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Love Acoustic Kids? We’d love to know!
MerleFest since 2001
2016 Photos: MerleFest
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2016 Photos: Guitar Town
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2016 Photos: Walnut Valley Festival
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Absolutely! We love beginners, and we want to support them. We also want Acoustic Kids to be a great experience for them, so we don’t want to get them up on stage before they’re ready: Minimum Qualification: You must be able to play one tune, confidently, all the way through, to be ready for Acoustic Kids. (Scales don’t count.) If you’re not quite ready to perform in the showcase this year, please come watch it and participate by being in the audience and supporting the other kids. Then keep practicing, and sign up next year! Acoustic Kids Showcases tend to adopt the flavor of the hosting festival: If you see an instrument played on a main stage there, you’re likely to see it played in Acoustic Kids, too. In most venues, we happily welcome any instrument unless there is a logistical reason why it won’t work in a festival setting.* (A grand piano, for example, would be difficult to accommodate – but a keyboard would be fine!) We love variety, and we welcome everything from A Capella voice to zither! That said, if a festival has a particular focus that they want us to emphasize in Acoustic Kids as well, we support that. In that case, we provide the details in the information for that specific festival. *Please point out any out-of-the-ordinary setup requirements on your registration form. Yes! Absolutely! If you plan to perform solo in the showcase, please provide a solo demo. Typically, the genres in our showcases mirror the genres you see represented on the host festival’s stages. Yes! We love hearing and supporting original music. Be sure to submit at least one of your strongest performance pieces, though, original or not. The content must be age-appropriate and suitable for a family show. Well, that depends…. Each act gets to play at least one of their demo pieces, and – if there’s time in the showcase – we’ll work in as many seconds and thirds as we can. And, we always try to give groups with multiple age-eligible members a little extra time. In some cases, an individual or group can play in more than one showcase during a festival, but sometimes there’s only time for one. So – it depends on the number of acts we have in the showcase relative to the amount of time we have. We do our best to keep things moving so everyone gets as much time as possible. Before the festival, we let everyone know how much time they will have. No. The showcase is a performance opportunity for festival attendees and is not a paid performance. Festivals provide Acoustic Kids Showcases to support young musicians in their audiences. Once you purchase your festival wristband, there is no additional charge to apply for or participate in this program. Acoustic Kids Ambassadors is a spin-off of the Acoustic Kids Showcases. The Ambassadors set gives young emerging artists a spotlight as they represent the Acoustic Kids program before a main-stage audience. Andy chooses the Ambassadors using the regular showcase registrations. You don’t have to do anything special to be chosen as an Ambassador, but you do have to show us in some way that you hope to be a professional musician. If it’s not already evident from your answers to the questions on the form, you can give us this information in the comments section – and be sure to tell us you’d like to be considered for the Ambassadors Showcase. Or, if you have a website or public social media page that is about you as a musician, just give us the url. It can be your band’s page or your own, but it should show us what you do with your music now and clearly indicate your professional aspirations. Be sure to provide the url in the provided blank on your Acoustic Kids registration form to be considered for the Ambassadors. Please understand that there are very few performance spots in the Ambassadors Showcase, and we may not be able to include everyone who qualifies. What are the age restrictions?
Are beginners accepted?
What instruments are permitted?
How about electric instruments?
Are solo acts accepted?
What genres of music are accepted?
Can I submit an original piece?
Are there any restrictions on subject matter?
How long will I have on stage?
Will I be paid for playing in the showcase?
Can I get into the festival free if I play in the showcase?
Does it cost anything to participate in Acoustic Kids?
What is/who are Acoustic Kids Ambassadors?
How do I sign up to be an Ambassador?
Your demos are the heart of your registration. This info will help you create demos that serve you well.
You can to submit up to three demos with your registration. A beginner might only have one piece that’s ready to perform, and that’s fine – just submit that one. For intermediate and advanced players, we recommend submitting three, even if you have to get busy and brush up the second and/or third piece.
To make your strongest showing and to have the most enjoyable experience in the showcase, make sure you:
Your demos should:
If you don’t have existing recordings that meet these criteria, please consider recording performances specifically for your application. Informal smartphone video is just fine.
Andy will choose which of your submitted demo pieces he wants you to perform in the showcase. We will let you know his choice in your individual “Performance Details” email. Remember, he is also planning a show, and sometimes what will work best from that standpoint is the deciding factor. By all means, if you have a preference, please say so on your registration form.
Well, it’s difficult to make changes. We’d prefer you choose your demo pieces carefully and stick to them. Andy uses all the demos submitted to not only get to know each individual performers’ playing but also to plan the show itself so it flows well for the audience. We do a huge amount of planning – based on the demos that are submitted – in the weeks leading up to the festival. With up to twenty-five acts per showcase, each allowed three demos, and multiple showcases per festival, it adds up to a lot of demos to review and manage. We do try to accommodate, especially when there is a reason beyond your control for wanting to change, but last-minute changes may not be possible. In any case, Andy will definitely need to hear your proposed substitution, preferably before the festival.
Because your accompanist influences your performance – for better or worse – Andy needs to hear you perform with him or her before the showcase. It’s best – and easier for everyone – if he or she is in your demo. If there is some reason this isn’t possible, or if you have to change accompanists at the last minute, please let us know as soon as you can so we can discuss it with you and see what we can work out.
There are several ways that will work. In order of preference:
Yes. All age-eligible group members may also register to perform individually. Each person only needs to register once, though, even if they want to perform both individually and with a group. There is a place on the form to indicate whether you’re registering as an individual only, as part of a group only, or both.
The person registering the group will submit the demos for the group: The Group Registration form provides you with a place to do that. Be sure to refer to the Demo Nitty-Gritty section of the FAQs, above, for details on submitting demos – they apply to both group and individual submissions.