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Reggie,

The guy who performed WAS someone who earned that because we did well in the Ourstage Contest. He had zero other contact or pathway to get the gig. Ourstage was always 100% clear that they do NOT promise categories winners a slot, only the opportunity to be considered for the slot. If you didn't read it (and it was NOT fine print.. it was common knowledge amongst the folks I spoke with and we announced in in 4 consecutive months in the newsletter and on the website here) then it's not their fault right? And the reason is both obvious and fair. To get a featured slot, you need to have great material (which Ourstage can help bring attention to) but also have depth of material and be a great entertainer. If you took a song off an album that was great but where the singer was just a guy in his studio basement who never performed live gigs and couldn't sing without auto-tune and booked them, that would be the end of the whole process for everyone. So it was a starting point and was advertised as such. And they DID book someone who finished in the finals at Ourstage and was then put forward by the Ourstage staff and chosen solely by the organizers at Newport.

I know for a fact your name was considered and we discussed that you were also a JPF member. So in fact you WERE considered, exactly as they promised. They considered 5 names, but they only booked 1 name. And that was Ryan Fitzsimmons. He's a very active regional performer and top notch on stage. I have no idea how old you are, but you're probably older since you disclosed above that you've had a 30 year career. So you're probably at least late 40s. But I wouldn't have known that from your music or your avatar.

You tell a story of someone from that festival seeing you live. it's quite possible that he decided, after seeing you live, that he liked a different performer more. If you have 5 strong candidates and 1 slot, 4 strong candidates are going to get passed over. If you have dozens, which I am sure they had in those top slots on Ourstage, a LOT of great performers are going to get passed by. That's how it all works. And what makes you think that nobody googled your name or looked at your website? I bet they probably did. (I know in some cases they did because we chatted at the time about a couple). Why do you feel they had it out for you in some way?

By your own words, Ourstage did EXACTLY what they agreed to do. By doing well, as you did, they gave you consideration for a slot at the Newport Folk Festival that was specifically set aside for an Ourstage artist. You WERE considered and in this case, you weren't chosen. You're a long time professional, is this the first gig that someone has passed you up for? Really? Were they always out to get you in some way?

You can't take it personally. If they hadn't booked an Ourstage artist, that would be an entirely different story. But they did. They just chose a different one. All the names we put forward were great artists. At least 3 were also great live performers (heck, one even won our award for best live artist). And Ryan, who eventually got the slot, will certainly be among the finalists for this year's awards. If I recall, your song had a very trad folk sound and Ryan's style is more New Folk in style. So that alone could be a factor in what they wanted for the concert.

And finally, if you wanted to play there, you should have checked out who was playing. They had a lot of current/non folk bands booked. They know they have to attract a crowd in a difficult marketplace and there aren't many younger folk artists around right now that have an audience. Most of the famous folk artists are still from the 60's or are more regionally popular acts. There's all sorts of factors that go into it. It may have helped Ryan that he lived in RI. I do know he had no connections to or contacts in the event, but I know he gigs around the region a lot. Even that could have factored in. Or, they might have just simply liked him better. After 30 years, I'd think you'd understand all that better than anyone. I am sure you've won gigs over others who wondered why they weren't picked instead. We all have at one time or another. It doesn't mean anything bad was going on.

Brian