It's Monday, I'm at work (and should be working) and can't resist jumping back into the fray! I'm one of those who 'discovered' traditional folk music by listening to rock translations of English folk a' la Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, etc. in my college years (now receding into the misty past, alas). I still like LOTS of different kinds of music, from opera (except Wagner) to some of the latest rock bands (The Squirrel Nut Zippers are doing REALLY neat modern calypsos and hokum...).

BUT...when it comes to trying to find sources for the traditional folk I also love, in books and recordings, let alone on the air or in live performances, I find it being crowded out by singer/songwriters wailing about the angst of having been abused as a child, neglected by their significant others, having their cars stolen in New Jersey or just dying of ennui in this materialistic world. This material seems to be highly marketable, and is about the only kind of "Folk" many people have ever heard. Songwriters like Ewan MacColl, Utah Phillips, Brian McNeill and Bob Coltman have a more traditional "feel" to their compositions because they have both a knowledge and respect for the traditional music of their cultures that comes across in their writing. Songwriting without any connection to one's roots isn't "Folk", in my opinion, even if you're bashing a Martin while you sing. Yellow Door folk girl, your coffee house performers are probably regurgitating Ani DiFranco and Stan Rogers covers because they never had a CHANCE to hear anything else, or learn any material they couldn't just buy out of the "Folk" bin at their nearest mega-conglomerate record store! You don't have to censor your performers; the business world has already done that for you, except what they've censored is the traditional material that isn't as profitable as newly written material with a good beat or politically correct "hook" to the lyrics.

The dearth of traditional folk in recordings and performances isn't just a matter of it being less aurally accessible; I have a hard time listening to field recordings of men with no teeth singing traditional ballads or playing their fiddles out of tune for the collectors, and recognize that many people wouldn't pay to hear an evening of music performed by the original traditional singers/musicians in their own style. However, even more polished interpreters of traditional material find it hard to get gigs in this day and age. One of the great tragedies of recent years was the suicide of Peter Bellamy, an immensely talented musician and singer. Like many performers, he was a difficult personality to work with. While allowances will be made for a prima-donna doing "personal" material (like Dylan), Bellamy's preference for traditional material and "politically incorrect" sources like Kipling got him shut out of more and more performance venues who wanted to attract a more "mainstream" audience. One local coffeehouse in our area is reluctant to book any performer who hasn't been played on the radio, because no-one in their audience will have heard of them. At the same time, Margaret MacArthur, another talented singer and musician whose repertoire is mostly (but not exclusively) traditional, said that her recordings are being dropped by several of the major "Folk" record distributors, like Rounder, because there's not as much demand for them. It's a Catch-22; you can't get a gig if your recordings aren't played; your recordings aren't distributed because there's no market; there's no market because people don't know who you are because they've never heard you perform...

I feel this situation is analogous to what's happening in The Boundary Waters area of Minnesota. This area has been set aside as a natural area for canoeing, kayaking, hiking and other forms of non-powered transportation. However, there is a loud clamoring from the people who love to run their power boats, jet-skis, snow-mobiles, etc (AND from the companies that sell these obscene beasts, and the real-estate developers that profit form them, etc), that THEIR tax money goes to support this area, therefore they should be allowed to run their noisy vehicles anywhere they want to. Never mind that Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes, most of which are already open to power boats, and never mind that the people who enjoy canoeing and quiet sports also pay taxes; there are a lot more power yahoos than those eco-freaks, they're louder and therefore their enjoyment and access SHOULD take priority (at least according to them and the manufacturers of their power equipment...). Well, I consider traditional music to be the "quiet sport" of the music world. There's not as many of us around that like it, so the folks that like/prefer the more commercial forms of music assert that it's their right to have access to ALL the venues that exist for any form of folk music. Soon, because fewer and fewer performers of traditional music can find a venue to play in or make a living doing tradtional types of music, fewer and fewer people are exposed to or get a chance to find out there's something worthwhile in the traditional songs, too!

I'm not saying that we should put up a sign saying "Restricted: Keep Out" on coffeehouses, sing-around nights, this discussion forum, etc. What I would like is to have a "Minimum Traditional Content: xx%" advisory. If you're running an Open Mike, request that performers do one traditional number out of every three songs. If you're booking a concert series, ask your performers if they know any traditional material, and to include it as even just a PART of their set list. If you're trying to find a song, try looking for more readily available stuff elsewhere first, so as not to tie up connect time here. (Don't know about anyone else, but I've been finding it harder and harder to connect to this site in the past few weeks) If you already like traditional music, for God's sake support the performers who are trying to keep it alive by buying their records, going to their concerts and helping folks like Dick and Max who provide a service like this. Whether we like it or not, in a Capitalist Society, money is the only form of "Free" speech that counts for anything!

For those of you who use this forum, and DON'T like traditional music, I would just like to politely say that you've got a whole big football stadium out there for your type of sport; please leave us just this one last corner of the playground for our quiet games!