Steeleye folk, not folk? Maddy Prior sells out?
Is it 1970 again?
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I’d play Steeleye loud in my bedroom!
Robin Denslow sets the scene. http://www.steeleye.synology.me/index.html
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I would not make a hard distinction between folk and classical myself. In fact, I reckon the boundary between the genres has always been pretty porous. Twentieth century composers such as Vaughan Williams and Bela Bartok have drawn rather obviously on folk traditions, particularly dances, but many earlier composers have also used traditional melodies in their music. There are flows in the opposite direction, too. Just one example is the way opera arias in Italy were being sung/played/adapted on the streets soon after their first performance in the theatre.
It’s also hard to pigeon hole instruments as genre-specific. Is a guitar a classical, or folk instrument? And how about a violin/fiddle? I know the playing techniques may differ, but even there I think there is some diffusion across the boundary.
As a case study, several of the albums from the wonderful group l’Arpeggiata, who focus on music from renaissance Italy and Spain, run across genres. Their founder, Christina Pluhar stresses in her sleeve notes to Los Pajaros Perdidos, for example, how traditional Latin American dances and songs are rooted in Baroque models. When listening to that album, I don’t find myself classifying the tracks as one or the other, simply enjoying the music.
Roger
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Just think of the time you could spend listening to music instead of trying to determine what falls into which genre.
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I am delighted by all this, and to be corrected a bit on how most on the thread view what should be commented on/ left out here.
I was slightly surprised when joining this site a year or two ago to find how much of this thread was so focused on a more trad and English view - though as I say the suggestions still led me to some great music. The comments from @hungryhallibut, @Beachcomber, @catswhiskers and others gave a steer, though none dismissed music that some of them don’t class as folk.
IIRC, some English regulars here lent toward the view that trad Irish jigs were ‘their folk’, not ours, and it might be fairer for Brits to treat that as World Music.
In any event, if the only useful distinction is between music that is good or not good, there is a lot off the former here.
Has anyone else attended (or heard of) the Cygnet Folk Festival happening as I type in Tasmania? The way much of the town open their homes to host the musicians and the general air of inclusivity is thoroughly inspiring.
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I agree. Does it really matter? There’s never going to be a consensus on this so it’s hardly worth discussing. Just listen to the music and enjoy it!
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I agree this is an excellent series. Highly enjoyable performances from a wide range of artists, including some of my favourites such as Rhiannon Giddens, Karine Polwart and Paul Brady. I particularly enjoyed the performance by Hannah Rarity which came right at the end of the first episode.
By the way I think this series was made in 2017 so has probably been aired before?
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I like this from a hugely talented and under-recognised musician
Regularly accompanies Christy Moore and done some great work with Mary Black…
KR
J
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I’m a sucker for an acoustic guitar, although Dave Cousins’s voice has aged there are some fine examples of his brand of folk on this album.
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Been enjoying this recently, particularly the close-harmony vocals.
The wonderfully angry Workers Song is a favourite and the Pride of the White Star Line was not quite what I expected – different ship!
Roger
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I have just seen that Sandy Denny has been ranked as the 164th greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone. I would like to hear the 163 singers who are better! What a bloody cheek.
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What about Scottish bands like Skippinish ,Manran, Skerryvore and others who play traditional Scottish folk music with pipes ,fiddles etc plus electric instruments.
When they get going with jigs,reels etc it’s a fantastic sound and atmosphere.
They have a massive following not only north of the border.
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I like Rant, a quartet of female Scottish fiddlers.
A friend today recommended me this lady.
And thanks to Roon radio this Welsh harpist has been added to my albums.
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Making Mischief exhibition at Compton Verney https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/12/folk-customs-britain-young-generation
https://www.comptonverney.org.uk/event/making-mischief-folk-costume-in-britain/
May interest some folk music players and audience. Starts 11th Feb until 11th June.
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The Dorset Ooser https://www.wessexmuseums.org.uk/collections-showcase/dorset-ooser/
Apart from film of burning Tar Barrels in an end room which drew an audience, the place was quiet for making mischief. Staff were discussing creating an atmosphere with music (we went on the first day).
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A heads up, this might be interesting
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Streaming Dave Swarbrick, Martin Carthy and Diz Disley, Rags, Reels & Airs
Topic 1967. Produced by Joe Boyd naturally and still a fresh sound.
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Diz Disley meant nothing to me, yet here he was on Swarb’s first instrumental album. I looked at his obituary and found he played on Sandy Denny’s Like an Old Fashioned Waltz. Disley played jazz with Grappelli for ten years and was a cartoonist.
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Saw Diz Disley play with Grappelli around 1973/74. Both he and Grappelli were great. A night to remember.
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He was a really nice bloke, I cannot remember where, but fairly certain Dave and Toni Arthur were also there, talking to him after the show and he went off fetched his guitar and worked through a chord sequence for me.
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