Mike and I do our first concert in months on Sat. the 27th for Culture days at the Main Library. First concert sense last May and another 5 months or so before that. If you are in Victoria BC Click here for more information. PS its FREE!!! www.reverbnation.com/show/14233004
Riddle me this.......What do you get when you take a songwriter who is less than 30 hours post opp, add visiting friends who bring in a guitar, then mix in whatever it was they were giving me for pain? Why click here to see.
www.reverbnation.com/artist/video/13059321?fb_og_action=reverbnation_fb:unknown&fb_og_object=video.other&utm_campaign=a_public_videos&utm_content=video.other&utm_medium=facebook_og&utm_source=reverbnation_fb:unknown
It's funny, it's honest and off the cuff
Please feel free to share the video and this email with anyone you think would enjoy it.
Thanks
Jim
Reply
If you read my last newsletter you remember how I asked you all to write in to my doc to get me into a surgery 'cause I was very sore and tired of waiting. (ya for our medical system)
I got some feed back about how it wasn't such a good idea to use social media etc etc but you know I just wanna thank you all because I got a call from the doc's office asking if I was free on Friday. The call came in on Tuesday and after talking to my Jan and my parttime-full time job, I was good to go. And I am so glad I did and appreciative to all of you who emailed or called the doc because the surgery was a success! I am now 5 weeks post opp and feeling so much better. Thanks you one and all.
Now that the pain is almost gone I am pretty much off all the pain meds and only taking them at bed time. I figure in a couple of weeks they too will go the way of the Dodo bird. Yaaaaaaa! It is really nice to start thinking clearly again without the foggy mist that they had me in for almost a full year. I can't begin to explain the frustration and other feeling I went through on a daily basis trying to cope. I was working two full time-part time jobs and doing music full time too and truthfully never at my best because of pain, lack of sleep and meds. I was becoming bitchy, irritable and feeling unpredictable.
That is behind me now and to make it even better I have had cataracts removed from both eyes and because the lens had to be replaced anyway, I had corrective ones put in and I am actually sitting here typing and not wearing glasses! Very cool!
So here is what happens now....
Mike and I and practicing more 'cause we do our first concert in months on Sat. the 27th for Culture days at the Main Library. First concert sense last May and another 5 months or so before that. If you are in Victoria BC Click here for more information. http://www.reverbnation.com/show/14233004?eid=A415469_22645275_22614632_lnk1005&utm_content=1005&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fr_layout_16
Oh and here is the surprise I premised....
Question...What do you get when you take a songwriter who is less than 30 hours post opp, add visiting friends who bring in a guitar then mix in whatever it was they were giving me for pain? Why? Click here to see.
http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/video/13059321?fb_og_action=reverbnation_fb:unknown&fb_og_object=video.other&utm_campaign=a_public_videos&utm_content=video.other&utm_content=1006&utm_medium=facebook_og&utm_medium=email&utm_source=reverbnation_fb:unknown&utm_source=fr_layout_16&eid=A415469_22645275_22614632_lnk1006
It's funny, it's honest and off the cuff
Please feel free to share the video and this email with anyone you think would enjoy it.
Thanks again for just being out there.
Jim
Reply
I suppose you have noticed that my contact have been getting spaced more and more apart.
I have had some emails and a few phone calls asking me whats up so I figure its time let you all know.
I have a couple of medical problems that are slowing me down.
My right hip has failed and will be replaced when the doc gives me a space in his schedule. His name is Doc. McAlister and his office number is 250-381-5424. Give him a call and ask him or his service to get a move on and give me a date. I don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt. I can walk for short distances, sit for short times and spend most of my time flat on my back. Not making music because of the pain. I feel like I am in survival mood.
I also have sciatic nerve pain... causing the same results only different as you can understand. I spend most time in bed. I will be getting a shot for this on the 9th July and that may cure it. Wish me luck.
