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01 Feb 05 - 08:55 AM (#1395534) Subject: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen I started a conversation with Jim Tailor on another thread and thought it was worth one of it's own. My comment was that when I first became involved with folk music in the late 50's and early 60's, one of the things that attracted me to it was how openly people were welcomed. Or at least, that was my perception. I've always thought of the folk community as welcoming, without a lot of prejudice (think broader than racial) or judgmentalism. Looking back at the folk community in the early 60's in Greenwich Village, I was welcomed into the circle with no consideration of whether or not I was a Christian. I don't even remember ever discussing religion when I spent so many nights hanging out in coffee houses. I was also "straight" in a mostly "bent" community. I wasn't in to drugs as quite a few people were. That wasn't a barrier. I never felt that people thought there was something wrong with me, and I didn't reject anyone because they used drugs. It was pretty much a "live and let live" community. It was the music that brought us together. Jim sees the folk community bound together by protest music, and that's his experience. There certainly were groups within the folk community that were more left-leaning in their philosophy, but up until Dylan and company, protest songs were only a small part of the music sung in coffee houses. Even at the peak of protest music when I was writing anti-war songs and singing at rallies, the bulk of the songs being sung in coffee houses were still a mix of traditional music, and new songs on many subjects in addition to protest. For every Masters Of War, there were five Puff The Magic Dragons, or Tom Dooleys. I made a lot of friends in those days, some of which I still keep in touch with. I was as comfortable with Tom Paxton as I was with Dave Van Ronk, and they were great friends, even though their ideologies were very different. When I've gone down to Washington, D.C. and sung with friends from FSGW, I still find that same warm acceptance. We don't sit around and take potshots at each other about religion or politics, and I feel as welcome there as I did when I walked into the Gaslight Cafe on McDougal Street in the Village, back in 1960. A total stranger, welcomed in. And then, I look at Mudcat. And I wonder, has the folk community changed that much, or is Mudcat just a cyber-distortion? In the BS threads, politics and religion make up a major portion of the topics and the threads are filled with insults and attacks. There doesn't seem to be much room for differences of opinion in here. Or at least, not much of that "live and let live" attitude, where people find a common bond in the music. I think it's different with our British friends, too. They don't seem as pre-occupied with politics (Fer shure.) I wonder.. is all this animosity that is interchanged in here because this is a cyber community? Or has the folk music community atrophied that much? I know so many Catters who say they don't stop in here as much any more because they are sick of all the in-fighting. How can a group like the Washington Folk Song Society, or at any folk festival be so warm and inviting, and yet Mudcat have such a hard edge to it? I'd really like to hear your perspective on this. Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 08:59 AM (#1395538) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: manitas_at_work Mudcat is just an extension of Usenet which is often the equivalent of the graffitti in a toilet cubicle. It could be a lot worse. |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:10 AM (#1395548) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: The DeanMeister I'm glad you kept us out of this one, Jerry. I like to sing a song, play a guitar. I don't do religion or politics. Over here we like our music. Oh, and an occasional bit of eccentric banter. I personally don't read the endless threads about U.S. politics, religious preferences, or civil rights. My friends are are nice bunch of people who don't seek to impress their intellectualism on others, though some of them are by far the most intelligent people on this forum. Overall, this forum has become a place where "The Greatest Country On Earth" seems to make itself less inviting every day. Long live Yorkshire, in my opinion. Discuss. Pete. |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:15 AM (#1395554) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen I think that you're right, Pete. For whatever reason, it seems like the Brits can just get together and have a good time and in general, don't get into such heated discussions in here. At least on politics. But, some of the angriest, most outspoken people on religion are from over your way. And, they may well have a right to be angry. That said, it's hard for me to imagine my friends Leadfingers, ColK, Sussex Carole, C-flat, Bert and the rest getting sucked into the nastier threads here. And for those I've met, they're even more enjoyable in person.. Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:20 AM (#1395558) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jim Tailor I think this is about two different things: "The folk community" -- what I was addressing in the discussion to which Jerry refers is that much of folk has always been (it's most significant elelmetn for the past 50 years) protest/labor, and as such has to have a "wall to lean against". It is naturally bent toward demonizing "the man", "the masters of war". As such, it is prejudicial by nature, and closed by shared ideal. But "The Mudcat Community" -- brilliant analyst of human nature that I am, I offer... It seems that there are two drives that must be satisfactorily....er...satisfied in order for us humans to be relatively content. Security Significance If we feel either is threatened, we are likely to act. If we cannot regain our contentment by culturally acceptable means, we are most likely to try too recapture significance and security by abnormal/insane behavior... Addictions Eating disorders Violence Suicide This behavior is only exacerbated by larger numbers of other humans who we (perhaps mistakenly, perhaps truly) see as threats to our significance or security -- take the mudcat for example..... When it was a smaller, less populace place (as was the whole internet bulletin board atmosphere/community), there was much less incivility. But soon it grew, and those who were once secure in their role here as forum humorist, or folk trivia maven, or obscure lyrics master, or instrumental master, were rapidly becoming much smaller fish in a much larger pond. Most accepted their roles being supplanted (with the great influx of new "experts") with the realistic view that understood, in perspective, how relatively insignificant participation on an internet forum is. They still chose to participate where they could -- or they left to live their already significance-satisfied lives. But at the same time, the internet started to become a haven for those who had difficulty with significance/security issues in the real world. Suddenly, it seemed, they had a place to come and meet the minimum daily requirement for human fellowship (perhaps for the first time in their lives). Finally a place to come where you could be judged on the (more egalitarian) basis of what you knew, and how well you could express it -- NOT (finally) on what you looked like. Fat, bald, ugly, flatulent people with hair in all the wrong places had equal access to this world of communication. But the increased traffic caused these ill-equipped (and even the not so ill-equiped) to have to deal with the significance/security issues in their lives -- and these people had already failed in the 3-D world. Hence, they had just closed another of the increasingly few avenues open to them for contentment. Thus, the internet equivalent of violence is born -- Trolling and Flaming. And thus, it is almost impossible to post a topic on this forum and not be showered with negative, contrarian responses. In order to feel more significant, one's posts must stand out from the rest. One can achieve this by: 1. Writing in a style superlative (like PeterT, Amos, JenEllen) 2. Truly being expert (like Frankham, Fielding, Mooh, Deckman,) 3. Having a reputation that exceeds the forum -- but is tied to its reason for existance (like Frankham, kytrad, Art Thieme,) 4. Being truly witty (like Catspaw or bee-dubya-ell) 5 Being positive, warm, caring posters (like mudlark, Mary from KY, Mark Clark) The above are all positive ways to "be noticed" on a crowded forum street -- but they are either much harder, or require talent not achieved by most. So most people here choose to stand out the easy way -- go negative. -- works (almost) every time. |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:21 AM (#1395559) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jim Tailor damn code. |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:22 AM (#1395560) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Barbara Shaw It's not just here in this cyber-community, unfortunately. I recently became embroiled in a terrible firestorm which I thought was about folk music but which others thought was about religion. My instinct is to stay and attempt to build some understanding, but I have to confess it's wearing me down, and I'm greatly troubled by the name-calling and the attitudes that have been exposed. Having lived through the 60's when we thought (perhaps erroneously) that the world was slowly becoming a better place, I'm now feeling that the world is getting a little less tolerant and less open-minded and more flammable every day. Communication, real communication with an open mind, is growing less commonplace as we get more communication tools with which to work. My personal folk community has certainly changed. |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:37 AM (#1395588) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Amos Jerry: The Mudcat was much different only a short time ago. The tenor of its dialogues has been dragged downward by a small handful of specialists whose primary art is upsetting others. Gargoyle was one. Everyone knows who the others have been. There's another factor that has dragged the tone down, a sort of dedicated irrelvance, a campaign for non-communication, sometimes disguised as a different sense of humor but actually designed to disperse and fracture communications. It uses banality and disassociated fragments as ammunition against ordinary dialogue. A third factor is the macrocosm in the United States, which is itself going through quite a divisive period; we have been significantly jerked around by terrorists, Republicans, PR jocks, spinmasters, and criminal financiers and executives and managers in almost every sphere of life, to the point where just ordinary living seems twice as hard as it needs to be. So this is a passage, I guess, and what I greatly appreciate is the Oil on Troubled Waters feeling that you and those like you bring to the table here. It makes a difference. But even so, I wish Spaw would post more. A |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:52 AM (#1395600) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: just john > A third factor is the macrocosm in the United States ... Shouldn't the divisiveness you mention be something that folk songwriters address? (Yeah, this is branching out somewhat from the thread topic, but if we heal the society, the Mudcat will surely follow.) Right now, I'm mostly in a position of a-pox-on-both-your-houses regarding both major parties, which is great for making punchlines, but no so much so for making a liveable world. So isn't reconciliation part of the folk music community's job? |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:59 AM (#1395606) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen I would wish that reconciliation is the folk community's job, but I see more divisiveness in here than I do in personal contacts with the folk community (which I still find warm and welcoming.) The people who get their kicks by disrupting any attempt at conversation in here with obscenities and attacks would not be welcome, or would have to function radically different in a real-life community. Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:04 AM (#1395610) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: just john To be fair, some of the fun things about this online place also wouldn't be welcome face-to-face. F'rinstance: A months-long free-association thread of song lyrics. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:07 AM (#1395612) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: WFDU - Ron Olesko I think the question you pose does not have a yes or no answer. The folk community that you speak of Jerry helped create change. I truly believe that the groundwork that was started in those coffehouses several decades ago contributed to an open communication that has become part of our society. The media no longer keeps "secrets", in fact it is always looking for dirt. Whereas in the early 1960's a presidential affair may have been kept secret, it would be out in the open today. People talk about issues. People argue. I am sure there were discussions before these events occured, but I do believe that people are more open to share their feelings about issues. In addition, we have forums that were created by the internet. Some may call this "graffiti in a toilet", but it is what it is. I find it not just on Mudcat, but in all facets of life. I'm not happy with the rudeness that some people show online. Often it clouds what could be a very interesting counterpoint. None of us will change that. We need to develop thicker skins, not take things personally, and continue to share our opinions. We also need to be realize that if we are going to post an opinion, someone will probably have a different one. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:15 AM (#1395620) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: artbrooks Jerry, I certainly see your point, but as Amos said earlier and others (including myself) have said in other discussions, there is a very small number of people here...probably ten or less...who see their place in life as sewing the seeds of anger and hate. There are many other regular posters, above the line and below, who do not participate in this at all, and others who try their best to keep things calm. Mudcat, on the whole, actually benefits from a variety of different opinions, and the vast majority (based upon a totally unscientific nonsurvey) stays above the BS line and limits their participation to music...because that's our real reason for being here. So, has the folk community changed? Well, yeah...I have a lot less hair than I had in the mid-60s...or perhaps that's hair in fewer places...and we have all matured and our opinions have changed with the times. But the community is still alive and kicking, and it is changing more all the time to fit into the "virtual world". Hang in there, buddy. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:23 AM (#1395624) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Differences of opinion are fine, Ron. That's why I start threads. I really am interested in seeing how other Catters perceive issues. I'll have to think about whether the media is less likely to keep "secrets" these days. I think that on the issues that count, the media is far less open and fair-minded than it was in the 60's. All of this is perception of course, and I may be way off. Maybe it's just that our country seems much more fractured now than it was. Remember how united our country was during the Vietnam War? :-) The more generalizations I try to make the dumber I get. The media does publish more of the private lives of politicians and public figures now than they did, I think. That still doesn't give me any insight into whether the folk community has changed noticeably, or it's just the characteristic of the internet that makes conversations so fractious. Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:37 AM (#1395640) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: The DeanMeister Ok, now I'm curious. Define "Folk Community"? Personally I thought we were a bunch of people who shared a common interest in traditional music. It's not a religion, guys. I believe you're talking about society as a whole, and yes, it's constantly changing. Does that warrant another 150 post thread of drivel? Nope. I'll just grab my guitar on the way out.... |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:38 AM (#1395642) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: just john Thinking about the online thing a bit more ... It might not quite count as rudeness, but one thing that's a feature of the Mudcat's non-BS messages is that nobody seems to have come up with a non-abrasive way of conveying the message, "That's been asked here a million times before!" And you can't blame that on politics. Jerry Rasmussen: Finding out whether the folk commuity has changed over the years -- and assuming it has, HOW it has -- sounds like a dandy project for some writer or film maker to tackle. Me, I'm such a different person from when I heard my first Frank Warner (I was three years old in '59) that I have no objectivity. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:42 AM (#1395646) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: just john The DeanMeister: You never went through the swearing-in? Okay, place your left hand on your guitar and raise your right hand: We are the Folk Song Army. Everyone of us cares. We all hate poverty, war, and injustice, Unlike the rest of you squares. There are innocuous folk songs. Yeah, but we regard 'em with scorn. The folks who sing 'em have no social conscience. Why they don't even care if Jimmy Crack Corn. ... (by Tom Lehrer) |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:42 AM (#1395647) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen J.J. Who does have any objectivity? Not me.. Jerry Just driveling along.. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:45 AM (#1395649) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Jerry, I don't think our country was "united" during the Vietnam War. This is a country that elected Nixon president during the height of the protests. Not sure if that would qualify as "united". To answer your question, I do think everything has and SHOULD change. Peoples actions are defined by the times they lived in. I'm sure someone who lived in Victorian times was shocked at the way people conducted theselves during the Jazz age. Communities have to change to survive, and the folk community is no different. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:51 AM (#1395653) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Guess you didn't notice the little smiley icon I put after my comment about how united the country was during the Vietnam War, Ron. :-) There have been very few times in the history of this country where we were more divided than we were during the Vietnam War... probably not since the Civil War. I do feel that there is a lot more anxiety in the world than there was even five years ago. Maybe that is reflected in changes I see happening in Mudcat. I don't have any answers. Just questions... Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 11:04 AM (#1395667) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: McGrath of Harlow I rather think when he wrote "united" there Jerry was consciusly using the ironic mode, Ron. As for Jerry's speculation whether its change in the way peopple are, or the medium we're using, I'm pretty certain the major factor is the medium, which allows people who are that way inclined to trail their coat around without any danger, in a way they wouldn't have the nerve to do in real life. But there is maybe one other factor - which also reflects the medium. Looking from over here it seems that in the big world there has been an informal understanding in the States over the years that there are two social contexts in which the same kind of music belongs; there is "country", which has right wing-associations, and there is "folk" which has left-wing associations. It's essentially the same music, or at least there is an enormous overlap (leaving aside the kind of "country" that is an embarrassment to everyone)- but the enthusiasts keep apart, so there aren't fights about politics anyway. But here on the Mudcat we bring together people from both worlds, and sometimes they fight like scalded cats. |
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01 Feb 05 - 11:06 AM (#1395670) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Uncle_DaveO I think we have to consider the UP and the DOWN "communities separately. Frankly, I don't see very much rancor and divisiveness "upstairs", but "downstairs", BOY! Even though there is obviously an overlap of personnel in the two sections, I think the two are two different balls of wax. I'm not at all sure that "downstairs" qualifies as "folk community", even though many of the participants appear upstairs, where "folk" is the order of the day. Frankly, I rather doubt that most of that small troll/obstructionist/rabblerouser group even looks in upstairs. Also, putting aside the silly/stupid threads (which are sometimes fun, I'll grant you) and the purely meanspirited ones, and even the acceptable threads which get "captured" by the trolls, there are occasional thoughtful threads downstairs, which I for one enjoy hugely. In sum, I think the opening post was asking a thoughtful question about the wrong or maybe nonexistent problem, as regards Mudcat. Dave Oesterreich |
