Modern day troubadours

Subject: Modern day troubadours
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Jun 22 - 02:27 PM

Well, not troubadours in the classic sense, but roving entertainers all the same :-)

I have just had the great pleasure of taking my Grandsons to Butlins for a few days. While there, I enjoyed a 45 minute session of accoustic music by a lovely chap who's name I did not catch. Just him, his accoustic guitar and some clever amplification that made sure he could be heard but it never got in the way of the accoustic sound. He played all sorts of music from the 60s through to today and never stopped singing or smiling. The audience were singing along and dancing at times. He was contending with kids screaming and people chatting without faltering. I realised that this is what a real entertainer does. Truly professional and very uplifting.

I mused, possibly helped by a few pints of Guinness, that this is what entertainment was in pubs, bars, village halls and other community venues throughout the ages. Music that people enjoyed, could dance to, sing along to and relate to. When the troubadour or minstrel came to town, this is what he did. OK, he may have included a bit of news and gossip but, generally speaking, he was there to entertain people. It was not in a rarified classical concert atmosphere or in the hushed hallows of a traditional folk club, but raw and often raucous.

This guy did more for live music than anyone else I have seen in a lomg time. The comments from the audience that I heard were all positive and full of praise. I went and shook his hand at the end and told him how much I had enjoyed it.

Maybe nowt to do with folk music, but long live live music like this :-)

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 06 Jun 22 - 02:38 PM

Herself reads this, and comments, "Not all folk clubs are hushed hallows." Depending on the performer (guilty, m'lud), ours is quite definitely often raucous, as Herself will testify.

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: cnd
Date: 06 Jun 22 - 03:29 PM

The Station Inn in Nashville was one of the louder places I've ever heard a band play -- and that's even as the most hallowed bluegrass venue in Nashville!

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jun 22 - 05:59 PM

This guy did more for live music than anyone else I have seen in a lomg time.
I thought the same about Ed Sheeran on Sunday night.

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 07 Jun 22 - 05:28 AM

Very true. Poor choice of phrase on my part - Mea Culpa :-(

What I meant was, like the folk club I ran for many years, it is generally frowned upon to chat through someone's performance. Quite rightly of course. People have come and often paid to listen to the artist. In pubs and more public places that does not apply and, like the chap I saw neither performer nor audience are particularly precious about background noise. I was likening him to what it must have been like performing in public places over the ages and contrasting that with general folk clubs.

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 06:54 AM

I would think that many of the musicians who play or host sessions in our folk pubs (not clubs) are like that: other people can be chatting at the bar, not really listening, but every so often a particular song or tune will command the attention of everyone, and assembled company will fall quiet for a few minutes, only for the tide of noise to rise again when that singer/player has finished. The pub hosts generally do not use any amplification, just play acoustically. If it does get too raucous at the bar, the occasional STFU gets roared by the bar staff!

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 08:39 AM

I have only experienced one pub session in Scotland and that was at Sandy Bell's. I don't know if that is typical but, yes, it was pretty much as you say. Not sure if a session is the same as an entertainer though.

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: Anne Lister
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 10:07 AM

The 13th century story I've been researching for some time now starts with a request for people to listen properly, "with the heart and ears", rather than keep on chatting. People were clearly very aware of wanting a good level of attention, even in 1225. Troubadours, as I'm sure you know, were high status, highly skilled crafters of lyrics rather than strolling players, and anyone talking through their work would probably not be popular with the troubadour or the rest of the audience.
But in more general terms - there is a difference, which I suspect has been around for as long as there has been music, song, poetry and storytelling, between street/casual entertainment and a sit-down "concert", which is often paid for. This in no way devalues the performance skills of the street performers, of course. It's just a different set of skills.
There was an interesting programme on R4Extra a few weeks back about someone who went on a course to learn how to perform "street" magic. A whole set of different skills to performing on a stage or in a cabaret.

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: Stringsinger
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 02:14 PM

One of the casulties of today’s listening audience is the impatience to be entertained as a diversion. Today’s audiences generally have lost the ability to absorb quieter and more subtle entertainment. Flash rules.

The many-versed Anglicized folk ballad often called boring or tedious requires a different set of ears. Story telling in song is
an art that finds a somewhat limited audience. It’s like the taste of an apple that has been seasoned with chemicals designed to make the mouth water. Typical of fare, these days. Flash food rules.

The ideal situation whereby the audience member can actually hear what the performer is doing would be a comfortable seat,
an acoustic environment that is exceptional, a foregone knowledge of what was going to be presented, and a performer who cares what they have to say to an audience. The listener
has to slow down their responses to receive the performance.
The worst place to do this is when the audience is saturated
with alcohol and boisterous. In a pub in England or Ireland, a condition is met where the performer is given the respect of an ear despite the flow of alcohol. The content of the performer is sufficiently important enough to pay attention to it. This generally is not here in the States unless you pay exorbitant ticket prices for a classical music concert. Check the story of Joshua Bell who played in the subway of New York for an indifferent passers-by and commands a sizable amount for a pricey ticket at his concerts.

In schools that offer a jazz program will find students rapt at
a demonstration or workshop by a well-known seasoned jazz musician. My hope is that this can be met for folk musicians as well.

The modern day troubadour is to my mind like a newspaper
reflecting on the times we live in.

Subject: RE: Modern day troubadours
From: The Sandman
Date: 07 Jul 22 - 08:06 AM

Dave the gnome, did not run a folk club it was run by Gedd ToDd who still runs Swinton folk club
Dave Polshaw was not bookings secreterary, It was a long time ago but i remember him as the person who sat on the door and took money.