What Brought You to Trad?

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Don Firth
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:52 PM

Sometimes you just turn a corner and encounter something that takes your life in a whole new direction, one you never would have anticipated.

In my second year at the University of Washington, I was dating a girl who had become interested in folk music (one of her room mates at the women's dorms had turned her on to it). There was a fellow named Walt Robertson. . . .

Well, I've written it up before, and it pretty well tells how I got deeply interested in traditional folk music. Going to that informal concert was one of the best things that ever happened to me. After hearing Walt, like a medieval minstrel, hold that crowd spellbound for nearly three hours, I thought, "I want to do that!"

CLICKY.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Jim Lad
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:45 PM

It's my trad.

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Amos
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:43 PM

The lure and the trap for me was the authenticity I heard in the voices of people who sang--Frank Warner, Leadbelly, the people on collected recordings of collected hill songs and the recordings of chain gang songs sung by people actually swinging picks and hammers on a chain gang.

I was raised in a foofy sort of town where the basic forces of existence had been prettied up and disguised by Formica and antemacassars and painted in pastels by nervous unemployed housewives.

It freed my soul to hear honest voices singing honest songs.


A

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Jayto
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:36 PM

LOL sure it wasn't JK I get carried away some times. I have a strong passion for folk and get carried away. I was ridiculed hard by all my friends when I first started playing and getting nto the scene. It is funny now they call me wanting to know if I can get them backstage to different shows or if I can arrnge for them to meet someone they are fans of. It is funny to go from laughing stock to the guy that is getting his behind kissed to meet the people they first laughed at you playing for lol. Life is funny like that I guess lol. I saw you said you are new. Welcome to mudcat I hope youe experience on here is as good as mine. There are alot of talented and good people on here. So welcome aboard
cya
JT

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: gnu
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:32 PM

Family trad?

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:29 PM

Oops, my last post was not in response to Jayto there!

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:28 PM

I'm sure some of your interesting personal 'stories' warrant a teeny bit more padding? No need to be coy... ;-)

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Jayto
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:28 PM

I was totally hardcore for years. I was into extreme sports and traveled all around doing shows for my sponsor. I live punk and metal. My father used to listen to Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, and Doc Watson when I ws a kid and I loved country and bluegrass but never listened to it or was interested at all. When I heard it I dug it but on my own it was straight hardcore. One day my friend and I were hanging out drinking beer (yes we were only 16 but hey what can I say lol) and he broke out Steve Earle's Copperhead Road. I loved the Bagpipes (at that time I didn't realize it was a keyboard) and I loved the mandolin. It had an Appalchian sound to me then and I really dug it. I got to thinking about playing the guitar about that time and got my Dad's guitar and figured out how to play Copperhead Road. The that same time period there is a TV show that comes on the Kentucky educational television channel (KET for you that are familiar with the channel) that had Merle Travis playing Cannonball Rag for a theme song. I wanted to learn the song because I liked it but had no idea how to do it or what exactley Travis was doing. I was hanging out in a music store in Madisonville Ky (the closest town of any size to my hometown). This guy started playing the song and I about choked. I went to him and asked him to teach me the song. He laughed and said he didn't play it right and i need to find Eddie Pennington to teach me how to play it right. He also told me that the choke style thumbpicking originated right here where I am from ( I know all the debates about the origins so please don't argue with me about this. I am just telling what I was told at the time). I loved the idea tht it came form here and Merle Travis grew up the son of a coal miner just like me. I went home and asked my mom if she had ever heard of Eddie Pennington and she started laughing. She told me Eddie is my cousin that move away several yrs ago and I used to go to his house all the timw as a kid when he lived in my hometown. Mom called Eddie and he was thrilled I wanted to learn how to play Travis style and he took me under his wing and taught me. From there I covered myself in folk music, folklore whatever I could find. I started searching for old men around here that knew Mose Rager, Merle Travis, Ike Everly (the everly brothers dad and another pioneer of w.ky thumbpicking), Plucker English, Arnold Shultz, Kennedy Jones,.. Any of the old originals. I got back into Doc Watson who I had worshipped since a kid. My love for doc never faultered during all my punk yrs. Anyway that is how came to folk. I know this is a long post but like many I on here I am passionate about it. Folk music changed my life. It took a wild ass adrenaline junkie trouble maker and turned me totally around. It gave me a passion for knowledge, showed me a talent I had no idea I had, gave me a greater apprecition for the community I came from, and more thing than i can list. Through playing it I have provided for my famiy, met my wife and after my divorce my girlfriend, through those meetings I have 3 beautiful kids, met all my heros (the living ones of course), made lifetime friends, traveled everywhere,... etc. I cannot imagine my life without folk music I really can't It has shaped me and my life and my kids lives so much i cannot imagine life without it.

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:23 PM

like st Paul on the road to Damascus , I was struck by a blinding light on my way to East Cheam .

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:19 PM

Started with Sea Chanties down at the South Street Seaport 37 years ago. It was the "X Seaman's Institute". A group made up of Bernie Klay, Frank Woerner, Dan Aguilar, & John Townley.

From there I got into mainstream Trad with the likes of Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, & Tom Paxton.

SOL

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:19 PM

In my teens, during the 60's boom, folk was all around & I follow that & the blues, which took me towards prison worksongs, then shanties & pretty much from there it was open season on any type of folk from anywhere as long as I could understand the language it was being sung in.
It wasn't until my mid 20's that I started singing after being hog tied into singing, by Barbra Carns at her blues workshop. I mentioned that I knew something similar to a field holler that she was doing. Afterwards she pulled me aside afterwards & encouraged me to try my mouth at singing & from then on it was open season on singing too.

Barry

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Darowyn
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:19 PM

Started with political songs in the early 60's.

Went to a folk club to hear those.

Found they were singing this traditional stuff.

Never went back.

Just another angle- not entirely true though.
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: gnu
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:18 PM

Family heritage.

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Will Fly
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:13 PM

Learning guitar and then going to folk clubs to play it.

Subject: RE: What Brought You to Trad?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:10 PM

Started with political songs in the early 60's on CND marches.

Went to a folk club to hear those.

Found they were singing this traditional stuff.

Never looked back.

Subject: What Brought You to Traditional Folk Song?
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 05 Mar 09 - 02:05 PM

I'm sorry if this is a repeat of other similar threads, but I couldn't think of any appropriate terms to punch into the search.

As a newcomer to traditional song, I'm rather curious about how and what it was which inspired others here to immerse themselves in the art and craft of traditional music, and unaccompanied traditional song in particular.

As I've said elsewhere, I pretty much stumbled upon it by accident after buying a Pentangle album that I remembered from my childhood, and learning a couple of songs off there late last Autumn. At which point, it suddenly dawned on me like a light-bulb going on, that there was an older tradition of English song, from which their versions were sourced! "Ta da!" I hit the internet and found a Trad Song forum and some Child Ballads on YouTube.. before migrating here. Kinda short and sweet really!

Just curious about other peoples stories and what called them to sing and play this music...