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01 Feb 05 - 11:13 AM (#1395679) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Alonzo M. Zilch (inactive) Jerry, I think the flaw in your opening question is trying to equate an Internet forum like Mudcat with the "folk community" that we knew decades ago. |
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01 Feb 05 - 11:54 AM (#1395728) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: chris nightbird childs A debatable online Folk forum is better than a dead live scene, in reality... |
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01 Feb 05 - 12:48 PM (#1395796) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: McGrath of Harlow I don't think the blame for bad temper and bad manners rests on the topics discussed, but on a minority who think that discussions have to be conducted in a bad-tempered and ill-mannered way. And that attitude does from time to time show itself in the music threads. |
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01 Feb 05 - 01:39 PM (#1395842) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Wesley S There is something about being alone in your room with just your computer that makes people act out in the same way that people develop road rage in their cars. We are seperated from other human beings and that enables us do and say things that none of us would ever consider if we were face to face. And I think that would be true of even some of the worst of us here. And lets face it. A cyber community like the Mudcat will often attract people that are not out living a real life. And the only way they can insure that they attract attention to themselves is to act out like a two year old. Better bad attention than no attention at all. I think it would be a mistake to compare the Mudcat to the real world folk community. |
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01 Feb 05 - 02:02 PM (#1395874) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST Jerry, I think it's just that our national community has changed and Mudcat reflects it. Like it or not, the great and mighty tolerance of classical liberalism has morphed into narrow political correctness and insistence on classification of people into aggrieved, entitled, and protected classes. The high ground of well-meaning conservatism has also been captured, now it is just Malthusian celebration of wealth and the corporation above the individual and angry rejection of liberal social engineering. People for some reason keep migrating into one of these two might-as-well-be-armed camps. And the folkies preach to their own choir of activists, bolder and crankier since no one else is listening. And the bluegrassers keep convincing themselves that everything from around here must be good and everything foreign must be bad, and them lefties must be pagans. |
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01 Feb 05 - 02:14 PM (#1395887) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Don(Wyziwyg)T All of us, at times, get responses that seem insulting, or unfair, and, as a relatively new member, having had a few myself, I have been finding out something quite unexpected. Gentle, civilised replies don't tend to make me examine my own hard held opinions very closely, but the occasional smack in the mouth (metaphorically) has knocked some of the rough edges off, and altered some of my perceptions of issues. Not an entirely bad thing on the whole. I feel that, if I can't take the odd knock, I shouldn't have joined. Flamers and trolls I can live without, but I really don't mind the occasioal well thought out put down at all. Perhaps it ain't as bad here as you think? Don T. |
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01 Feb 05 - 03:28 PM (#1395973) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen If I thought it was real bad here, I wouldn't be here. I enjoy Mudcat 95% of the time, and the trolls, flamers and comically mean-spirited don't really get to me. There have been occasions when a good thread has been irreparably h-jacked, but even that is rare. This is not about complaining... just asking people their thoughts on how the folk community has changed over the years... or has it? As I said early on, walking in to a room of D.C.ers feels just like it did walking into a coffee house in 1962. On that level, I don't see any change at all... other than the obvious one that in the 60's, most of the folkies were young, and now most of them are that much older. But, as far as a "real-life" experience, I personally don't see any sea-change in the folk community. There are two ways to approach creating a thread. One would be: Mudcat sucks, everyone in here bitches constantly and no one makes the smallest attempt to communicate in words of more than four letters. That works just fine, as many threads start that way.. a very strong statement that everyone can attack or defend, and the person who started the thread usually ends up modifying as the discussion goes along, insisting that they didn't mean it the way people are taking it. I really don't have a problem with that. It's a sure-fire way to get a lively discussion going. I prefer asking people what they think about something. I'd prefer to get people to talk about how they perceive something, rather than respond by attacking the premise for the thread. Both ways work, and I've done it both ways. And then, the thread goes wherever it goes. That suits me fine, too. Most threads have a finite life, and start to wander and wobble after everyone has contributed their opinions. I guess that in a more social setting, like a folk club or a living room or festival, we get down to business and play music and socialize more casually. Two entirely different settings, with very different levels of communication. Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 04:44 PM (#1396046) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: KathWestra As one who recently moved from D.C., I'm delighted that Jerry has had such a positive experience with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, a group whose board I served on for close to 20 years. I think many Mudcatters who have attended the FSGW Getaway in October have experienced the same warmth and cameraderie and welcome that Jerry praises so highly--and that's really good! But, as someone who has been intimately involved in FSGW from the inside, I would say that some things have changed drastically over those years, and some have not. I think the willingness to welcome and support newcomers--especially people who are as interested, interesting, talented, and fun as Jerry and our Mudcat Getaway attendees--has remained a constant over the years in FSGW. It makes me VERY happy to hear Jerry speak so positively of the welcome he's received. What has changed drastically over the years is the context in which FSGW operates. When FSGW was created in 1964, and when I got involved in 1976, it was pretty much the only folk music organization in town, and put on the only reliable series of traditional music concerts in the D.C. area (and lectures and films too--we even used to run scholarly book reviews in our newsletter!). Now, FSGW is just one of many dozens of organizers of folk events in D.C. There are huge numbers of venues--bars, coffeehouses, open mics, and formal concerts at places ranging from small church halls to the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap. As an organization, we do not have the same feeling of community, because we are far from unique. That's a good thing for the music overall, but the large number of events and promoting organizations has, I think, diluted the strong sense of shared experience of FSGW's early days. When I first came to D.C. in 1976, FSGW had much more regular "community" singing than it does now. Yes, it had the "Open Sing," which still goes on every first Friday of the month, but it also had many more open music parties, and the group singing was consistently incredibly good (thanks in no small part to some of the hard-core leaders of the FSGW in those days: Andy Wallace, Helen Schneyer, Jonathan Eberhart, Joe Hickerson, Bruce & Debby Hutton, Craig Johnson, Wally Macnow....the list goes on). Everybody knew the same chorus songs (from memory, not from a book), and we raised the rafters belting them out. Part of that was due to the FSGW being fairly new, and having been started by a close-knit group of friends who shared a common interest. The incredible singing still happens at the Getaway every October, but not so often at other times of the year. Part of that is that FSGW now has about 2,500 members. We don't all know each other. Some of us are dancers, and some singers, and some storytellers, and who "we" are depends on who you ask. Many members just join to get the awesomely useful FSGW newsletter, which has 24-28 pages every month packed with information on every folk-related event we know about--not just those sponsored by FSGW. If you asked all 2,500 members of FSGW what "folk community" meant, I'd wager they would all give different answers, and have slightly different perspectives on whether things have changed. There are some who adhere to strict "purist snob" definitions of folk music (and even own a tongue-in-cheek t-shirt proclaiming their allegiance), and there are those who believe it's all about protest, and others who believe it's all about singer-songwriters, and, and, and.... The one thing that has NOT changed is that there's still room at the table for them all--and we seem to do a fairly successful job of hiding any of the small-minded backbiting and bickering that inevitably arises in groups of humans from VIP visitors like Jerry so that they'll write nice things about us on Mudcat ;^) Kathy (long-winded, sorry). Interesting thread, Jerry! |
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01 Feb 05 - 04:47 PM (#1396048) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Stewart Most of us folkies in the Seattle area seem to get along quite nicely and civil - those at the open mic, song circle, and our Sunday Irish Session at least. But then we are mostly of the same political persuasion. Seattle is, after all, on the left coast, both geographically and politically. Perhaps it is the anonymity of the internet that brings about unfriendly and uncivil behaviour. It's much better to get together face-to-face in person. Cheers, S. in Seattle |
