The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #166789   Message #4015716
Posted By: Stringsinger
27-Oct-19 - 03:13 PM
Thread Name: The current state of folk music in UK
Subject: RE: The current state of folk music in UK
I am unclear as to what a folk club really is? Is it a place to hear traditional folk singers, (usually unaccompanied) or a showcase for the generic acoustic music? It seems to me that Ewan and Peggy meant something quite different from what is being discussed here.

Here, in the States, we have lost what were commonly thought of as folk clubs in coffee houses. There are a few left. Most of it is singer-songwriters who play acoustic music.
Some of it is good, some not so. Generally they are more intimate than the larger venues that popular music acts are forced to play.

I'm not sure that traditional folk singers who have been documented in field recordings would find a suitable stage in the generic acoustic music scene.

What may die out is the fad for acoustic music bars or pubs that feature the singer-songwriter or Beatles players. I think that a genuine society based on interest in traditional folk music can survive as long as people know what it is and are educated to appreciate it.

Sometimes shoddy guitar players and unmusical strident voices that imitate what they consider to be "authentic"prevail in these so-called folk places. And this is augmented by unscrupulous live sound people who set levels and leave.

I find the traditional field recordings of folk music to be far more musical for the most part than the imitators or stylish ripped jeans of the scroungy persons who pretend to be somehow "working class". Working class people generally dress up when they appear on stage, suits, ties, or something that would be called respectable.

I understand rebellion. I am sympathetic to the Left and would like to see the world changed. I attempt to write topical songs as a kind of therapy for the onslaught of the disasters in the world, politically,economically, socially etc.

Still, when it becomes an affectation, even when well-intentioned, it's subject to criticism.

The solution is to embrace traditional cultures worldwide and avoid the music imperialism of the popular music industry that puts performance up to sell.