Natasha performs at first Folk Alliance Conference

: With DJ Greg Torrington from Galaxie Cable TV and Satellite Radio in Canada

: Natasha performing in the Hadley Music Group Showcase room

: With singer songwriter Drew Nelson who also performed in the Hadley Music Group showcase room

: Natasha at her Official Showcase

: with Nora Jane Struthers

At the end of February, Natasha headed to Memphis, Tennessee to attend her first ever Folk Alliance International Conference. Since 1989, Folk Alliance® has served as the headquarters for Folk Music and Dance. With over 2800 members worldwide and an annual conference that is one of the five largest music conferences in North America, Folk Alliance continues to grow and mature while providing a unique range of member services to our community.

Natasha was chosen to perform in an Official Showcase on Friday night of the conference but also did several private showcases in the room her record label Hadley Music Group Records rented to showcase her as well as one showcase in the Troubador room for first time performers at the conference. She also attended the DJ Reception (which she helped sponsor as a small thank you to all the DJs playing her records) and had the chance to meet many of the DJs who have been playing her personally. Natasha had this to say about the conference:

What an incredible experience it was! All the conference rooms on the bottom floor of our high rise hotel were used for the official showcases and educational panels, and all the rooms on the top three floors were converted into private showcase venues. Sandwiched in between were everybody’s sleeping quarters but who gets to sleep when there’s music to be made all around the clock! I felt like I was back in Russia during one of the many music festivals we participated in as kids; double basses crammed into elevators, endless posters and flyers everywhere and music pouring from every corner — people would come out for a smoke and end up jamming in the courtyard. And then there was that lady singing in the lobby — she was there every day and never stopped singing! Impressive. Even the last day, as countless musicians were checking out of the hotel and I was waiting for my breakfast, there was an open mic at the restaurant downstairs.

With all the talent surrounding us you’ll understand how happy I was to have been selected to perform in one of the official showcases. I also got to meet a lot of DJs who have been playing my music over the last four years — it was nice to finally put faces to the names.

Below is a video clip of Natasha during her official showcase doing a Russian poem written by Boris Pasternak that was set to music. It is a song her father used to play and sing.