Uncommon Kinship

How come we can only get great folk music on Sundays . starting at 6 am withe the Point Tim or Tod and on tell 10 pm with Kate . got to love it

Love the blog, and there aren't nearly enough folk music blogs. And Folk Music is the perfect subject for social media, all about the people not the technology. In what other media can you go to a house concert in North Carolina with your cousin, mention to the artist that you do occasional house concerts, and end up with Pierce Pettis in your living room two months later!

I hadn't heard Free Seedlings before, but I'll be listening for them from now on. Thanks so much for introducing them!

The Boston Globe had articles about the anniversary of Passim and the concert by Joan Baez next weekend. I remember hearing Joan Baez at many different stages of her career. I gave her hospitality and visited her husband David in prison years ago. It's sad but true that anyplace she performs these days will be lacking in intimacy and tickets will be expensive. I agree that the folk scene has a whole lot of intimate venues where lesser-known performers can get close to their audiences, but it's still rare for an established folk musician to play at these places, and when they do (as when Joan Baez plays Passim this weekend) tickets will be scarce.

I saw Jonathan Edwards at Peterborough Players earlier this month, and I found the hall rather large (though not overly huge) and the tickets rather expensive (it was a birthday splurge for us). Jonathan evidently found the crowd somewhat sleepy, quiet and stiff and thought he had to do a lot of lively numbers with racy jokes to wake them up before he could do some of the slow harmony numbers that I think of as his specialty. Most of the audience was over fifty. Volunteers at this location get free admission, and many of the younger faces in the audience were in that category. I think the ideal folk venue is smaller than the Peterborough Players, and features several lesser-known acts at a time. The opening act at the Jonathan Edwards concert, Alastair Moock, who is a fine musician in his own right, got what can only be called a cold shoulder from the audience; at a smaller venue he would have had a great two-way interaction.

In the Globe article on Passim, the venue's host was quoted as saying that new young folk musicians such as Alela Diane, Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart have never played at Passim because their publicists have a database of rock venues and simply never consider non-alcoholic listening rooms like Passim. The problem of promoters and publicists getting in the way of artists finding their natural audiences is a big one, and radio shows really need to reach out to artists directly. I think MySpace is a great step forward, but it is not successful in getting talented young artists enough gigs to survive, and the publicists have wormed their way into the process, to its detriment. Folk is not rock, and quiet thoughtful music can only go so far playing in a limited number of bars that usually feature other genres.

I want to subscribe!

That's such a big question!

For me, folk music goes way beyond what most think. I would classify it more as "Americana" or "Roots Music."

This type of music is centered on singer/songwriters who relate deep truths about the American Experience, how people relate to each other, how the spirit of "God" or "Goddess" moves them and humanity's relationship to the environment.

But I guess folk music shouldn't be only connected to the American Experience.

There is some great music coming out of places such as Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, though maybe not traditional folk, still attempts to examine those basic relationships that make us human.

In an attempt to share our vision of what folk music is, my cousin and I have started a once-a-month concert series in Keene called Acoustic Sundays.

Artists we are bringing to town include Mark Erelli, Chris O'Brien, Meg Hutchinson, Rose Cousins, Jeffery Fouhcault and Rachael Sage.

If you'd like to learn more, please visit our Web site at orangeearthproductions.com.

Thanks!

I know the members of the band and have a correction to make. Dave Lewis is Jeff's dad, not his brother. This is important because Jeffrey is an amazing, though young musician. He is a mere a sophmore in high school though musical talents would never reveal his age. As for the rest of the band - all true folk, in all meanings of the word. I'm glad to hear they are getting some more attention, because as you can hear, they deserve it!

My husband recently put the album on for a friend of ours and he was nothing but surprised to have that friend say he had just heard "Brushpile" on NHPR. WAY TO GO NHPR. Just one more reason to be a member.

Thanks.