“the song is still being written”

The folk music portrait project

Introducing “The Song Is Still Being Written”: The Folk Music Portrait Project

A photo and narrative collection capturing singer-songwriters – past, present, and future – who have made the Boston/Cambridge area their home for artistic development. From Grammy winners to emerging artists, these musicians all share roots at one of the most heralded performance spaces in folk music history: Harvard Square’s Passim (originally Club 47). This exhibition will premiere in September of 2024 at the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame at the Boch Center in Boston. In April 2024, a Kickstarter campaign will launch to fund the production of the accompanying book.

This project, featuring more than three dozen artists, celebrates the continuing arc of folk music, from legendary performers such as Tom Rush, Jim Rooney, and Jim Kweskin to contemporary artists like Lori McKenna, Josh Ritter, and Patty Griffin and fresh faces from the Folk Collective Initiative at Passim, including Naomi Westwater, Cliff Notez, and Kim Moberg, who are bringing new meaning to the definition of “folk” music. The mission of the project is to illustrate that folk music continues to be an evolving, vital, and relevant art form. As many of the artists have said, “Folk music is music by the people, for the people.”