Re: [Harp-L] Folk disagreement



Winslow writes:

This is not to comment on the honesty or good will of those people or
on the musical or social value of what they do. Though clearly,
Michael's "subset" description points to a distorted understanding that
does not sit well with people who understand the origin of the term and
who value what it means.


I'd argue that traditional music is a subset of folk. Music that has an aural tradition and generally chronicles the lives and times of the people performing the music. That would make singer songwriter a subset of folk. It would also include a lot of the earlier blues genres along with the more modern Chicago era electric blues. Wang Dang Doodle for instance and the more obvious songs that quickly appeared after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Much of what we slot as world music would fall into the broader category of folk. Woody Guthrie did take melodies and write new words to them which I would think is completely in a folk tradition but if you'd like to exclude that subset of his music there is also his completely original work that chronicles the dust bowl era and the great depression. The Tohono O'odham Waila music is an interesting genre of dance music that I'd include in folk. There is also the entire genre of corridos many of which fall into the category of folk either by virtue of their traditional origins or how topical they are. I think it would be very difficult to get a narrow consensus regarding the definition of folk. There is much contentious writing on this subject.

Winslow adds: (quoted out of order)

Folk as I describe it is not a subset of anything else.

I would completely agree with this statement. fjm






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