Both of these have been getting steadily worse for a year and have been stopping me playing and performing for months.
The CD is still on its way and is mostly done, all I need to do is get healthy enough to release it and do a tour.
I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I actually hoped it would go away buy it hasn't.
So now you are all up to date and in the loop. Writing this has been hard for me, so I am gonna go and hit the save button before I change my mind.
Jim
Jim
Reply
This is going to be a really wonderful show. With everything going on I don't feel ready. I will be. I have to be. I get to play two songs that changed my life and I truly believe changed the world. "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young and John Lennon's "Imagine". Maybe that is why I feel so nervous. Tough acts to follow.
Come share the magic and support a great cause. I am.
Jim
This is it! Tonights the night, :-)
Reply
Like I said, I'm not asking you for money (at least not yet :-) but I am asking you a favor none the less.
VOTE VOTE VOTE SHARE SHARE SHARE! Time is almost out... Here is the link...
http;//music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Jim-Moffatt WHY? Whay are ya, new? Oh you didn't read the last email...ok ...let me explain ...
I am entered into the CBC Search light and have a good chance of winning but there is good news and bad news.
First the bad news... the entries are closed and its too late to change anything. The file I loaded up seems to have gone corrupt. It plays but just doesn't sound as good as it should. So I have to fight that buy (and now the good news) asking all my friends and family on the email list to please click this link and scrowl down to the voteing button and vote for me.
Please vote everyday untill the contest is ended and share the link with ALL your friends.
Here is a link to a better copy of the song for you to hear..just scroll down to Gotta Make a Choice.
I really need your help here.
On to other news...
I spent some hours in a recording studio ran by a friend named Les Sharcott up in Parksville. We recorded all the tracks for the CD. The recording is FINISHED! Les is going through the production and finishing and i will have them as soon as he is done and yes, Mike joined me so this is really a fine sounding recording with lots of damn finr music.
In closing lease vote everyday and share the links with all your friends...winning this could easily change everything for me.
Your friend in music
Jim Moffatt
Reply
Hi Everyone
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is running SearchLight.
I am in it and I need your votes to get through. The song I submitted is called "Gotta Make a Choice" Its about our world and how we look at it.
So here is what I am asking you to do.
Click the link below.
Scroll down to the vote button and use it.
This could change my life and I need your help to make it happen. Please vote everyday till the 6th April and share this with your timeline FB friends and any other way you can think of,.
Please.
Here's the link... http://music.cbc.ca/play/artist/Jim-Moffatt/Gotta-Make-a-Choice Just copy and past in your browser. Please do this for me.
On other news Mike and I have been recording like crazy in Les Sharcott's studio (big thank you to him) and new cd is getting closer.
I hope all is well with you and your family.
J
Reply
Hello Everyone
First the good news....
I played a concert at Highlands Folk Club last Saturday/ First one in quit a while...here is why...
This summer I had a plan. Then life got in the way an it just didn’t happen. The first and biggest heart ache was that my friend and father-in-law John became ill and passed away within 2 months. It felt so much longer. John was a big tall man and I watched him wither and fail all the while feeling angry and helpless that nothing was or could be done. I sang for him twice in his time. Once upstairs in my studio and once on the porch at his home in Nanimo. Then I was singing for him at his memorial. I always thought there would be more time. Time to talk, to get his wisdom and advice. Time to sing songs with him from the old days. Time to just be with him. He was a rock and rocks last forever don't they? I will miss this old man who was at first meeting reserved, then as we grew to know one another we grew to trust and talk deeply about dreams and hopes and promises. He was my friend.
The second thing is my right hip is failing. Been sore for years but now beyond that. Doc says they are going to have to replace it and sooner rather than later. Crap! Those of you that have been around for a while will be adding up the bionic total but let me just help you out. I have an artificial left hip and right knee now. This right hip replacement will bring the total to 3 main joints. I drive the airports security nuts :-) This will keep me in bed for about a month and take about 3 months to get back into the saddle.
