Where is the modern folk scene?

Subject: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,redxl7
Date: 05 May 09 - 07:47 PM

I'm kind of an aspiring folk singer, and I was just wandering if there was any particular place where the main folk scene was, I didn't know if there was a place today that was the equivalent of Greenwich Village in the 1960's or not.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Peace
Date: 05 May 09 - 08:03 PM

"Where is the modern folk scene?"

They is scene in the salons, buses and bars all over the country. Jus' plane folks walkin' down the street while others walk up. That's my upinion anyway.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Ref
Date: 05 May 09 - 09:14 PM

Google "coffee house" or folk music" and whatever city you're in or near and see what you come up with.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Peace
Date: 05 May 09 - 09:18 PM

Dear redx17,

Sooner or later a poster (most likely from the UK where they give a rat's ass about stuff like that) will ask what you mean by folk. Do NOT respond. If you do you will never see your thread again, forever.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 06 May 09 - 02:43 AM

Yesteryear's folk mecca, Greenwich Village of NYC has now moved east by 400 or so miles to the US singer/songerwriten haven/hub of the country. Boston/Cambridge. The Boston/Cambridge area has held on since the 60's as a mini Greenwich Village East for many yrs & the folk scene here has been transformed from what was a hotbed of folk Trad moving towards contemporary folk & has now been way over shadowed by neo-folkies, accoustic & singer/songerwriters music. There's better than 200 folk venues within I'd guess an hour or so drive of the city. There's plenty of radio programs that deal with what ever you choose to call the genre or flavor of the month. There's house concerts coming out your ying & different kinds of sessions nightly coming out your yang. Depending on your flavor you could spend a couple months hitting a different session each nite & never hitting the same place twice. You could do the same thing trying to track down all the "open mic's" or "hoots" but that'd take you a yr. No telling how many of those there are within the same 1 hour or so drive of the city. The closest here in the states to Boston/Cambridge area that I know of would be the San Francisco/Berkley/Oakland or the Bay area. I'd say that they're a bit more folkie & a bit less singer/songwrtiter than Boston/Cambridge area though, choose your weapons carefully.

I don't think NYC has close to the choices offered by the the two I mentioned. Maybe some of our NYC catter's could pipe in & prove me wrong. It certainlly would be nice be know that there's a much stronger what ever folk community there. I do believe there's a small very solid die hard core of tradies there though.

Sorry, I can't say about overseas.

Just one man's opinion

Barry

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 03:50 AM

Depending on who you ask it's either everywhere, i.e. you can't here here the hard stuff hardly anywhere, or nowhere.
In defence of us Limeys, you guys do realise that apart from three people on Mudcat the rest of the UK don't give a rat's ass?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 06 May 09 - 04:03 AM

If you mean a Rat's ARSE,then please have the decency to say so,old chap . An ASS,as every civilised person knows,is a Donkey---Jesus tied his to a tree and walked into Jerusalem ; a feat beyond the capability of your average rodent.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: melodeonboy
Date: 06 May 09 - 04:13 AM

Quite!

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 04:34 AM

Two nations separated by uncommon pedantry.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 06 May 09 - 05:56 AM

Speaking as a Limey, I wasn't aware that anyone gave a rat's posteriors, in the UK.

I always thought we didn't give :

(a)a tinker's fart ;
(b) a monkey's toss ;
(c) two fucks.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 06 May 09 - 06:32 AM

Don't forget regional differences, Bryn. I mean, would you give a flying shit? I certainly wouldn't.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 06 May 09 - 06:45 AM

Ah yes, of course. Long live regional and dialectical differences.

Cue for a fresh thread ?

Thanks, Sminky.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:11 AM

I think you will find it at The Beech Inn, Beech Road, Chorlton, Manchester. Tonight at 8pm

Although some of us have been around for thousands of years we sing songs that are only a few hundred years old and some made up on the way to the Beech later today.

Cheer

L in C

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:15 AM

try your local football club.
alternatively, start your own folk club.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:15 AM

Hull ??

Or perhaps North Kent ?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:46 AM

From Hell, Hull and Halifax, Lord deliver us.

