Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rosie and Me on August 17, 2010 at 6:23pm

To me (Rosie), being a folkie means using music as a way to express feelings, such as love, growth, insecurities, through meaningful and introspective lyrics. It also means relying on my guitar to give people (and myself) comfort :)

Permalink Reply by Nathan Vialo on August 19, 2010 at 3:30am

Comfort is a good thing for a folkie to give. It's a good thing for a human to give.

Permalink Reply by Nathan Vialo on August 18, 2010 at 5:29pm

I don't know. By nature of the word, folk is a very broad term. I generally think of the folk style as being synonymous with traditional style. So, even if we exclude contemporary folk, the term is very broad, spanning 8 billion or whatever people. I suppose folk is any music that transcends the realm of artistic ownership and makes its way into a people's collective musical consciousness.

Nonetheless, when I say folk I generally mean music along the same vein as you (though I think of Neil Young as rock), with the inclusion of country blues like Mississippi John Hurt and Rev. Gary Davis, etc.

Permalink Reply by Damngivers on August 18, 2010 at 5:56pm

Yeah I agree. There's something very democratic (small d) and homy about it IMO. I see folk as a writer, poet, artist, performer who creates art with a social consciousness and awareness of the lay person's struggle and strife. Some get it just from the end result, how it was made. For folk art, that tends to be art done by untrained creators. I wouldn't say the same about folk musicians though, because folk musicians are often really good musicians. Maybe it's just the subject matter they cover. To that end, who do you think is doing folk today? From an About.com search, the top 10 folk artists are: Woody, Dylan, Joni, Bill Monroe, Pete Seeger, Alison Krause, Townes Van Zandt, Doc Watson, Ani Difranco and Steve Earle. That's not much representation from current artists. Steve Earle - definitely. Ani - I need to hear more and get past the gay activism, but yeah, she's not someone to wrong. Do her wrong, end up in a song. AK?
I guess my point to Rosie maybe who started the Folk Indie survival - those who are speaking up for their beliefs/causes really can benefit from the support of others because there aren't many like us around. You put real emotions out there and you open yourself up to pot shots. I wondered about this and still do with the name of my project, Damngivers. But I feel that even if its a voice swimming against the current of sameness, it's a voice that needs to be heard. More now, in these times than ever. How about Springsteen, Mellencamp, Willie Nelson? I guess to some degree. Keep it up you folkies.