The pain and condition of the joint make this gig the last one for a few months, until the replacement is done and I heal at least but will give me some writing time (always a silver lining).
I am sorry to have not written more during the summer. You all deserve more but I would have been ranting and I think letting me settle down a bit is better. As it is this is longer than I wanted and there is still more to say,,,,I will put it in a song
Next time and Merry Christmas to you and yours
Jim
PS My friend T.R. Richie could use you help. Not Charity. Please, if you love his music go and read his Face Book page and see if there is anything you can do
Thanks..Jim
Reply
Been a real interesting time (reminds me of a Chinese curse)
This is going to be short.
About a week ago our main water line to the house blew. There was a wet spot in the lawn but didn't really register as a problem until it became a puddle in the middle of a dry week. So I dug a hole, struck a fountian and called the city. So sad, too bad says they as they turned off the water, smiled and went on their way. Called a plumber and we now have water again. But for a few days I realized how nice it was to have an emergency water supply in the basement. :-)
Now we are waiting for a cement man to come (recommended by the plumber of course) and rebuild our driveway and front walk.
All this because of a little pipe in the ground. Well the really good news is that our Magnolia tree in the front yard may not live. Oh! I forgot to mention that it was in a rough way as it seems to have been drowning cause of the pipe leaking.
Having a good time recording and only wishing I had more time to get into the studio. Its just seems like there is always something pulling me away. Burst pipe, practices gigs and lets not forget the infamous day job. (I love my job, i love my job, i love, my job (cough cough) I love my job) But this is life 101 and things just gotta get done.
I played a local festival called Creatively United for the Planet. Lot of fun and a great cause to support a celebration of solutions. Mike says he had a good time too although he wouldn’t let me stay long enough to take a test drive on one of those 2 wheeled electric carts that you stand up on and tool around. Maybe for the best...hell I might have driven it off a cliff or something!
I hope you and yours are well.
Nothing but love and music
Jim
Reply
Hi Everyone...So its like this...
I need your help plan and simple. I need your help.
I entered this contest for two reasons. I need the mic that is a prize and I want to share this song. Its called the Blues Man. I wrote it for my Dad, Sherard. I found his horn in its case when I was 3 years old. Brass, in blue velvet. I didn't know what it was but I thought it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. My dad played horn. He's been dead many years now and I never heard him play, not once. This is for him.
Could you please share this with your contacts and vote for me. I understand if you are too busy.
https://beta.indabamusic.com/opportunities/emerging-artist-series-presented-by-blue-microphones/submissions/8b3d1c0a-8c00-11e2-af21-12313d2b98a5?sort=hottest
Reply
Andrew Calhoun's Lantern Bearer acceptance speech:
25 years ago, my marriage was breaking up. My wife’s remark to me on my way out the door was
“You’re just gonna be a folksinger for the rest of your life.”
.John Perry and his wife Micki were the heart of the Three Rivers Folk Society in Kennewick, Washington, creating sing-arounds, producing concerts in the Grange hall and an annual festival. When I heard John had passed away a few years ago, my first thought was, “A life promoting folk music is a life well spent.”
“God bless the grass that grows through the crack
They roll the concrete over it to try and keep it back
The concrete gets tired of what it has to do
It breaks and it buckles and the grass grows through
And God bless the grass.” - Malvina Reynolds
Folk Music is bigger than us: it is more than a genre, a sound, a style of music with stars and charts and so on. Traditional songs existed and thrived outside of the economic system, the jewels of the hardscrabble poor. They existed on their own merits - for hundreds of years, passed from singer to singer. “Oral tradition” is an academic term for something we don’t think enough about. Imagine there is no google, and no library, and no writing paper; and you are the carrier of a ballad which has been the sacred property of your family for generations, which is not shared readily with strangers. You are the book. There is a tremendous self-esteem which goes with this experience.