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01 Feb 05 - 05:13 PM (#1396081) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Hi all, I'm cross-posting this here from the "Lamorna" thread... Thanks Snuffy for the Pomona post. Must say I've learned to tread carefully in traditional-music turf wars. Thus when I suggested the song "Lamorna" on 31 January I was careful to say it was of English music hall origin. I was then, and am now, aware of everything that's been said on the forum concerning its origin, pretty definitively, in the Manchester music hall, with Pomona Gardens, and a possible London stage career as well. In short, I was aware that "Lamorna" did not originate in Cornwall, and maybe should have been a little more expansive on the point. But I didn't think I needed to; it had all been said already. But this isn't the first time I've run into "song rage" over whom this song in particular "belongs to." So I want to ask what the problem is. Is there a Manchester contingent feeling cheated of its song? I doubt it. Nobody seems to argue over competing variants of other songs going native in other places...say, Streets of Laredo being more or less valid than "The Bad Girl." Would anybody much mind if a version turned up called "Streets of Nogales," or attempt to argue that it has "bugger all" to do with either? I guess this goes to the heart of what the folk process is about... Help, help, I hope we're not about to slap a lid on creative change, because folks, when you do that, you just left the world of traditional song. Must say I was surprised by the comeback, and hope we can be a touch more gentle with each other. But maybe that's me. Confrontation suits some folks' style, but I for one would rather endlessly repeat for the benefit of those who don't know than slam a newcomer making a contribution however uninformed. Pomona? Lamorna? I happen to sing the less original Lamorna version because, all honors to Manchester and Pomona, I like Lamorna better. I don't really think I need a better reason, where two competing versions, each equally traditional, are available. The DT and Forum were built on the spirit of inquiry and gently helpful interchange...and for the most part that still happens. Those of you interested in the topic may want to sample the Jerry Rasmussen-originated (hi Jerry) "Has the Folk Community Changed" thread. Bob Bob |
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01 Feb 05 - 06:47 PM (#1396199) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Ned Ludd Has the folk community changed.... I've been around a while, seen the money making days when the succesful ones had 'sold out' and now when the successful ones 'make a livin' so I think it's changed...had ups and downs. I'm feeling positive at the moment- meeting new people who are interested in what I sing. As for mudcat, there are a lot of people here I respect, and idiots who don't keep Quiet, but if you're careful you can sort them out. The net is nice and anonymous and you can't get at the stirrers to sort them out that's all. |
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01 Feb 05 - 07:58 PM (#1396294) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Barbara Shaw My only experience with the folk scene in the late 60's was once, when some friends dragged me, the weekend-hippie-rock'n-roll type to a coffeehouse. It was a storefront in downtown Hartford, CT and there were 3 performers, all women, each playing guitar. I remember hearing "Suzanne." The room was dimly lit and had wooden folding chairs and about 20 people in the audience. There were health-food refreshments, juice and herb tea and homemade baked goods. The hairy-legged females in the audience were mostly knitting. The patter on stage was about how much the singer loved her Gibson or Martin, and then they would sing. Afterwards, one friend tried to teach me a finger-picking pattern, I who had never held a guitar, and sang his own version of "Codeine." Some things haven't changed much at all, except that now I have my own Martin and play bluegrass with a flat pick. |
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01 Feb 05 - 08:05 PM (#1396308) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: jaze Thanks, KathWestra, I've been wondering for a long time and meaning to ask exactly what FSGW was! |
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01 Feb 05 - 08:21 PM (#1396323) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Man... 0ld (but still youthful) friends appearing out of the cyber-woodwork. Hi, Bob ... lost track of you when some of the Catters were knee high to a duck. What a treat just to see your name, let alone read your voice. And Kathy: Any time you get a bunch of humans together, you have conflicts. Happens in a church, a rodeo, a space shuttle (I bet)... just human nature. I've seen FSGW four times over a span of twenty years... twenty years ago (roughly) when my 29 year old son was eight or nine years old and I did a concert, A couple of years after that when I came down and spent a weekend with Ed Trickett and went to the folk festival, and then three years ago with the Gospel Messengers, and a couple of years ago again on my own. Each time was very different, but there was one constant. I felt right at home, every time. Jerry |
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01 Feb 05 - 09:05 PM (#1396372) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: robinia Is some of this maybe a function of how things come out in print, rather than face to face? I must confess that (as one of the "Lamorna" posters) I wasn't even aware that I was involved in any sort of "turf war" -- but I was interested in how Cornwall latched on the song, and the forum did help... thanks all. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:05 PM (#1396426) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,Art Thieme Jerry, You bet your sweet bippy it has changed!! As for Mudcat as compared to the old days: You're right on about how civil and great it was then!!!-------------- Mudcat, though, can (for some) be like speeding past in the safety of you car---so some opt to give the finger to people from that safe place. It's not pretty. In fact it's quite ugly. But that's IT--in a nutshell !! Art |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:15 PM (#1396434) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Once Famous Folkies today are no where like they once were. The so-called liberals are far different. So why pine about it? The world has changed. |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:35 PM (#1396459) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Auggie Art- A very mild mannered (tho perhaps not well mannered)friend of mine moved from the cozy confines of northern Wisconsin to Oak Park (Chicago). On his first day driving down the Eisenhower into the city to work he was taken aback at the aggressive driving style of Chicago's rush hour and did indeed flip the bird to a fellow motorist from what he thought was the safety of his car. He was quickly introduced to reality of life in the city when traffic on the expressway came to a dead stop 10 blocks later and the guy he'd flipped off got out of his car and proceeded to smash both my friends headlights, his outside mirrors and break off both wiper blades in return. I was never big enough nor strong enough to do that in the real world, but I must confess there are times here at Mudcat when I am sorely tempted to react in a similar fashion to those who flick the Cyber-Bird to the undeserving. Sorry folks,for the thread drift |
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01 Feb 05 - 10:39 PM (#1396465) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Gypsy I think that this is a comment on society in general, rather than folkies in particular. As we emphasize ME more, and more, and forget the big picture, we will degenerate. Entropy is the natural order of things. On the other hand, it doesn't mean i have to like it! |
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01 Feb 05 - 11:42 PM (#1396504) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: number 6 I question if the folk community was so "open" and accepting back in the 60's. Look what happened to Bob Dylan when he played electric at Forest Hills and Newport in '65 for example. He was fervently jeered,rejected and scorned by the folk community. That certainly wasn't a display of openenss. It was total disrespect to one of the greatest folk artists of that era. A rejection of something new, or were they afraid of something new. The instruments were different, but the music and message was the same. sIx |
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01 Feb 05 - 11:56 PM (#1396520) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Kaleea Make Music, not war. Play Musical instruments, not politics. Share Music and make friends. Give a kid a Musical instrument, not a gun. |
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02 Feb 05 - 12:12 AM (#1396532) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Ferrara Jerry, In the 60's you were involved in "the" folk community, from your perspective. Then and now, folk music has/had many faces and aspects and there are/were many sorts of folk communities. In the 60's I had no experience of "the" folk community; I just natcherly loved folk music, had grown up with it, listened to it and sang it when I found it. At my college, I found an odd kind of "folk community" -- get this -- at the Sigma Nu frat house. It was a couple of decades later when I realized the reason I loved their parties: they started singing about the time they started their second drink. I loved to sing and had no purist snob tendencies whatever. I spent a lot of time there. Most of the music was basically "folk," but you didn't hear protest songs: it was, "Have Some Madeira, M'Dear," "The Winnipeg Whore," "The Sloop John B," etc etc etc. Now I've found a very different folk community to enjoy, mostly people from FSGW and their far flung network of friends. And one can participate in the activities of many other, overlapping folk communities just here in the D.C. area. Some of them have little or nothing to do with FSGW, for example the Ships Company who run the Royal Mile Pub shantey sing. The common bond is a type of music, not protest or politics or whatever. There are other regional groups: e.g. people involved in the rural music tradition, f'r instance the people who gather at the Galax Old Time Fiddlers' convention. And the ethnic folk communities ... many more. There are inclusive and exclusive subgroups in most of these groups. And, there are arguments and differences and jealousies and divisiveness from time to time, in every group of which I have any knowledge. Some musicians in some communities won't even look at you if you don't meet their musical standards. (When I wrote that I was thinking of certain regional old time musicians I know of. It has Nothing to do with the fact that my husband wore a "Purist Snob" T shirt for years.) But, all of these communities have one thing in common, that they get together for music. The music is the bond. People at Galax don't ask you about your