Jim Moray on the Question 'What is Folk Music?'
In the last week, I've become drawn into two discussions/arguments on the internet that have occupied my thoughts.
Both revolve around what belongs in a genre and what doesn't.
The first was about the , won by an English folk act for the first time in ten years.
The second was over the Young Folk Award, won by Megan and Joe Henwood - fine performers of self-written songs, and which I was lucky enough to be a judge of.
In the case of the former, the view of some is that English music does not belong in a poll for World music, because is it is not "World".
The inclusion of three English albums (Matachin by Bellowhead, Dreams
of Breathing Underwater by Eliza Carthy, and my own Low Culture) deprives other
acts from around the world of exposure they could benefit from and so these
albums should be barred from inclusion.
Regarding the YFA, the argument goes that no matter how good the winners are (and Megan and Joe are really really good) the songs they sing
are "not folk and so should not be allowed in the competition."
In some technical way, at least the term "World Music" has its roots in a meeting at The Empress Of Russia pub in Islington in 1987
where representatives of WOMAD, Channel 4, label owners like Nick Gold (World
Circuit) and Ben Mandelson (Globalstyle), and journalists such as Ian Anderson
of (as it was then) Folk Roots and Charlie Gillett decided they needed a new
way to categorise the stuff that didn't fit anywhere else.
The object was to have a neat label under which to promote artists from around the world that would otherwise slip through the net.
In a gesture that would never happen now, the creation of World music was launched with a cassette tape on the cover of NME.
Moray's Law: As a folk music messageboard goes on, the probability of a thread entitled
"What is Folk Music?" approaches one.
I don't have the answer to the "what is folk?" question any more than anybody else, but if you're asking me, England is as much a part of the world as any other, and music with roots in English tradition should be able to take it's place next to music with it's roots in the traditions of Mali on an equal footing.
I also think that songwriting that reflects the songwriter's thoughts on the world around them, has always been a branch of folk music, and always will.
It might not be to everyone's taste, but there's room for all tastes here.
Perhaps those at the Empress of Russia were right in 1987 - these labels are just a marketing term. No more, no less.
Comment number 1.
At 10th Dec 2008, bekkab wrote:Good points here Jim.
I agree that the roots music of England is as important and has its place in a World Music poll, However its token showing in the fRoots poll is just that and no more. I think they realise a certain portion of their audience are interested in English folk music and felt they ought to reflect that.
With respect to you I think the award, the short list and the way they were achieved is pretty meaningless. All it does is give the heads up to a few journos and dj's favourite acts. It is not representative of what is being produced in the world of folk & acoustic music in this country any more than the x factor is representative of our finest singing talent.
I think England is best out of a fRoots poll of 'world' music. When their concept of the world appears to be confined to a couple of African countries and a scratch of the surface of high profile English Festival acts. There are 195 countries in the world, how were the rest represented?
Songwriters are at the heart of the songs and music produced in this country and essential to it's continuation. The trend by some folkies and magazines to discount them or regard them as some 1960's American invention is just blinkered and plain stupid.
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Comment number 2.
At 11th Dec 2008, Keith wrote:Jim, I agree with you that English folk is just as much part of World Music as music from anywhere else.
Funnily enough, it becomes much more apparent if you go searching for folk music in a record store in North America, because there, not only Folk Music from the UK and Ireland gets classified as "World", but that is where you often find the CDs of Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and other US folk artists too.
And yes, songwriters are also at the heart of roots music too and trying to exclude them or get all sniffy about a song just because we know who wrote it is just daft.
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Comment number 3.
At 13th Dec 2008, evansakes wrote:I think I've got a pretty good idea in my own head what folk music is, Jim (as has everyone else of course).
What I'm TOTALLY confused about these days is what the hell 'World' music is?
Maybe that's a question for another day (and another blog)
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Comment number 4.
At 13th Dec 2008, rfoxwords wrote:It happens in every area of the arts - awards and prizes cause a lot of...differences of opinion! And there are so many of them that the differences of opinion can seem neverending.
I suppose maybe the froots one could be for music from non-English speaking countries (because music from those countries does always seem to be higher profile...or is that just because I live in a mostly English speaking country - Scotland?). Of course it would be a bit of a nonsense when it comes to instrumental music...or would it?
As for the' is it or is it not folk'...'is it or is it not art', 'is it or is it not poetry', 'is it or is it not classical music'...that one (and all the others) will run and run!
x
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