The great folk ballads of antiquity are largely the work of women - women singing to babies, singing at the hoeing and the milking, singing at the spinning wheel. Rituals for ancestor communion are universal in tribal cultures. Old songs sung with respect carry this energy. In this country, folk songs have been called into action in the Underground Railroad, the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-War movement.
Have these battles been won?
Are there still battles worth fighting?
What are they?
There used to be a good deal of talk about “songwriter vs traditional” in the Folk Alliance newsletter’s letter section. At bottom, it is the same spirit of quest and the discipline and courage for the journey that makes a great songwriter or folksinger. For a folksinger, it’s the desire to understand as much as possible about a song and the people who made it, and why they sang it. Murder ballads like “Pretty Polly” were sung to children as a warning; everyone is not your friend. When I heard “The Two Sisters” as a kid, I thought the elder sister was just mean; but the eldest sister was supposed to marry first, and when the younger sister stepped out of line with the suitor, she was murdered. It’s a conservative song, in a way. These songs had a psychological purpose, which is why they survived for hundreds of years. I never thought ‘Barbara Allen” was that interesting - the pining lover dying for love; Martin Carthy wrote that her name was “Barbary Ellen,” she was a gypsy and that’s why William didn’t drink her health with his friends in the tavern; he had insulted her people and that’s why her heart was hardened. When you understand that, you have an epic tragedy. The folksinger’s quest is through old books and field recordings to find new old songs, and finding source singers to learn from. It’s spending the time to tune your ear to different frequencies of the scale. You have to be in love.
A songwriter’s quest is internal: what is the hardest question I can ask? What do I love the most? What is the thing I fear most to speak? “What is this thing or experience like?” And to spend time with that sense of what a thing truly is, and let the words come. If you know what you want to say in a song before you start, it probably isn’t worth writing. The song holds the energy of the risks you take and the choices you make while you’re working on it. ... cont.....
Reply
Jim Moffatt / Blog
Hey I am doing a show Tomorrow!
Mike and I do our first concert in months on Sat. the 27th for Culture days at the Main Library. First concert sense last May and another 5 months or so before that. If you are in Victoria BC Click here for more information. PS its FREE!!! www.reverbnation.com/show/14233004 Riddle me this.......What do you get when you take a songwriter who is less than 30 hours post opp, add visiting friends who bring in a guitar, then mix in whatever it was they were giving me for pain? Why click here to see. www.reverbnation.com/artist/video/13059321?fb_og_action=reverbnation_fb:unknown&fb_og_object=video.other&utm_campaign=a_public_videos&utm_content=video.other&utm_medium=facebook_og&utm_source=reverbnation_fb:unknown It's funny, it's honest and off the cuff Please feel free to share the video and this email with anyone you think would enjoy it. Thanks Jim
Reply
An update from Jim
If you read my last newsletter you remember how I asked you all to write in to my doc to get me into a surgery 'cause I was very sore and tired of waiting. (ya for our medical system) I got some feed back about how it wasn't such a good idea to use social media etc etc but you know I just wanna thank you all because I got a call from the doc's office asking if I was free on Friday. The call came in on Tuesday and after talking to my Jan and my parttime-full time job, I was good to go. And I am so glad I did and appreciative to all of you who emailed or called the doc because the surgery was a success! I am now 5 weeks post opp and feeling so much better. Thanks you one and all. Now that the pain is almost gone I am pretty much off all the pain meds and only taking them at bed time. I figure in a couple of weeks they too will go the way of the Dodo bird. Yaaaaaaa! It is really nice to start thinking clearly again without the foggy mist that they had me in for almost a full year. I can't begin to explain the frustration and other feeling I went through on a daily basis trying to cope. I was working two full time-part time jobs and doing music full time too and truthfully never at my best because of pain, lack of sleep and meds. I was becoming bitchy, irritable and feeling unpredictable. That is behind me now and to make it even better I have had cataracts removed from both eyes and because the lens had to be replaced anyway, I had corrective ones put in and I am actually sitting here typing and not wearing glasses! Very cool! So here is what happens now.... Mike and I and practicing more 'cause we do our first concert in months on Sat. the 27th for Culture days at the Main Library. First concert sense last May and another 5 months or so before that. If you are in Victoria BC Click here for more