For those who don't know the last two in the old saying refer to the hulks on the Humber where prisoners were left to rot and the Halifax gibbet, a proto Guillotine for wrong do'ers that predated the French version by some way. You were allowed your freedom if you could remove yourself before the blade fell.
On such gruesome details did you know more people were executed by guillotine under the Nazis than during the French revolution?

I'm sure Hull is quite civilised these days, more so than my drinking trips in the late 70s when the Zoological Arms was still standing anyway.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:53 AM

but were you still standing?.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 06 May 09 - 08:01 AM

Where is the modern folk scene?

Alive and well in Suffolk, England!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 06 May 09 - 08:28 AM

The Zoological! It was like walking into someone's hallway (which it probably was once). Grand.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 08:44 AM

"Doing the Zooey" was a pub crawl along the road the ZA stood on. So numerous were the Inns thereon that one's manhood, if not liver, was intact henceforth if you had a pint in each. Many's the ambition that has fallen under the Zoological Arms's thrall.

A neighbour who was at college in Hull tells me the Zooey lives on but without the Zooey, as it were. Strange times. The raging sea must have seemed quite welcoming after a trawlerman's Zooey hangover.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 06 May 09 - 09:04 AM

The guy asked a simple question (maybe stupid to all you well blessed & endowed folkies) & not one helpful reply. This thread seriously went off track.
Pity

Barry

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 06 May 09 - 09:05 AM

Looks a bit different from the one I remember.
The website is great BTW.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 06 May 09 - 09:10 AM

"This thread seriously went off track."

Sorry, it's a virus this site has

L in C

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 09:17 AM

Off topic perhaps but no weapons, slander, mention of 1954 or similar hate-speak.
Forgive us our buspasses.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Mooh
Date: 06 May 09 - 09:32 AM

Find the closest folk festivals, volunteer, buy tickets, mingle, jam, purchase product, get on mailing lists. Google for open mics, folk clubs, coffee houses, house concerts. Search out older players who mentor younger players, younger players pushing the limits. Find the summer music camps, workshops, schools, and network. find instrument, performer, and artist websites and follow their links.

I find online communities by Googling by subject, then clicking on links.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Deckman
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:00 AM

There's a VERY ACTIVE scene in the Seattle, Washington (USA) area. Just google Pacific Northwest Folklore Society or the Seattle Folklore Society. Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:11 AM

If anyone ever wonders why the UK has fallen in stature, all they need to do is look at some of the posting on Mudcat. What miserable bunch of whiners. No one really givs a rats arse about your squabbles.

Getting back to the topic, I agree with Barry about the Boston scene. It has always been strong and continues to be. The folk scene in Greenwich Village is no where near as vibrant as once was, practically non-existent these days. There are still a few good enclaves here, but for aspiring folkies it is not the place to be.

Brooklyn is actually a growing folk community. Clubs like Jalopy and Barbes are presenting some exciting music with a good traditional base.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Banjiman
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:13 AM

Irony?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:17 AM

I concur with glueman

In defence of us Limeys, you guys do realise that apart from three people on Mudcat the rest of the UK don't give a rat's ARSE?

Besides which I'm listening to This at the moment. Ask someone to dance with you

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:21 AM

"In defence of us Limeys"

Since when have you guys started defending yourselves?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Banjiman
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:25 AM

"Since when have you guys started defending yourselves? "

Clearly a shock jock..... careful you'll be banned from entering the UK!

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:36 AM

1939-1941 Ron.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:40 AM

So it has been awhile?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Banjiman
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:44 AM

"If anyone ever wonders why the UK has fallen in stature, all they need to do is look at some of the posting on Mudcat. What miserable bunch of whiners. No one really givs a rats arse about your squabbles."

Go transatlantic for a better class of squabble. Well done Ron.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:50 AM

You folks are always bringing up "class". Can't you get over that system?

Comeon, lighten up. You folks always complain that we do not understand irony or satire, and then when someone pokes back at you the cry of "foul" is heard. Grow some stones here!   Who hijacked this thread that started with a simple question about a folk scene - a scene where the poster mentioned a U.S. city? Suddenly you post messages that no one in the UK gives a rats arse and then run squealing when someone answers back.

Well done indeed!