politics or religion. They listen and hang out with you if they like your music. Otherwise they hang out with somebody else. Mudcat takes in more people and more kinds of Stuff than any of the above. I just don't think you can call the membership of Mudcat "The Folk Community." It isn't. It's people from a LOT of communities who may have more or less folk music in their lives. A general interest in folk music isn't the same kind of common bond as an interest in hearing and performing live music together. If everyone in Mudcat got together in one place it would be a lot like our Getaway. For many, the music would become the basis for wonderful long-term friendships. For others, music would form a bond and they would relate wonderfully through the music, but they would not relate well at all in any other way, and would not get together later except to make music. Some people would be thrilled to find musicians who shared their interests: some would go off and jam, some would form singing sessions, but some would sit in the corners and argue politics. When they got tired of it, though, they could walk away and find some music. You can't do that here. Not sure if this is leading anywhere or really adding anything, still I guess I'll go ahead & post it.... Guess the point is, I really think it's unjust to look at what happens on Mudcat as if it's happening in "the folk community." Mudcat is just one "folk community," and it's constrained by being all about words. There's no shared (live, experienced) musical memories to form bonds between folks with strongly different opinions. In my experience when conversation starts deteriorating into argument in a live get-together, someone says, "Oh, this is tedious, let's have some music!" And the ones who are really enjoying the argument go continue it in a corner, and everybody else starts some music. That's the main difference. There's no way to just go play some music when you're arguing on Mudcat. So arguments get bigger and suck in more people who otherwise would go in the next room and jam. Rita Ferrara |
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02 Feb 05 - 02:59 PM (#1396890) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: McGrath of Harlow There's no way to just go play some music when you're arguing on Mudcat. Well there is - I do it all the time. But it doesn't interrupt the arguing, just removes us from it for a bit. But once again, there's nothing wrong with a good argument. But there is everything wrong with turning it into a slanging match or a quarrel. That's like kicking over the chessboard - it stops the game entirely. |
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02 Feb 05 - 03:15 PM (#1396924) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: PoppaGator My early interest in folk music (1963-65) coincided with my introduction to the beat/bohemian culture and the left/radical politics that were so common in the folk-music community at that time ~ and so totally absent (or, at least, invisible) elsewhere in society. I get the impression that today's "folk community," while still including many individuals of that boho/lefty persuasion, is less monolithic and now seems to include folks representing a wider spectrum of cultural and political attitudes. Perhaps it's because society at large now has room for a wider diversity of cultural "types," and us nonconformist kooks have less need to identify with a particular musical subculture. And that's just in the US; my Mudcat-filtered impression of what's going on the UK is that "politics" is even less of an issue among folkies over there. If it's true that a wider variety of viewpoints and attitudes are represented now than 30-40 years ago, perhaps it should not be surprising that disagreements arise here, and that a degree of nastiness sometimes raises its ugly head. Nevertheless, I find most of these discussions, both "up" and "down," to be interesting and occasionally enlightening. Oh, one other thing: I disagree with those who have been contending that all the recent political disagreement and nastiness can be blamed on our American members. That's a large part of it, to be sure, but I seem to recall significant numbers of messages from British individuals not only denouncing US administration policies, but also (quite unfairly) impugning all us "Yanks" for our supposed complicity. |
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02 Feb 05 - 04:24 PM (#1397038) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: TheBigPinkLad Oh, one other thing: I disagree with those who have been contending that all the recent political disagreement and nastiness can be blamed on our American members. That's a large part of it, to be sure, but I seem to recall significant numbers of messages from British individuals not only denouncing US administration policies, but also (quite unfairly) impugning all us "Yanks" for our supposed complicity. It's hard to resist, hey PoppaGator? ;o) It's sort of like, 'who will cast the first stone' in reverse: who can keep their hands in their pockets? |
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03 Feb 05 - 11:03 AM (#1397925) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Wolfgang There's no way to just go play some music when you're arguing on Mudcat. I think that's one of the main reasons. When I was playing in a band, we sometimes discussed politics/sport before starting. One day it happened that I complained about an article in the local newspaper and said it was one of the worst articles I had read for a long time. One of my co-musician said he had written that article. I blushed for I really had forgotten for the moment where he worked asnd had not looked at the name of the author. It was a bit of an embarrassing moment but we said come on, let's play together and all was well. So what lacks here is the playing together between or even instead of discussions. Wolfgang |
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06 Feb 05 - 03:51 PM (#1400919) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Friends, Roamers, Countrymen, Citywomen et al, It's time this was said, on the positive side. Yes, the folk community HAS changed. And one of the most positive ways it's changed is Digitrad. We need to think over some of the great things that should be said about this crossroads of the human spirit-cum-music obsession. Looking back over a lifetime of 67 years, with all kinds of immersion in folkie and oldtime, hootenanny, singaround, outing club wingdings and trail music, campfire singing at Jenny Lake in the shadows of the Tetons and up and down the country from Mexico City to Glacier Park, folk song organizations, club dates, college concerts, and random events involving music including backstage jams, parking lot jams, folk festivals, annoying the neighbors, and so on... Till Digitrad we never had this place to pool thoughts as well as songs. I came to Digitrad totally by accident--a completely un-clued-in officemate who knew I liked folk music stumbled over it (in '96 was it?) and rather dubiously mentioned it to me--to find, by and large, a community very much in the image of something I'd always dreamed of. Like-minded individuals, more than averagely kind, considerate, intelligent and helpful. Not to mention the world's finest archive of traditional music, plus a great many other kinds of songs, pop, vaudeville, silly and profound, that I love too. Once in a while a harsh word? I'd say that's still a great batting average. Oh give me a night On the mudcat website Where good steers and good scholarship play Where seldom is found Any lack of good sound I rely on it more every day. Home on Digitrad, Where the songs list from Z back to A, Where often is heard A new musical word And the skies are not cloudy all day. Think, folks, think. This site is probably the best bulletin board in the whole wide world. It certainly is the best and most accessible archive of songs. I've made friends here (I hope I haven't managed to alienate you all yet), found scholarly help, zany fun, and I get to talk to like-minded individuals about every crazy musical thing that crosses my mind. I never felt half so well situated or well informed. And I sometimes get lucky enough to be able to help other people with a song they're looking for, as so many of you have helped me. All hail to Digitrad! We just don't know how lucky we are. Okay fine, there are some harsh interchanges. But half the time I think they're not even meant that way, sometimes we just sound brusque and don't know it. There is a world of good heart and soul here. And just imagine if we didn't have this resource. Seriously. Imagine for a moment that Digitrad doesn't exist. And feel the sense of loss. Bottom line: this is a dream community. Dream on. Kudos to our Digitradders. Long may they wave. Bob |
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06 Feb 05 - 04:20 PM (#1400945) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Been away from this a couple of days and have thoroughly enjoyed all the recent imput. I think you really clarified if, Ferrara. The folk community has never been monolithic. The 60's community I was involved in to some extent was very localized in a ten or twelve block area, and everybody got to know everyone else, at least on a superficial level. One of the things that tied that disparate together was the promise of "making it." That may be an odd recognition for a community that prided itself on being independent of the materialistic and warlike culture of the time. But, there was a whiff of commercial potential in the air, when Ken Goldstein was romaing the Village and people were getting signed all over the place to very un-lucrative record contracts. As a friend of mine said to me once, "I don't know why no one has recorded you, there are people a lot worse than you who have been recorded." Mostly, people were excited when someone else would get signed to do a record, and those were heady times. When folk music started losing it's commercial appeal, it didn't take longe for the Village to start declining. Much of that community was fed on the vision of sugar plums and recording contracts dancing in everyone's heads. Not that that was all bad. There really was an enthusiasm and sense of community in that small area of a few blocks. It turned out to be pretty short-lived, but it was wonderful while it lasted. When I go to a folk festival, the circles within a circle are obvious. Especially after hours. But even then, I still feel a general welcome from most people (except for the snobs.) I am at best a primitive fiddler, and one time was playing Forked Deer in D. That was the only key I could figure it out in. Someone came over to me and sneared and said, "NO ONE plays Forked Deer in D!" And I answweredm, "Someone does now..." I do think the missing ingredient in here is that we don't have a chance to play together. Jerry |