information. http://www.reverbnation.com/show/14233004?eid=A415469_22645275_22614632_lnk1005&utm_content=1005&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fr_layout_16 Oh and here is the surprise I premised.... Question...What do you get when you take a songwriter who is less than 30 hours post opp, add visiting friends who bring in a guitar then mix in whatever it was they were giving me for pain? Why? Click here to see. http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/video/13059321?fb_og_action=reverbnation_fb:unknown&fb_og_object=video.other&utm_campaign=a_public_videos&utm_content=video.other&utm_content=1006&utm_medium=facebook_og&utm_medium=email&utm_source=reverbnation_fb:unknown&utm_source=fr_layout_16&eid=A415469_22645275_22614632_lnk1006 It's funny, it's honest and off the cuff Please feel free to share the video and this email with anyone you think would enjoy it. Thanks again for just being out there. Jim
Reply
The Explanation
I suppose you have noticed that my contact have been getting spaced more and more apart. I have had some emails and a few phone calls asking me whats up so I figure its time let you all know. I have a couple of medical problems that are slowing me down. My right hip has failed and will be replaced when the doc gives me a space in his schedule. His name is Doc. McAlister and his office number is 250-381-5424. Give him a call and ask him or his service to get a move on and give me a date. I don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt. I can walk for short distances, sit for short times and spend most of my time flat on my back. Not making music because of the pain. I feel like I am in survival mood. I also have sciatic nerve pain... causing the same results only different as you can understand. I spend most time in bed. I will be getting a shot for this on the 9th July and that may cure it. Wish me luck. Both of these have been getting steadily worse for a year and have been stopping me playing and performing for months. The CD is still on its way and is mostly done, all I need to do is get healthy enough to release it and do a tour. I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I actually hoped it would go away buy it hasn't. So now you are all up to date and in the loop. Writing this has been hard for me, so I am gonna go and hit the save button before I change my mind. Jim Jim
Reply
Concert tonight and I am nervous
This is going to be a really wonderful show. With everything going on I don't feel ready. I will be. I have to be. I get to play two songs that changed my life and I truly believe changed the world. "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young and John Lennon's "Imagine". Maybe that is why I feel so nervous. Tough acts to follow. Come share the magic and support a great cause. I am. Jim This is it! Tonights the night, :-)
Reply
Don't the days seem short and times running out?
Like I said, I'm not asking you for money (at least not yet :-) but I am asking you a favor none the less.
VOTE VOTE VOTE SHARE SHARE SHARE! Time is almost out... Here is the link...
http;//music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Jim-Moffatt WHY? Whay are ya, new? Oh you didn't read the last email...ok ...let me explain ... I am entered into the CBC Search light and have a good chance of winning but there is good news and bad news. First the bad news... the entries are closed and its too late to change anything. The file I loaded up seems to have gone corrupt. It plays but just doesn't sound as good as it should. So I have to fight that buy (and now the good news) asking all my friends and family on the email list to please click this link and scrowl down to the voteing button and vote for me. Please vote everyday untill the contest is ended and share the link with ALL your friends. Here is a link to a better copy of the song for you to hear..just scroll down to Gotta Make a Choice. I really need your help here. On to other news... I spent some hours in a recording studio ran by a friend named Les Sharcott up in Parksville. We recorded all the tracks for the CD. The recording is FINISHED! Les is going through the production and finishing and i will have them as soon as he is done and yes, Mike joined me so this is really a fine sounding recording with lots of damn finr music. In closing lease vote everyday and share the links with all your friends...winning this could easily change everything for me. Your friend in music Jim Moffatt
Reply
Jim needs your support
Hi Everyone The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is running SearchLight. I am in it and I need your votes to get through. The song I submitted is called "Gotta Make a Choice" Its about our world and how we look at it. So here is what I am asking you to do. Click the link below. Scroll down to the vote button and use it. This could change my life and I need your help to make it happen. Please vote everyday till the 6th April and share this with your timeline FB friends and any other way you can think of,. Please. Here's the link... http://music.cbc.ca/play/artist/Jim-Moffatt/Gotta-Make-a-Choice Just copy and past in your browser. Please do this for me.
