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NERFA and One Longfellow Square

The Northeastern Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) is coming to Portland the week of November 20 – 24 and One Longfellow Square is excited to share our stage with this wonderful conference!
Hundreds of world-class musicians will be in town to network, workshop material, engage in professional development, and celebrate live music.  For the first time ever, conference artists will have coordinated public performance opportunities with a local venue – One Longfellow Square. We are thrilled to spotlight a few of the amazing artists that will be in Portland for the conference, including keynote speakers and OLS favorites Garnet Rogers and Melissa Ferrick.

One of the hallmarks of NERFA are the coveted Formal Showcase opportunities for emerging artists.  This year, 190 acts submitted performance videos in the hopes of performing in one of 20 Formal Showcase spots.  One Longfellow Square served on the jury, and I can tell you without hesitation that the talent is deep and the competition was fierce.  While the Formal Showcases are closed to registered conference attendees, I am so pleased to announce that six of the Formal Showcase acts will perform at OLS over the course of the week:

Wednesday, November 20: Maggie’s Wake and Rob Flax’s Boom Chick Trio
Friday, November 22: Julian Taylor will open for Garnet Rogers
Saturday, November 23: Sweet Petunia will open for Melissa Ferrick
Sunday, November 24: Abigayle Kompst and Benny Bleu
In addition, an insanely fun tradition for NERFA attendees is a series of guerilla showcases after hours in the halls and hotel rooms of the conference. One such famous after-hours showcase is Pie & Whiskey, curated by Portland’s own Connor Garvey. This year, OLS is proud to open our doors for a public performance of The Pie & Whiskey Room – Songwriters in the Round. Join us on Tuesday, November 19 to get a peek behind the curtain of this beloved tradition and hear Maine-based artists Connor Garvey, Caroline Cotter, and Chris Robley; plus RJ Cowdery (OH), Halley Neal (TN), Sadie Gustofson-Zook (ID), Rough & Tumble (NH), and Sam Robbins (TN). Support for this program has been generously provided by Maine Craft Distilling and Two Fat Cats Bakery.  Of course, there will be whiskey tasters and cocktails as well as yummy pie!

We sincerely hope you will join us for this week of special performances.  This is an opportunity for music lovers in Maine to take advantage of a convergence of incredible talent and next-gen stars.  Come support your favorite artists, discover new favorites, and help fill our independent listening room with love for the shared joy of live music!
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