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:51 AM

Plus when Tony Blair volunteered to bring Brits back in boxes to help George Dubya out a hole. Plus when the UK was an aircraft carrier from US escapades, plus extraordinary renditions of English folk tunes by men in East Anglian pubs.

However you did give us the Simpsons, Cheers and Will and Grace so I won't talk about the irony curtain. We're about quits, n'est ce pas?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Banjiman
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:56 AM

OK Ron, I surrender. Hopefully that means you'll stop shooting?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:59 AM

No one was shooting, I thought we were having a heated discussion.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 06 May 09 - 11:59 AM

Only class I know of is the one I teach.

now..as to today's lesson

The Question: Where is the modern folk scene?

the answer from a few was:
In defence of us Limeys, you guys do realise that apart from three people on Mudcat the rest of the UK don't give a rat's ARSE?

Makes sense to me. others may have different opinions. So what IS so hard to understand?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:02 PM

He meant friendly frier, the chip shop in Wigan. We're in consonental europe now. With irritable vowel syndrome.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:04 PM

"Makes sense to me. others may have different opinions. So what IS so hard to understand? "

I'm not sure - it seems like you misunderstood the original posters question.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Banjiman
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:08 PM

"No one was shooting, I thought we were having a heated discussion."

Oh, apologies Ron, I was assuming that all Americans resorted to shooting to win a heated discussion (must be just your government then). You know, in the same way that you assume all limeys are whiners.

Irony?

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Jayto
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:10 PM

Man forget the "Folk Scene" I think alot of folk performers are really hurting themselves by tryin to find a "Folk Scene" and playing for people that are "Folkies". The key to the survival of the scene and the music is to get it out to people that may not normally listen to it. I prefer playing non-folk settings to be honest. People that haven't heard all the old songs are alot more responsive alot of times than people that have in my experience. Plus you light a spark that may send a few people at each performance out in search of the folk stuff which adds to it's survival. Sometimes it bombs with a crowd but other times it explodes. Even if only one or two people dig it at a gig that may be the one or two people that are the nwxt link in the chain. Folk is as musically relevant as any other music form out there even though it doesnt seem to be booking as good. Present it as a musical equal to all other forms and it will be accepted as such by the crowds and venues. Don't paint yourself in a corner with a novelty tag.
Just my opinion
cya
JT

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:12 PM

To quote (or misquote) the great D. L. Menard, "Wherever you're at, there you are!"

Ross

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:17 PM

I'm with Jayto, whatever country we're talking.
Besides I can't hate somewhere that gave us Leadbelly, Michael Hurley and Clarence Ashley. All ending in Y, hmmm? There's a conspiracy there to keep US TV going for years.
I hope you can find it in yourself to love The Spicegirls and Benny Hill.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:19 PM

"You know, in the same way that you assume all limeys are whiners."

I never said that.   Read carefully.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:24 PM

I don't think that in the uk there is a folk scene with a specific geographical location.
There are places that you can go and hear music played live and unamplified at regular intervals.
There are proper folk clubs around I believe.
I think the scene is where the music happens to be being played or perhaps away down south in the filo fax of the BEEB.
Of course you should really define what you mean by..........

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Jayto
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:29 PM

Who was that said "Don't find the scene be the scene." I remember reading it but I can't remember who it was.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: Rifleman (inactive)
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:29 PM

*sigh* one more time
the question was: Where is the modern folk scene?

some people (including me) came right out and said that we really don't care (to be polite about it). I'll further add to that. Some people tend to confuse acoustic (or electric)driven singer/songwriters with folk musicians

Of course then you would have to define what you mean by.......... and I'm definitely not going there.

I see no confusion.

Subject: RE: Where is the modern folk scene?
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 06 May 09 - 12:34 PM

Here's a thing. Take the number 1954. Add 1 and 9 to get 10. Add 5 and 4 you get 9. Add the 10 and the 9 = 19. Add the 1 and the 9 to get 10. Add 1 and 0, you get 1.

Now tell me that isn't a Illuminati, zionist, middle-easty, world banking inspired plot with a grassy knoll topping? The truth, if not folk music, is out there....


...how much evidence do you need? I say we have a war. Shares in Lockheed and Northrop anyone?