Why I play folk
To explain why I play 'folk' music, I've got to start by saying what that term means to me. 'Folk' isn't really a standard genre, in my view. The term folk, meaning 'people,' describes (to me) not the sound of the music or the meaning of the lyrics, but the overall approach to the creation and performance of that music, whatever the songs may sound like in the final expression.
Unlike some genres (polka, for example) which can be objectively defined by a fairly narrow set of parameters, the definition of folk seems to me totally subjective, and ever-changing, for both player and listener.
That makes some people uncomfortable ("what do you mean, you can't describe your music in one word?"), but I think it's apt: folk as I understand it demands that both listener and performer are engaged on a personal level; that is, in part, where the notion of folk as "authentic" music seems to reside.
But there's another important aspect of folk that is distinctive: its capacity for absorption. I think folk is the meta-genre that comfortably consumes all genres. Folk perpetuates as an ever-changing entity that resists the usual critics' and historians' urges to flash-freeze it at a point in time, and henceforth treat that sound as canonical.
Folk as I understand it is (and please excuse the artspeak) is a post-modern endeavour: at least, it depends heavily on post-modern tropes such as appropriation, self-reflection, and the willing revelation of the constructive or creative process.
Is it ironic that 'folk,' a term often associated with sentimental notions about the past, could bear comparison with a highly contemporary artistic approach? Personally, I don't think so. I don't think I'm a throwback, or that most of us are - I think we're totally contemporary musicians and artists.
Back to the question, how did I wind up becoming a folk musician? Simple, really: I listened to everything I could, and eventually I started making songs out of the raw materials of what I heard. Whatever I could manage to write and play I did, and pretty much just grew from there.
Being a folk musician is like being Canadian: drawing nourishment from our deep, long roots, our branches can reach everywhere, as we stand tall and proud and strong, right where we are, here and now.
Unlike some genres (polka, for example) which can be objectively defined by a fairly narrow set of parameters, the definition of folk seems to me totally subjective, and ever-changing, for both player and listener.
That makes some people uncomfortable ("what do you mean, you can't describe your music in one word?"), but I think it's apt: folk as I understand it demands that both listener and performer are engaged on a personal level; that is, in part, where the notion of folk as "authentic" music seems to reside.
But there's another important aspect of folk that is distinctive: its capacity for absorption. I think folk is the meta-genre that comfortably consumes all genres. Folk perpetuates as an ever-changing entity that resists the usual critics' and historians' urges to flash-freeze it at a point in time, and henceforth treat that sound as canonical.
Folk as I understand it is (and please excuse the artspeak) is a post-modern endeavour: at least, it depends heavily on post-modern tropes such as appropriation, self-reflection, and the willing revelation of the constructive or creative process.
Is it ironic that 'folk,' a term often associated with sentimental notions about the past, could bear comparison with a highly contemporary artistic approach? Personally, I don't think so. I don't think I'm a throwback, or that most of us are - I think we're totally contemporary musicians and artists.
Back to the question, how did I wind up becoming a folk musician? Simple, really: I listened to everything I could, and eventually I started making songs out of the raw materials of what I heard. Whatever I could manage to write and play I did, and pretty much just grew from there.
Being a folk musician is like being Canadian: drawing nourishment from our deep, long roots, our branches can reach everywhere, as we stand tall and proud and strong, right where we are, here and now.
Labels: Canadian, folk, genre, post-modern, songwriting
posted by David Newland at 15.3.06
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