Alan Rowoth

Syracuse, ny

Alan Rowoth loves music.

To make ends meet, he does a little computer consulting, training, and desktop publishing on the side. Alan sings (he used to do it for a living) and was involved in one way or another with many groups including Freeze Frame, Best Wishes, 805, Pictures, The Works, Beckin, Emerald City, The Whizz Kids, Catspaw, and The Great American Dream.

Alan was also the founder of the Syracuse MIDI Users Group. In 1991 he started the folk_music listserv. Three years later he organized the first Internet Quartets Songwriters Showcase, a tour that took 24 songwriters to 11 cities in the Northeast in a total of 66 concerts.

Alan has written for several music magazines including Performing Songwriter, Dirty Linen and Sing Out! He has taught seminars on the internet for Musicians at international and regional Folk Alliance conferences, The Kerrville Folk Festival, Planet Bluegrass song school, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Christine Lavin's Martha's Vineyard Singer Songwriter Retreat and other events.

In July of 1996, Alan started the FolkBiz list on the Internet to provide a forum for the discussion of business and creative issues of musicians. In 1998, he registered the domain www.folkmusic.org to provide a new home for the FolkBook project and, ultimately, create a one stop site for links to all things folk on the internet.

In the spring of 2001, folkmusic.org became a real nonprofit agency in support of live music. In 2001, Alan and Charlie Hunter took a group of musicians across Canada and back by rail on the very first Folktrain 2001.

Alan also hosts the Big Orange Tarp, an all night music playspace that can be found at many song schools, festivals, and other events around the nation. He mentors musicians in Internet Identity, Social Marketing, and Surviving in the Post CD economy. He does trainings for Apple IOS (iPad, iPhone) as well as Mac OS X.

Alan is an avid movie buff and media collector. He love kids and dogs and staying up all night listening to music. Alan believes that food is not properly seasoned unless it is painful to eat.

  • Work
    • folkmusic.org