Folk Alliance Conference 2024 opens up a limited number of public tickets

Courtesy of the Folk Alliance

The Folk Alliance Conference is returning for February, 21-25, with public tickets available for Feb. 22-24. It’s a rewarding yet overwhelming night featuring a variety of musicians “crossing a diverse array of genres including Appalachian, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Old-Time, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Traditional, Zydeco, and various fusions,” despite being call a conference it’s a series of very personal feeling performances unique to the event.

Tickets start at $35 and doors open at 5:30 p.m. each night at Westin Crown Center Hotel [1 E Pershing Rd.] The Pitch’s Nick Spacek previously covered the 2023 event. This year differentiates itself with the theme of  “Alchemy: A Transformative Force.”

The performers featured include Rainbow Girls, Willi Carlisle, Jolie Holland, Flamy Grant, Kaia Kater, Olive Klug, John Gallagher, Jr., Crys Matthews, Amy LaVere, The Steel Wheels, and Livingston Taylor among others in the 150+ concerts.

These performances are spread between conference rooms, private rooms, and open floor space throughout the hotel. It’s an event filled with music you have likely never head before and maybe would’ve never head without. It’s music that will make you want to get up and dance in the aisles, and it’s also music so intense you can feel it in your chest.

Overall, it’s just a fun event. Spacek says “I had the absolute most fun getting to see bands and artists who took folk and turned it into something exciting, rather than treating it as a serious capital ‘A’ Art Form.”

It is by no means a traditional experience. Spacek will be running a number of preview stories here on the Pitch, artist by artist. So keep an eye out for suggestions on who to see. This is where a lot of bands have a chance of making a name for themselves, with many big names coming to see them.