Kim Ruehl is the "Folk Music Guide" at about.com and her pages are a great resource for fans- check out the folk festival section for some good tips. She's also got her top five festival picks here, if you like folk and Americana music. Thanks, Kim, keep up the good work!

Folk Music at About.com 

For the first time ever, WFUV (90.7 FM, wfuv.org) will air performances from the stages of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Team FUV-including Rita Houston, Alisa Ali, Sarah Wardrop, and Laura Fedele-is heading to Manchester, Tennessee this year, on a mission to bring listeners all the backstage news and interviews from the annual festival. WFUV is also partnering with NPR Music to webcast Bonnaroo from June 11-13 at wfuv.org and thealternateside.org.

Listeners can tune in to 90.7 FM on Friday, June 11th from 7:00 PM - midnight for performances by The National, The xx, The Temper Trap, Diane Birch, Mayer Hawthorne and others from the Bonnaroo stage. On Saturday night, from 7:00 PM - midnight, the music marathon continues with performances by Norah Jones, LCD Soundsystem, Jimmy Cliff, The Gaslight Anthem and more. Then, the whole team will recap all the Festival highlights and lowlights and bring listeners even more performances by the likes of Dave Matthews Band and Phoenix the following Friday, June 18th from 7:00 PM - midnight.

When record business veteran Martin C. Haerle and musician Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith founded CMH Records on July 9, 1975, they wanted to create a musical home for legendary artists of country and bluegrass who were then losing their longtime slots on major label rosters. Little did they know their safe-haven for American roots pioneers would weather the changing industry landscape to become an indie powerhouse that's still going strong 35 years later.

Today, the CMH Label Group is a study in how to survive in turbulent economic times by moving in exciting new musical directions, becoming home to the hugely successful Rockabye Baby lullaby line, which weeks ago launched the label onto the Billboard 200 for the first time, and the ever-popular Vitamin String Quartet, to name a few of the label group's innovative and acclaimed lines.

Not the oldest major festival in the country, but getting up there. Since its very beginning, the festival has embraced a wide swath of roots music to create the what they call  "Telluride Bluegrass"- whether or not you buy that, it's still a beautiful spot with an amazing lineup: Lyle Lovett; Alison Krauss & Union Station; Court Yard Hounds; Yonder Mountain String Band; Leftover Salmon; Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer; Del McCoury Band; Hot Rize; Josh Ritter; Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros; Carolina Chocolate Drops; Imelda May; the Telluride House Band featuring Sam, Béla, Jerry, Edgar, Bryan & Stuart; and many, many more.

The 37th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival once again coincides with the Summer Solstice; the longest day of the year; the beginning of summer. It's a magical time of sun and light, when the the high country of Colorado puts away its skis and grabs hiking boots, kayaks, and a low-back festival chair to take in "Bluegrass."

This year's Clearwater festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20 at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.

Inspired by Pete Seeger’s desire to clean up the river over forty years ago, the Great Hudson River Revival initially helped raise the funds to build the sloop Clearwater, which has since become a world-renowned floating classroom and a symbol of effective grassroots action. Today, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is a non-profit organization that sails at the forefront of the nation’s environmental challenges. The revenue raised by the Revival goes to support Clearwater’s numerous educational programs and its work toward environmental and social justice—as well as keeping the Clearwater afloat.

Gettin' close. You don't have to wait until summer, though- check out one of our favorites, the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, April 25 at a great spot just outside of Silk Hope, NC.�

This is their eighth year, holding fests in the spring and fall- this spring featuring Béla Fleck, Chiwoniso, Rusted Root, Bassekou Kouyate, Donna the Buffalo, Abigail Washburn, Preston Frank, Vince Herman & Great American Taxi, Rosie Ledet & The Zydeco Playboys, Eilen Jewell, Crooked Still, Scythian, Asylum Street Spankers, Sim Redmond Band, The Hackensaw Boys and a totally happening Chapel Hill duo, Mandolin Orange. More info here >>
 

First year for this camp, looks EXCELLENT: Introducing Mountain Arts Gathering, an acoustic music camp for adults on the beautiful lake-shore campus of Paul Smith's College in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York, from July 18 - 24, 2010. The Mountain Arts Gathering encourages self-expression through music and fosters a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere for musicians of all levels. The Gathering offers workshops, jams, performances, and an easy sense of community, all in a clean, intimate setting overlooking Lower St. Regis Lake and St. Regis Mountain. Come join in on a week full of fun, fellowship, and great music-making.

The instructors this year are John Kirk, Trish Miller, Pete Sutherland, Grey Larsen, Cindy Kallet, Sue Grimm, Chris Turner, Rachel Maloney, Bethany Waickman, and Lissa Schneckenburger. Kary Johnson, Director (518) 578-8409 web: http://www.mountainartsgathering.com

The New Folk Revival is a blog and recording project from the Texas Hill Country documenting folk and acoustic music around Texas (or travelling through Texas). They are dedicated to preserving folk tradition and spreading the word about both up-and-coming and established folk artists. All the music on their site is available for free streaming or download, as the artists record these sessions specifically so they can be given away digitally. It's not about money, it's about music! Check them out...