The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #96615 Message #1900726
Posted By: GUEST
05-Dec-06 - 12:38 PM
Thread Name: Review: Folk Awards - Mike Harding
Subject: RE: Review: Folk Awards - Mike Harding
Fair point Les, but I think it's worth pointing out that if there were no 'pros,' (90% of whom earn near the minimum wage, once travel and other costs are taken into account) the folk world would be a poorer place.
There would be less material for us all to learn for a start:
Less trad - because not very many people have the time or the skills to learn from archives (and the aural tradition doesn't work like it used to ), and FAR fewer new songs. Those that are made would travel very slowly because we couldn't afford to put out CDs without gigs to promote them (and if we did - without gigs - who'd ever hear them)?
You wouldn't have people like Martin Carthy inventing whole new ways to play the guitar (well you would, but most would never hear about it), you wouldn't have workshop leaders to help you learn your instrument, you wouldn't have festival acts to take your breath away and inspire you to play or sing better (as happened to all of us), and you wouldn't have performers capable of breaking into the mainstream and helping to keep folk music alive by bringing in new converts (some of whom may even become club singers - and we do need these as the old ones fade away).
We smile and hug and love you when we perform to your clubs (and we're delighted to do so), but it's a lonely cold drive home 4 hours in the dark.
The awards - and the patchy media exposure we do achieve - can represent a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, and as such are an important motivator to keep us going and to help us go on trying to achieve excellence.
We know most of us will never get a break like a Radio 2 folk award - and most of us probably don't deserve it - but leave us our dreams ok?