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06 Feb 05 - 07:17 PM (#1401119) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: coldjam This was an interesting thread. As a newcomer I have sort of bounced around looking at who-all was here and why. Somewhat reticent to jump in and get all beat up. It becomes pretty evident, after a while, that some folks jest don't got no upbringing. But also, that some folks have such a preconceived notion of what the other guy is all about, they just assume the worst and attack it. In our little rural area of about 5-10 towns, our folk music community includes folks from Mennonites to Communists. And we do get to talking, and we do share ideas. But it only turns bad (occasionally) when we forget we are SHARING ideas, and think that by being louder or ruder we can make our point so strongly as to change the other's minds. We've learned that most of us are not "RED" or "BLUE". Most of us have real varied opinions on life issues, that neither Gore nor Bush (insert your country's opposing partys here)represents, and that brings us together. Which is where folk music comes in as a way to grease the social wheels. But the most "conservative" person here, is respectful when a "liberal" is sharing a song from their heart-even if it about something they passionately disagree with! As on Mudcat, there are also a minority of "problem" people who agitate for attention.We try to love them anyway, and not become like them in defense. By and large I really enjoy this little cyber community, there are some very funny,good-natured and insightful folks here. And as Martha Stewert would say, "It's a good thing." |
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06 Feb 05 - 07:29 PM (#1401129) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jim Tailor Hey coldjam, You must live in the same community as me! |
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06 Feb 05 - 08:09 PM (#1401160) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen I'm glad that you feel that way, coldjam. I do too, despite occasionally getting fed up with the actions of the few. This IS a good place, with many, many good people. Jerry |
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06 Feb 05 - 08:49 PM (#1401190) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: number 6 If the technology existed and the Mudcat resided on the net way back in the sixties I'm sure you would see the same atmosphere as we see today. Just as today society back then was divided, the 'folk community' had it's purists, it prejeduces, it's openess, it's rejections. What we see in the questioning brought forth in this thread is a longing for the 'good old days'. Unfortunately, only the good memories are remembered. There was infighting, there was rejection of ideas, as much as the acceptance. Just as here in the Mudcat today, there is a community, a community of good ideas, shared ideas, questioning, arguments. But all in all it's a community that represents the times that exist. Ignore the infighting, appreciate the goodness that still exists here. sIx |
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06 Feb 05 - 09:17 PM (#1401204) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,Jon I've not read the whole thread Jerry but I would be inclinded to suggest overall we change rather than the folk community changes. We start to realise that all the falsehoods of life exist and that there isn't a perfect folk world no matter how much we may have dreamed it to be otherwise and doubtless know others the same. |
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06 Feb 05 - 09:27 PM (#1401209) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Once Famous Think about this. At one time, in the late 50s to the early '60s, a big, big part of the folk community was based on the college campuses where all of the frat boys were doing The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four, The Limelighters etc. The purists can pooh-pooh this, but millions of folk-related records were being sold to this audience, who could give a damn about politics and protest in folk music. Folk music was about fun. This has changed and for that I am truly sorry. |
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06 Feb 05 - 09:55 PM (#1401232) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: number 6 The Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four .... then came Bob Dylan, then he went electric!! I guess ya can blame it all on Bobby. sIx |
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06 Feb 05 - 10:32 PM (#1401259) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen You notice that the title of this thread is a question. It has a lot of answers.. all of them with a lot of truth. And you are right, Martin. In the Midwest, it was the Kingston Trio, The Cumberland Three, Lonnie Donnegan (hallelujah) and Harry Belefonte. The music had nothing to do with protests, or labor movements or politics. It was just music you sang for fun. No more profound than It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To. Whatever happened to Lesley Gore? Is Al her son? It wasn't until I came to New York that I was introduced to the old recordings from the 20's and 30's(which I really loved) and saw the Wobbly Psychedelic side of folk music. Suddenly, the Kingston Trio had about as much credibility as Bobby Vee. Even though I really loved The Carter Family and Charlie Poole and all the rest, I still enjoyed some of the Kingston Trio stuff, and did The Escape Of Old John Webb. Maybe the folk community has always been as divided as it is now. Maybe it's just that as you get older and your vision begins to fail you, the past looks better and better.. Wrote a song with the line "The good old days are still to come." And I believe it. And remember, today is yesterday's tomorrow. Jerry |
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06 Feb 05 - 11:04 PM (#1401281) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: number 6 "The good old days are still to come." Good Jerry. I came of age 'so to speak' in the latter half of the sixties. There was a dividing line between us and the 'old school' such as 'Kingston Trio' crowd and us 'the Bob Dylan' crowd. I always remember a division, but forefront in my memory are 'good 'ol days', and as your song says, they are still to come. sIx |
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06 Feb 05 - 11:06 PM (#1401284) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Once Famous Jerry The Kingston Trio came out of San Francisco, and there and at places like UCLA they were even bigger than in the midwest. Yes, the folk community has always been divided. I remember the commercial vs. purist arguements in Sing Out magazine over 40 years ago and quite frankly, the arguement is as tired as the chorus of Tom Dooley or for you who've got to have it with no teeth, Tom Dula. BTW, I just saw an ad in the entertainment section of an upcoming "rock and roll" reunion show starring none other than Leslie Gore, Lou Christie, and Bobby Rydel. No thank you, I'm not going. But in the picture, Leslie looked real, real good! |
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06 Feb 05 - 11:38 PM (#1401300) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: number 6 MG .... yer gettin' old!! Yeah, the argument is a tired as the chorus of Tom Dooley. Life goes on and there are still new roads to be ventured, leaving the old behind. Ya gotta grow and go on no matter how old ya are. |
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06 Feb 05 - 11:52 PM (#1401310) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Big Al Whittle I think a big change in England, has been the effect of the far eastern instruments being imported. I first heard folk music when I went away to a posh boarding school. The kids were really rich and they owned Levins, Harmony sovereigns. A levin at this time cost more than my Dad earned in a month. In fact a Levin cost more than my monthly paycheck when I started work in 1971. Nowadays you can buy a good playable instrument,for less than what most people earn in a couple of days. Also there has been a big change in attitude about music as a career. People talk about the music industry. There is more access to tuition. For these reasons, I think it is not so much a preserve of the middle classes. It is less exclusive. Perhaps what we need to do is follow Basil Fawlty's example when he organised his gourmet night - a sign outside every folk club - NO RIFF RAFF! |
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06 Feb 05 - 11:58 PM (#1401314) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,me i have a broken hand so my typing is worse than usual. i notice that most hereare american. i'm not old enough to remember the sixties but i remember playing the folk scene in the seventies. i'm canadian, and travelled in the usa and britian a lot when i was young. i have to say that americans are as friendly in the folk comunity now as when i went doen there first in the seventies and canadians and brits remain full of ethnic and class bigotry in the folk scene. in the us i have been picked up off the street to play a local folk festival--while buskin!!! i wasn't street walking!, while in canada west of the ottawa river i will never forget being told i wasn't welcome at the local folk club as nova scotians pay thet awfull country music"and wee do genuine folk"(i was trying to get in free by performing as i didn't have the money to pay . in britain the irish and gaelic scottish music snene in london is compeletly seperated from the english and the gaels ARE NOT WELCOME at any emg;ish song circle. being canadian i didn't figure this out right away as we are kinda bettween two stools so i would go to english domonated folk scenes and play gaelic influenced stuff and told " we only allow sisnger to sing songs from their own countries" in vancouver i was similarily told "we do canadian music here" now it took me years to intellectualize this as when i left home i didn't have a grade ten education and now i have two university degrees. (at fifty). but i really see a bigotry in canadian folk west of the ottawa river, as much class based as ethnic. they tend to see people who act and talk like cape bretoners or newfouindlander as lower class as the english see people who behave as irish do and talk that way as lower class. the english in both palces seem to think that putting people in a class category makes their bigotry ok. a lot of them are ostensible lefties, so i have a saying (does anyone remember stalinist philosophy". anglo lefties have gone past socialism for one country now they have it down to socialism for one class. |
