Whew! After nearly five days at the 2010 Folk Alliance Conference held at the massive downtown Marriott in Memphis, as Grandpa would say, I'm worn to a frazzle. It's nice to be home after what had to have been some of the craziest days of my entire life, but what a great experience and awesome opportunity it was to hob-nob with some truly amazing musicians and performers.
I can safely say this conference was really nothing like I expected. Yes, there was plenty of "traditional folk" performed by typical granolas that you think of when you hear the word, but this group's definition of "folk" encompasses MUCH more than I dreamed possible. There were Jazz and Blues groups - some with only string instruments, some with brass, Old Time string bands (my favorite, of course), Bluegrass bands, Cajun fiddlers, Gospel bands featuring steel guitars, International bands featuring everything from traditional Irish/Celtic performers to Australian bands with drums and didgeridoos - and everything in between, including blends of different genres and styles. I saw every instrument you could possibly imagine - aside from every stringed instrument from fiddles to cellos to harps, brass and wind instruments, harmonicas, every kind of drum (even trash can lids for cymbals)....I even saw a huge xylophone being wheeled through the lobby.
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I witnessed some heated debate between many participants as to what the broad term "Folk" actually encompasses...which I found out was not just an ongoing debate, but additionally spurred by the Alliance's decision to recognize Bob Dylan with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Apparently this is a touchy subject with a lot of people in the folk world, and really I didn't understand the argument, but it seemed to center on "is Dylan really folk since he was popular and went electric?" Of course Bob Dylan wasn't there, but since his response likely would've been incoherent it probably didn't matter. During some performances, especially by older performers who were a self-proclaimed part of the "Big Folk-Scare of the Sixties" (whatever that was), disparaging remarks were made toward Dylan, as well as other popular folkies of the time like Peter, Paul, and Mary and Gordon Lightfoot. Apparently to some you're not "folk" if you get popular...because if you get popular you bow to "The Man" and are a puppet of "evil corporate America." Seriously - that is verbatim.
Eventually through the course of the week, Violet, Sterling, and I were drawn together with the other old-time string band musicians to hang out, visit, and jam, as well as listen to each other's performances.
The FA Conference is a bit hard to describe, but seems mostly to be a way for musicians, groups, singers, and songwriters to be heard by agents, producers, record label representatives, festival organizers, etc in the hopes of getting recorded or to be hired for gigs, and to just get a little publicity. The way the FA organizers allow so many performers to be heard is by having "Showcases" in all the conference rooms, one after another all evening. all at the same time. In addition, the three upper floors of the hotel were nearly round-the-clock smaller "Private Showcases", where in every room a performer or group were able to do a few songs for whoever could jam themselves into the room long enough to listen...each room on each floor a constant revolving door for all kinds of performers until well into the wee hours of the morning. The halls and elevators were crammed with agents with clipboards, musicians, instruments, and us. And while all this was going on, jam sessions were happening all over the place. In every nook and cranny of the huge fancy lobby, in the elevators, hallways, and even on the street outside just a few blocks from Beale street.
Our small part in this conference was mainly to get Violet to the Awards Ceremony, where she received her award and performed a song for a pretty huge audience. She also had a 30 minute interview in one of the conference rooms. Then, she was given a Showcase of her own to perform.
Here are some pics from the week. Unfortunately the pictures don't do the conference justice. If you can imagine a couple thousand people running around this hotel, all carrying instruments, jamming everywhere...that's pretty accurate. Music was coming from every corner of the hotel at any given time of day or night.
Here is Violet in her interview done by fiddler/banjo-picker/producer Matt Brown, from Pennsylvania.
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Violet played "Buffalo Nickel" with plenty of accompaniment at the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday night for a crowd of several hundred in one of the hotel's big conference rooms.
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Violet jamming with the awesome bluegrass group "The Chapmans", who play the kind of bluegrass that really rolls around in your gut. I'd seen them perform at Silver Dollar City before, and they were one of the best groups at the conference - definitely the best in the bluegrass genre.
Sterling and Violet playing in the Showcase, along with Matt Brown (banjo) and Tracy Schwartz (guitar). By the time she finished, there wasn't even standing room left, and people were stacked out in the hall. To say Violet was "The Belle of the Ball" is pretty apt.
More to come! There are just too many pictures, and too much to describe in just one post.
1 comment:
Wow!! Very, very cool.
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