On other news Mike and I have been recording like crazy in Les Sharcott's studio (big thank you to him) and new cd is getting closer. I hope all is well with you and your family. J
Reply
Dec 2013 Jim is back online
Hello Everyone First the good news.... I played a concert at Highlands Folk Club last Saturday/ First one in quit a while...here is why...
This summer I had a plan. Then life got in the way an it just didn’t happen. The first and biggest heart ache was that my friend and father-in-law John became ill and passed away within 2 months. It felt so much longer. John was a big tall man and I watched him wither and fail all the while feeling angry and helpless that nothing was or could be done. I sang for him twice in his time. Once upstairs in my studio and once on the porch at his home in Nanimo. Then I was singing for him at his memorial. I always thought there would be more time. Time to talk, to get his wisdom and advice. Time to sing songs with him from the old days. Time to just be with him. He was a rock and rocks last forever don't they? I will miss this old man who was at first meeting reserved, then as we grew to know one another we grew to trust and talk deeply about dreams and hopes and promises. He was my friend. The second thing is my right hip is failing. Been sore for years but now beyond that. Doc says they are going to have to replace it and sooner rather than later. Crap! Those of you that have been around for a while will be adding up the bionic total but let me just help you out. I have an artificial left hip and right knee now. This right hip replacement will bring the total to 3 main joints. I drive the airports security nuts :-) This will keep me in bed for about a month and take about 3 months to get back into the saddle. The pain and condition of the joint make this gig the last one for a few months, until the replacement is done and I heal at least but will give me some writing time (always a silver lining). I am sorry to have not written more during the summer. You all deserve more but I would have been ranting and I think letting me settle down a bit is better. As it is this is longer than I wanted and there is still more to say,,,,I will put it in a song Next time and Merry Christmas to you and yours Jim
PS My friend T.R. Richie could use you help. Not Charity. Please, if you love his music go and read his Face Book page and see if there is anything you can do
Thanks..Jim
Reply
general news from Jim Moffatt
Been a real interesting time (reminds me of a Chinese curse) This is going to be short. About a week ago our main water line to the house blew. There was a wet spot in the lawn but didn't really register as a problem until it became a puddle in the middle of a dry week. So I dug a hole, struck a fountian and called the city. So sad, too bad says they as they turned off the water, smiled and went on their way. Called a plumber and we now have water again. But for a few days I realized how nice it was to have an emergency water supply in the basement. :-) Now we are waiting for a cement man to come (recommended by the plumber of course) and rebuild our driveway and front walk. All this because of a little pipe in the ground. Well the really good news is that our Magnolia tree in the front yard may not live. Oh! I forgot to mention that it was in a rough way as it seems to have been drowning cause of the pipe leaking.
Having a good time recording and only wishing I had more time to get into the studio. Its just seems like there is always something pulling me away. Burst pipe, practices gigs and lets not forget the infamous day job. (I love my job, i love my job, i love, my job (cough cough) I love my job) But this is life 101 and things just gotta get done.
I played a local festival called Creatively United for the Planet. Lot of fun and a great cause to support a celebration of solutions. Mike says he had a good time too although he wouldn’t let me stay long enough to take a test drive on one of those 2 wheeled electric carts that you stand up on and tool around. Maybe for the best...hell I might have driven it off a cliff or something!
