The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #92261 Message #1761330
Posted By: jacqui.c
16-Jun-06 - 09:15 AM
Thread Name: Folk Music Is for intellectuals
Subject: RE: Folk Music Is for intellectuals
Too true LH.
I think that Guest is wrong. In my case, anyway. I am English and now live in the States. Living here I have developed, alongside my liking for UK folk music, a real interest in American folk music, which has been drawn from the many cultures that make up the USA.
When you listen to the likes of Utah Phillips putting relatively modern history into song or Gordon Bok or Dave Mallet telling of the working lives of the people they know you have to listen to the words and that gives you more of an understanding of the country.
This, possibly, is why folkies tend to have more interest in the folk music of their own countries - if you can't understand what is being sung because you don't speak the language you're back to just listening to the tune and maybe we want more than that.
By the way, I do agree that some folkies can be rather precious and pretentious but maybe Guest has been moving in the wrong circles. Come to the Getaway, Old Songs or to many of the UK festivals and get involved in the open sessions - that's where you will generally find the people who ENJOY their music and aloow it to continue as a living thing.