bit different than the previous releases because this time, Lowen and Navarro are singing the songs of Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Petty, even Van Morrison.

Dan Navarro talks about a typical day the event.

 
Dan Navarro 
"My day this morning started with a meeting with two board members," he says. "I am on the board of Folk Alliance. Immediately from that, I went into a discussion with ASCAP and BMI [two music licensing⁵ agencies] about how to deal with licensing fees for tiny venues⁶ that may not be able to afford the fees. Followed by a group panel I attended, where the licensing organizations announced some of their decisions and their processes to the community at large. I followed that with a performance … in a room. There are performances in hotel rooms. If you're afraid of performing before a thousand people, figure out what it's like to perform before five people … and that's a full house! It is a fear eliminator, because it actually throws you immediately in touch with your fear. I did that for 20 minutes, from that I co-led a panel on arrangements … on how to arrange your music. With about 20, I call the kids, but they were of all different age groups, who want to know how to maximize their recording⁷. And now I'm here talking to you. From this, I'll go grab some sort of meal. I've got four showcases tonight, each of about 20 minutes apiece. And then I'm going to stay up very, very late tonight, because people play music all hours here."

Every year, there seems to be one artist at Folk Alliance who becomes the "talk of the conference." To find out who got all the buzz this year, we turn to Louis Jay Meyers, Executive Director of the Folk Alliance.

 
Anthony da Costa
"Anthony da Costa. Just turned 16, and just finished his fifth CD," Meyers said.

And, what makes him so special?

"The quality of his songwriting, the quality of his presence, the incredibly unaffected view that he has of the world at barely 16 years old," Meyers continued. "My prediction at this point is that he will be our first superstar artist from Folk Alliance. I'm talking multi-platinum ['platinum' is one million CDs sold in the U.S., 'multi-platinum' is two million or more], long-term career. I would not be surprised if we start hearing major recording artists cutting his songs within the next year."

Anthony da Costa's new CD is called Rearrange.

1 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

2 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 hogging   

n.弯[翘]曲，挠度，扭曲；拱曲

参考例句：

• At first glance, the spotlight-hogging boss seems the villain. 乍一看，好抢镜头的上司似乎是个反面人物。 来自辞典例句
• This guy has been 5 hogging the bathroom for 25 minutes! 那家伙霸占着洗手间25分钟了！ 来自互联网

5 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

6 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。