I hope you and yours are well. Nothing but love and music Jim
Reply
Announcement
Hi Everyone...So its like this... I need your help plan and simple. I need your help. I entered this contest for two reasons. I need the mic that is a prize and I want to share this song. Its called the Blues Man. I wrote it for my Dad, Sherard. I found his horn in its case when I was 3 years old. Brass, in blue velvet. I didn't know what it was but I thought it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. My dad played horn. He's been dead many years now and I never heard him play, not once. This is for him. Could you please share this with your contacts and vote for me. I understand if you are too busy. https://beta.indabamusic.com/opportunities/emerging-artist-series-presented-by-blue-microphones/submissions/8b3d1c0a-8c00-11e2-af21-12313d2b98a5?sort=hottest
Reply
People Ask "Why do you write" part A
Andrew Calhoun's Lantern Bearer acceptance speech: 25 years ago, my marriage was breaking up. My wife’s remark to me on my way out the door was “You’re just gonna be a folksinger for the rest of your life.” .John Perry and his wife Micki were the heart of the Three Rivers Folk Society in Kennewick, Washington, creating sing-arounds, producing concerts in the Grange hall and an annual festival. When I heard John had passed away a few years ago, my first thought was, “A life promoting folk music is a life well spent.”
“God bless the grass that grows through the crack They roll the concrete over it to try and keep it back The concrete gets tired of what it has to do It breaks and it buckles and the grass grows through And God bless the grass.” - Malvina Reynolds Folk Music is bigger than us: it is more than a genre, a sound, a style of music with stars and charts and so on. Traditional songs existed and thrived outside of the economic system, the jewels of the hardscrabble poor. They existed on their own merits - for hundreds of years, passed from singer to singer. “Oral tradition” is an academic term for something we don’t think enough about. Imagine there is no google, and no library, and no writing paper; and you are the carrier of a ballad which has been the sacred property of your family for generations, which is not shared readily with strangers. You are the book. There is a tremendous self-esteem which goes with this experience. The great folk ballads of antiquity are largely the work of women - women singing to babies, singing at the hoeing and the milking, singing at the spinning wheel. Rituals for ancestor communion are universal in tribal cultures. Old songs sung with respect carry this energy. In this country, folk songs have been called into action in the Underground Railroad, the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-War movement. Have these battles been won? Are there still battles worth fighting? What are they? There used to be a good deal of talk about “songwriter vs traditional” in the Folk Alliance newsletter’s letter section. At bottom, it is the same spirit of quest and the discipline and courage for the journey that makes a great songwriter or folksinger. For a folksinger, it’s the desire to understand as much as possible about a song and the people who made it, and why they sang it. Murder ballads like “Pretty Polly” were sung to children as a warning; everyone is not your friend. When I heard “The Two Sisters” as a kid, I thought the elder sister was just mean; but the eldest sister was supposed to marry first, and when the younger sister stepped out of line with the suitor, she was murdered. It’s a conservative song, in a way. These songs had a psychological purpose, which is why they survived for hundreds of years. I never thought ‘Barbara Allen” was that interesting - the pining lover dying for love; Martin Carthy wrote that her name was “Barbary Ellen,” she was a gypsy and that’s why William didn’t drink her health with his friends in the tavern; he had insulted her people and that’s why her heart was hardened. When you understand that, you have an epic tragedy. The folksinger’s quest is through old books and field recordings to find new old songs, and finding source singers to learn from. It’s spending the time to tune your ear to different frequencies of the scale. You have to be in love. A songwriter’s quest is internal: what is the hardest question I can ask? What do I love the most? What is the thing I fear most to speak? “What is this thing or experience like?” And to spend time with that sense of what a thing truly is, and let the words come. If you know what you want to say in a song before you start, it probably isn’t worth writing. The song holds the energy of the risks you take and the choices you make while you’re working on it. ... cont.....
Reply