Scott Alarik, Novelist

Dar Williams calls him “the finest folk writer in the country.”

Pete Seeger calls him “one of the best writers in America.”

Obviously, Scott Alarik is one of the most trusted and revered folk music writers around. He provided insightful coverage of the Boston folk music scene for more than 20 years in The Boston Globe, as well as Sing Out! magazine. He’s also an accomplished and acclaimed singer-songwriter in his own right, who has performed regularly on “A Prairie Home Companion.”

But now he’s ready for something new, and he’s trying on a different hat – that of novelist.

But he didn’t change subject matter.

Alarik’s first novel – due for publication in September – is titled “Revival: A Folk Music Novel.” The book is described as “a love story set in the subterranean world of modern folk music. Talented, charismatic songwriter Nathan Warren lost his chance at stardom years ago, and now sees his life as waste and ruin. Kit Palmer is young, beautiful, and explosively gifted, but her dreams are also doomed unless she can keep from falling apart on stage. They travel the Boston folk scene as lovers and artists, through basement clubs and funky jam sessions, rowdy open mikes and sprawling festivals, seeking stardom for one and redemption for the other.”

Sounds a bit like “Crazy Heart”-meets-“A Star Is Born,” but set in Boston coffeehouses.

You can find out more about the novel at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival at Doods Farm in Hillsdale this weekend, where Alarik is slated to participate in two of the fest’s workshops: “More Ways Than One: Performing and Making a Living” at 4:45pm today (Friday); and “The Tinker’s Coin: Remembering Jack Hardy” at 4:45pm on Saturday.