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07 Feb 05 - 12:03 AM (#1401319) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: number 6 Guest me .... I think there is a slight prejudice and bigotry towards maritimers within the west of Canada west of Quebec. This could be a subject for a seperate thread. sIx |
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07 Feb 05 - 12:21 AM (#1401328) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Pauline L First, I'll point out something that no one else has yet. The nastiness is not limited to threads about religion and politics. I've seen folks shot down mercilessly for asking a question that has been asked before or saying something in all sincerity and considerable knowledge about folk music. I believe that a lot of the nastiness on the Mudcat Forum is rooted in the anonymity offered by the Internet. The analogy with road rage, made earlier in this thread, is a very good one. On the whole, I believe that the folk music community is more accepting and less status driven than the classical music community, with which I am also actively involved. I have yet to hear someone profess to sing folk music better than other people because they have a master's degree in music. :-) However, there are still "in groups" in the folk music community, including (gasp) the FSGW. People are people, and that includes folk people. As for the argument that our (American) society at large is divided against itself, this is true. However, it was probably even more true in the 60s, a sort of golden age in folk music. In fact, the arts often thrive in periods of political turmoil. A good example is Germany after the first World War. Now, gentle folk, please don't flame or troll me for what I've said or who I am. |
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07 Feb 05 - 12:22 AM (#1401329) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: CarolC Yeah, my IRL experience of the folk community isn't too much different from here in the Mudcat. At FSGW events I feel very welcome, and even nurtured (the first Getaway I attended, one of the long time members hunted up another squeezebox player for me to play music with... still, to my mind, an incredibly kind and gracious thing to do). On the other hand, some of the jam sessions I've attended in other contexts have been rife with backbiting and weird ego politics. I stopped attending one long-running weekly jam session that I had been going to regularly for a couple of years because of the unpleasant atmosphere. Just as with here in the Mudcat... there's both positive and negative. Just like in the rest of the 3D world, too. |
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07 Feb 05 - 03:25 PM (#1401802) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Layah I don't have the experience to talk about the folk community or really the mudcat community either, but what I do know about is language and communication. People have already mentioned the anonymity of the interent, which I think is a large factor and causes this sort of behaviour in every forum I've spent much time in. I tend to stay away from politics and religion threads because they appear to be made to make people angry. I tend not to discuss these things with anyone but friends in person either, because they are subjects people get very touchy about. But another aspect that goes into it is the medium. All communication is written, which gives ample opportunity for miscomunication. You lack all the kinds of cues that are necessary for good understanding- facial expression, tone of voice, gestures. It makes it so that even lacking people who purposefully insult or annoy, you still tend to have troubles because misunderstandings happen so easily, and so easily to escalate. |
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07 Feb 05 - 04:15 PM (#1401854) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,Frank Jerry, I've thought a lot about what you've just brought up in this thread. One of the good things is that folk music in recent years has broadened my taste, interest and outlook. I grew up in essentially a left-wing orientation toward folk music and still enjoy this. But I started getting interested in a variety of musical styles from early trad country and blues through bluegrass and the popularization of groups who I also admire such as Bud and Travis, some of the KT and the Limelighters and my old buddy Erik Darling who played with the Rooftop Singers and the Tarriers. I went through a reaction to a doctrinaire political approach to folk music, through a trad period which some have called "purist" to jazz, pop music of the twenties and thirties, be-bop, and Broadway show music. I see the "folk community" as having expanded. I think that when I was growing up in the music in Los Angeles, there was a small coterie of folkies and we were a tight knit community at that time. This would have included Derroll Adams, Odetta, Dave Zeitlin, Ed Pearl (who started the Ash Grove) Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, Woody Guthrie, Eddie Mann, Dave Arkin, Walle Hille, Earl Robinson, Marcia Berman, Ramblin' Jack, Moe Hirsch, Bess and Butch Hawes, Rich Dehr and Frank Miller and then when I hitch-hiked to New York I became part of the Washington Square scene. In Chicago, I was part of that scene with Art Thieme and the Old Town School of Folk Music. I agree with Art that there was (at least for me) more of a community spirit. There seemed to be more acceptance and it was a family type feel. Nowadays, the socializing element of folk music has been compartmentalized into various sub-groups such as the bluegrass community, old-time string band, celtic, blues...etc. There is a lot less cross-polenization and eclectic interest amoung these groups. I think each of these interest groups have something important to offer. I've gone full cycle in my experience and am now interested in a political orientation and am working on songwriting as a result. One thing, I think that the folk musics that I've been exposed to has taught me is that it's important not to be rigid and doctrinaire. If you really love music, than there is all kinds to appreciate. Pete Seeger told me that what he saw as a "hootenanny" would encompass all kinds of musical expression with the common denominator that would bring all kinds of performers to a receptive public who would feel a part of the music presented. For example, there could be a counterline that an audience could sing while a jazz group playedan improvisation. The "hootenanny" idea goes back a long way and a long time. 1930's through the songs and publishing of Bob Miller who wrote "Ten Cent Cotton and Forty Cent Meat". This notion of sharing folk music came about precisely because of the left-wing movement and it was responsible for its national popularity although the left-wing song movement was at that time not broad-based at all. But you mentioned Ken Goldstein who was definitely a product of the Left-wing and many other folklorists such as Alan Lomax, Botkin, Archie Green etc. who popularized the idea that American folk music was something inclusive and worthwhile. I remember that Pete Seeger was one of the first (if not the first) to introduce Scruggs style banjo playing to the New York area. Bluegrass, a recent phenomenon, has its own sub-culture and community. Like "rap" and "hip hop" it seems as though it views itself as separate from the well-spring of music that spawned it. This compartmentalization in recent years as different forms of music have been delved into with more depth is in my opinion, the reason why the folk communities have become fragmented rather than interdependent. Frank |
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07 Feb 05 - 04:28 PM (#1401863) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Once Famous Number 6, yes I am growing old but definately still growing as a singer and perfromer. I have left much of that old folk stuff behind and do mostly country and bluegrass. However, people still want to have fun and sing along, so I will never abandond that old stuff entirely. I never did get on the naval gazing bandwagon, thak God. |
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07 Feb 05 - 04:56 PM (#1401885) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: McGrath of Harlow I don't recognise that folk scene in England that "GUEST,me" described there, where apparently they don't approve of Irish music and put down Irish musicians or singers. |
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07 Feb 05 - 06:59 PM (#1402004) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Hey, Frank: Even in the Village in the early 60's, where there was a lot of genuine support and feeling of community, there were smaller groups of people who were "into" some particular part of the folk scene. There were the psychedelic folkies heavily into drugs, the Wobblies and labor organizer crowd, the college kids trying to become the next Kingston Trio, the Old Time music crowd, and people hard to characterize as diverse as Tiny Tim and Reverend Gary Davis. And then Dylan came and spawned a whole new generation of protest singers. Mostly though, people seemed to be able to come together around the music and get along reasonably well. As so many others have commented on in this thread, the connection was the music. And while this is a music site, we can't make music together, so we've got too much time on our hands and too many hard and fast opinions. I guess that I didn't buy into any particular group all that much because folk music was just one kind of music that I loved. I was also listening to jazz, and rhythm and blues and rock and rock and roll. Sometimes, having a little distance is very healthy. Jerry |
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07 Feb 05 - 07:33 PM (#1402035) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: McGrath of Harlow I think when Mudcatters do actually get together the music tends to take over, regardless of particular preferances and idiosyncracies in music, let alone differences on such other minor matters as, how to run the world, and how the universe is ordered. Getting instruments in tune with each other is more significant on such occasions. As is only right and proper. |
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07 Feb 05 - 09:23 PM (#1402108) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: coldjam Guest Frank: Nice to hear someone mention Bud & Travis. Also the Ash Grove. Did you ever meet a charactor there called "Shakey Jake?" I think he ran the record shop, when I was there. Jim Taylor, I'm in the Great Lakes area-close? |
