The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #147479 Message #3419558
Posted By: Will Fly
14-Oct-12 - 06:49 AM
Thread Name: Change at the BBC folk awards
Subject: RE: Change at the BBC folk awards
It may be the confrontational style of the middle classes with all their holier than thou, this is the way it SHOULD be done style, you know nowt attitude.
Well, I know that you've encountered opposition to doing your own thing in various folk clubs at various times over the years, and I think I know what you're referring to. I wouldn't necessarily call it a "middle class" attitude though - I think you're adding a bit of your own cultural and sociological baggage here... :-)
I suppose I've been either very lucky or very thick skinned in that I haven't come across the 'holier-than-thou' attitudes very often - though I've met one or two very unpleasant and rigid individuals now and then in folk clubs. To which I should add I've met some lovely people in folk clubs, but I wouldn't attribute a particular class to any of them either. People is just people, good or bad.
I suppose I have very simplistic view of music - just play the bloody stuff, in any way or style you choose - and take the consequences of doing so. Sometimes you'll end up getting the cold shoulder or laughed at, and sometimes you'll be worshipped as a minor god with people asking you to sign your records. I've had both in a long life but all I care about in the end is playing the the music(s) I love without reference to anyone else, or awards of any kind.
Al, I like what you do. You write great songs and play good guitar. But why blame a "folk" scene for perhaps not being appreciated in it? One of the reasons that I rarely attend folk clubs is because I know at heart that, although I love traditional tunes, I'm not really a devotee of folk song. I wouldn't know a Childe Ballad if it came up and bit me on the bum. So I go to a club occasionally - mainly to keep up acquaintance with people I know and like, for a bit of musical variety, or to try out a new bit of guitar work. But folk clubs are not where I do my main thing because I don't really fit. I spent years playing in pubs, working men's clubs, bars, British Legions, etc. You know where you are in these places! So why rail against a scene that - at heart - you were probably never really a part of? I'm just guessing here, so no offence intended.