Greetings! I don’t know if the hustle and bustle of this holiday season has you as frazzled as I have been the past few weeks, but I do hope that you have some to sit down and relax. Spend time with your family and friends, sing some songs and enjoy this festive time.

It has been a few weeks since the last post, and I apologize for not updating this column with greater frequency. Below are a few items of interest to keep everyone up to date.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to post more news, CD reviews, concert previews and information that will be of interest to the folk community. Over the past year there have been a few false starts when I attempted to add some new features to this website. In order to push these items forward, I have made a few adjustments.

First, I have to announce that January 2, 2009 will be the final broadcast of “The Session” on WFDU-FM. The station will be introducing a new series that is being produced by Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck. In order to make room, the schedule is being altered and I decided this is a good opportunity for me to step aside from that program.

It was not an easy decision. Since the show premiered in 2000, I have enjoyed the weekly exploration of Celtic music and all of the offshoots. I’ve had fun, learned a lot and enjoyed spending my lunch hour with you on Fridays. However, I had to weigh the time and work involved against my desire to explore some new projects, including changes to this website. I think will enable me to devote more time to this site, my work with the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club, some new projects – and of course, my long-running show “Traditions” which continues to be heard on Sunday afternoons with my co-host Bill Hahn.

I hope you will join me for the next couple of weeks and our final show on January 2nd. I do intend to incorporate some of the music that we’ve shared back into “Traditions” – after all, it is part of the fabric of folk music.

Now, some other news…..

Speaking of “Traditions” , I’m very happy to report that Bill Hahn is recovering from his recent surgery and will be back on the air December 28th. On that day, I will join Bill in the studio as we look back at some of our personal favorite recordings of the year. Not exactly a “best of”, but a representive selection of recordings that will give you an idea of the Year in Folk Music – 2008. We will also remember our friends who left us this year, and I’m afraid that the list is rather long this year.

Since it is Christmas time, I want to remind everyone that this Sunday – December 21st – I will host the 29th Annual Traditions Christmas Special. From 3 to 6pm on WFDU (89.1FM or listen in on www.wfdu.fm) I will be sharing holiday favorites from the folk artists that you hear weekly on Traditions. We will also hear the stories behind some of your favorite Christmas carols and songs. This is one of my favorite shows of the year, always broadcast on the Sunday before Christmas. Please join me for the fun! Just bring your own egg nog!!

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The nominees for the 2009 Grammy Awards were recently announced. To be eligible, a recording had to be released between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008. As usual, there is considerable head scratching as to how the judges define “Traditional” as opposed to “Contemporary”, but here are their choices:

I’ll save my comments for a future column that will appear shortly before the awards. I am happy to see names such as Joan Baez, Peggy & Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton included this year! While there might be additional CD’s that deserve to be included, and the definition of the catagory is suspect, I do feel that these are wonderful recordings.

Joan Baez has a new band! She has hired John Doyle (the incredible guitarist who gained fame performing with Solas, Danu, Eileen Ivers and most recently with Liz Carroll) has been named the musical director of Joan’s band. The band will also include Cajun fiddler Dirk Powell and bassist Todd Phillips, one of the founding members of the David Bromberg Quintent. Doyle is a great choice to head the backup band. Doyle’s percussive guitar work with Solas turned the group in a phenomenon beyond Irish music circles, and his affinity for traditional music makes him a perfect choice for Joan. We will keep you posted on area appearances.