Well, Wednesday morning, I pack up the car and head to Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. It is an annual trip that the whole family greatly enjoys. For me, one of the high points is the Emerging Artists Showcase. Friday afternoon, two dozen emerging performers get ten minutes each to show off their stuff.

Each year, I try to find the list of performers ahead of time, listen to their music, and share some comments. It seems like each year, I get more and more busy, and have less and less time to really review each group. That said, here's the list.

I used that list to create a Spotify Playlist. I've been listening to the performers, and here are some of them, organized approximately by how much I like them.

Jarrod Dickenson (Facebook, Twitter: @jarroddickenson) is probably the top of my list.

Jon Brooks (Facebook, Twitter: @jonbrooksmusic) comes in second.

Gathering Time (Facebook) comes in third. I really liked their song Halley's Comet.

The problem then becomes that I like just about all of the performers, and it becomes hard to choose between different groups. Burning Bridget Cleary (Facebook) is a lot of fun to listen too and the story of Bridget Cleary is fascinating.

I also really liked Kate Klim (Facebook). Her music is really clear and crisp with interesting lyrics. Kamikaze Love is really good.

One band I had heard before is Poor Old Shine (Facebook). They played at Middnight on Main last year. Also, very enjoyable.

Three performers grouped together next, Julie Christensen, Miles to Dayton (Facebook, Twitter: @milestodayton) and Ryan Tennis (Facebook, Twitter: @rytennis). Each of them are enjoyable, and if I had more time to listen more closely, I might have one or another as a favorite. I believe some of these performers will be at various events up on the hill before Falcon Ridge officially starts, and these performances on the hill are really fun.

The next group includes Cary Cooper (Facebook, Twitter: @carycooper), Jim Hayes, Kevin Neidig (Facebook), Rebecca Pronsky (Facebook, Twitter: @rebeccapronsky) and sorcha. They were all okay, but by the time I get to this group, they all start to blend together. I'll probably have similar problems after a couple hours on the hill on Friday.

Honor Finnegan (Facebook), Heather Maloney (Facebook, Twitter: @maloneymusic), Sweet Talk Radio (Facebook), Sarah Blacker (Facebook, Twitter: @sarahblacker), Brad Cole (Facebook) and Dan Charness (Facebook, Twitter: @dancharness) didn't grab me on the first listen. However, as I've listened to some of them more, they've started to grow on me.

I couldn't easily find enough music from Chris Kokesh (Facebook), Steve Chizmadia (Facebook), The Marrieds (Facebook, Twitter: @themarrieds), or The YaYas to form an opinion.

So, there's a quick view of what I'm looking forward to in the Emerging Artists Showcase at Falcon Ridge. What are you looking forward to?