Subject: RE: Independent Article on Folk Awards 2012
From:
GUEST,GUEST, chillybean
Date: 05 Feb 12 - 08:27 AM
I've read this site loads, but have never posted on here before. I feel the need to now...
Closed-door policies define the folk scene from the ground up.
The live folk club circuit consists of audiences aged 50+, who just want to hear the same boring, cliche-ridden, derivative take on "folk music" that they have been going to clubs and listening to for years. They do not go to a folk club to be challenged or to have their minds opened; they go because it is what they have done their whole lives, and they don't wish to change. Heaven forbid some young upstart should come along and sing anything vaguely pop or jazz or world music -tinged, despite the fact that it is near impossible in this day and age to make music that is not a blend of many varied musical influences, unless you somehow actually live inside a folk club. The only young performers who ARE welcomed must not be showy, must not offend by being "stars" or appearing to get above their station. Any hint of the suggestion that they made an effort by getting dressed up for the occasion screams of X Factor style vanity. They must preferably sing in a thin, airy voice with no evidence of vocal training (women) or a baritone warble in the manner of a Sussex farmer crossed with Jon Boden (men). These young performers must not expect the folk club to be in any way enthusiastic or reverent until they have proven their worth, and therefore will be met by a silent room full of stern people (mostly men) with their arms folded and an expression that clearly says "go on then. impress us. we've seen it all before." The young performer must preferably not perform his or her own original material, but if she/he does deviate from traditional repertory, it must resemble a ballad about cow farming, ploughing, sailing, or other such traditional subject matter about which the performer will invariably know nothing about, what with them being a 22-year-old from Norwich. If the performer DOES sing a traditional chorus song, they must expect the audience to join in on every chorus but at a completely different speed (usually about half as slow) so that any sense of pace or energy they tried to put into the song is eclipsed by a dirge much more preferable to the geriatrics in the audience. The performer must be prepared for audience members to sing throughout the verses, too, although they will not know the words, will not sing in tune, and will not sing quietly. One idiot near the front of the stage will probably turn towards the window, close his eyes, and periodically whistle throughout the entire set.
Folk club promoters/bookers are well aware that this is their audience. And instead of booking young, original, energetic performers who might encourage some new audience members, they are too concerned in making sure that their veterans are kept happy. This means giving them the same old same old, week in, week out. They never make any more money, and they never increase their audience. They never spend any money on actually PROMOTING the gigs, with classy posters or adverts in magazines - they just advertise to their existing audience. In my experience, the vast majority don't seem to research new music or new acts, either. And it's scary how many folk clubs still don't have a proper website or even email. But this is representative of their generation, sadly.
This is how folk music is going to kill itself. Labels and agents see the opportunity to make money from young, bland acts who have pandered to the folk club circuit's narrow interpretation of "folk", by selling the music back to the same elderly audiences who championed their dated, affected, derivative sound in the first place. The agents make sure the acts are booked at the folk festivals that they also run - Sidmouth, Beverley, etc. The labels then make sure that their acts get played on Mike Harding and are nominated for the R2FAs. Suddenly, the awards are completely representative of an older generation's choices - a combination of long-standing favourite veterans of the scene, and the personality-free, inoffensive youngsters like Lucy Ward.
I got into folk music as a teenager after Kate Rusby and Eliza Carthy were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. They were skilled, dynamic, professional, original and impressive enough to stand alongside the best artists from across all other genres of British music. This is why even people who don't know folk know these artists' names. From then on until I began seeking out like-minded folkies and performing myself, my initiation to the scene came from watching the BBC4 coverage of the R2FAs, Celtic Connections, and Cambridge.
I hardly think that any youngster watching over the past three or four years will have been as excited by what they've seen as I was about The Waifs, Seth Lakeman and Cara Dillon. Last year, the best and most convincing performers by a mile were Chris Wood and Barbara Dickson - doesn't exactly give the impression that folk is a thriving young genre, does it? Yet at the same time, young audiences have been captivated by Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, and suchlike... and instead of embracing this, the folk club-goers turn their noses up and say "well they aren't folk as WE know it! And they never played the folk clubs did they...?" LIKE YOU WOULD HAVE BOOKED THEM?!
YOUNG performers trying to do something NEW with folk should be playing to an audience of YOUNG people who are receptive to it. Not tailoring their set to suit a bunch of old gits. It's not a good situation when the performer is the youngest person in the folk club by about 25 years... but it happens all the time.
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sj