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07 Feb 05 - 11:27 PM (#1402173) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,Patrick Costello The genre subdivision deal has everything screwed up. You could rewrite Tom Lehrer's "National Brotherhood Week" to sum up the current disjointed state of folk music: All the bluegrass hates the newgrass and the folkies hate the old time classic country hates top forty and everybody hates the banjo! The easy way to change things is to get offline and go make music in your community. Give free lessons on your front porch. Fix up a couple of pawn shop guitars and give them to kids. Jam in public places. Stop trying to fit into a group and put your efforts towards being part of the world around you. You can use the internet for this sort of thing. I've released four music books online under an open-source concept - and the crazy thing is that in spite of being freely available online we're still making a living selling the printed copies. I honestly believe that the magic of folk music is that the only way to keep it is to give it away. The genres forgot that. They want to make bluegrass or old time or Irish or any other kind of music an exclusive club. The end result of that kind of thinking isn't just bad music, it also leads to bad people. Screw the elitists. Go out and make music. Make people smile, make people think, make people angry and make people aware that this, all of it, is OUR music. Everybody is welcome and everybody has something to add to the mix. Don't wish for a change, be the change. All it takes is a song. -Patrick |
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08 Feb 05 - 08:42 AM (#1402423) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Wisely said, Patrick: I was reminded of this the other day. I was asked to sing at an adult day care center... a place where adults who are still healthy enough to live on their own, or with family but would end up sitting in the house every day with nothing to do. It's a wonderful program for people whose minds are still alert, giving them a chance for fellowship and group activities. I had never played at the place before, and no one was there yet to introduce me, so I was just warming up on guitar. The program is held at a Jewis Home For the Aged, but is open to everyone, and I knew that some friends of mine sing gospel there. So, I was warming up, playing The Old Rugged Cross when a couple of women started singing. I joined them, and almost everyone else joined in, too. After that, I sang In The Garden, and everyone sang along. I had intended to do a program of folk music, but as long as people were enjoying the gospel, I stayed with that for a couple more songs. And then I asked if they minded if I played a song I'd written (Living On The River.) One of the men said, very enthusiastically), "Mister, you can sing anything you want. I could listen to you all day!" They didn't know categories from canteloupe. They just were enjoying live music. The next time I go, I'll throw in Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, perhaps another blues, maybe Up A Lazy River and old popular music, some folk, some gospel and maybe even a little rockabilly. The thing about breaking music into smaller styles is that it excludes many more people than it includes. Besides, I find it borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring. Jerry |
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08 Feb 05 - 09:25 AM (#1402461) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen I came across these statements about community in a book I was reading yesterday: "You can develop a healthy, robust community.. and enjoy it's results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor." "Speak the truth in love." "When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself." "In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery." Most of all, I like the one about "speak the truth in love." the book?... Oh yeah, it's called the bible. Jerry |
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08 Feb 05 - 10:10 AM (#1402501) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jim Tailor absolutely! I bet you know Les Gustafson Zook, Dan Gellert, John Long? |
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08 Feb 05 - 10:16 AM (#1402511) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST "Mister, you can sing anything you want. I could listen to you all day!" They didn't know categories from canteloupe. They just were enjoying live music. ------------------------------------------------------- I love playing for and with people (it's usually "with" because I'll badger everybody in sight to join in) because there is this thing that happens to people when you hit on a couple of songs that they remember. You'll see this guy standing on the edge of the jam looking all serious and at some point in one of the songs the dude will just sort of melt. His face will light up, his posture will go all relaxed and there will be this sort of look in his eyes that is happy and sad. A moment later he'll be singing along, talking about how somebody in his childhood used to sing that song, introducing himself to everybody in the jam and asking, hesitantly at first, if he could give one of the instruments a try because he'd "always wanted to play". If any of you are in Salisbury, Maryland on the first Saturday of the month there is a jam session / hootenanny at the big Banres & Noble store from six to nine. I did a couple of book signings there a few months ago and we drew enough of a crowd that they give us the run of the place one night a month. We get an interesting mix of folks (the guy who plays bass with us is a blood relation to Lightning Hopkins) and anybody who wants to join in is welcome. I always bring a couple of extra guitars and banjos for people to borrow - and if you've never played before somebody in the group will go off to one side with you and help you get started. The really interesting thing about the jam is that we catch people by surprize. You don't expect to run across a bunch of people playing and singing in a place like B&N and it's kind of cool to see kids dragging their parents over to listen to the music and guys in business suits running over asking if we know this song that his grandmother used to sing. People don't care about genres. They just like "folk music". -Patrick |
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08 Feb 05 - 01:25 PM (#1402696) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: coldjam I agree! One "kind" of music can get really booooring. For that matter, one person as well, unless they are extraordinary or trying to mix it up.I have spent way too many evenings listening to a singer-songwriter who said most of what he had to say in the first 5 songs, and only plays in one key. Converesely, a hot blue grass band wears on the nerves if you can't dance and have to just sit there for hours. But before I offend anybody I really do like it all! And music is a great way to get into a community and meet people and also bless the socks off'n 'em! We have musician friends who voluteered in the elementry school. Taught the kids to square dance.Did sing alongs. Gave em ocarinas and lessons. It was really great.We've done the nursing home and community events, like a township party. Jim said"-absolutely! I bet you know Les Gustafson Zook, Dan Gellert, John Long?" The names don't ring a bell... |
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08 Feb 05 - 01:40 PM (#1402710) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GLoux Dan Gellert |
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08 Feb 05 - 01:40 PM (#1402711) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: coldjam Oh and Guest patrick. I think you should finish that parody it's perfect! |
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08 Feb 05 - 04:27 PM (#1402904) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Charlie Baum Pauline commented on the idea that some nastiness on the Internet comes from the anonymity it provides. One of the wonderful things about Mudcat is that many of us actually do know each other in real life. Some of us use our real names, some of us use monikers but are known to our friends. In fact, the only people who tick me off here happen to be folks who remain anonymous--the anonymity is not the reason I'm bothered by them (there are lots of wonderful posts by people I don't know from Adam)--but most of the posts with harsh tones are made by posters who I don't know. Through events like the FSGW Getaway or festivals like Old Songs, I get to know other Mudcatters, and the web of friendships is one of the things that keep me, and us all, civil. I keep thinking that posters who act uncivilly ought to be forced to come to the Getaway or some such--the experience of meeting other Mudcatters in real life would be the surest way to tame them. [Unless, of course, they subscribe to the Huck Finn ethos of not wanting to be civilized.] --Charlie Baum |
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09 Feb 05 - 12:41 AM (#1403374) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Pauline L I've been thinking some more about the differences between writing on the Internet and speaking in person. Like Charlie Baum, I'm not anonymous. However, I often feel more comfortable writing than talking, and I'm not nasty in either mode. I've read that introverts like to write, and it's certainly true of me. |
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09 Feb 05 - 10:30 AM (#1403598) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,McGrath of Harlow Anonymity is a bit like drink. When people get nasty when they get drunk, the drink isn't the cause, it's the opportunity. It's how they really are with the masks off. The same goes for anonymity. |
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09 Feb 05 - 11:19 AM (#1403610) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: GUEST,wearing a clean vest Has The Folk Community Changed? well I hope its at least once or twice changed its socks and underpants since the mid 1960's |
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09 Feb 05 - 04:00 PM (#1403702) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: Jerry Rasmussen Many years ago, when I was working at a Museum, someone sent in a letter critical of one of the staff members. The letter wasn't signed. When I met with the staff member and showed them the letter, they said, very angrily "They didn't even have the guts to sing it! It's unanimous!" Jerry |
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09 Feb 05 - 04:20 PM (#1403721) Subject: RE: Has The Folk Community Changed? From: nager Yes, the folk community has changed over the many years I have been in it - and thank goodness for that. What a boring old world it would be if communities remained the same forever. We have new people joining the older ones, different ideas and views on life, fresh music, older songs presented in a new way... I just love it. And Guest (wearing a clean vest) that's a great metaphor for issues like this one ... |