------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- REC.MUSIC.FOLK |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| --------------- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ------------------------------ version 1.0 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| -------------------------- January 1, 1994 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION This is the first full draft the RMF FAQ list. Contributions and constructive criticism are welcome. I will try to update this file on a regular basis. The notation [?] occurs where I feel the information is doubtful or could be more complete. Mail additions or corrections to the editor, TDAWSON@DELPHI.COM. Please note: 1) How to use various features of the Internet or Usenet is beyond the scope of this document. Read the newsgroup news.announce.newusers for introductory information and news.answers for detailed information. 2) This list is meant to be useful, but no list can be comprehensive. When in doubt, ASK. Net people are, as a rule, helpful, and asking questions is a sign of intelligence... 3) Net information is the *opposite* of being carved in stone. All information in this list is presented "as is". Given the nature of the medium, this information was outdated some time ago... 4) Many thanks to all the people who work so hard to gather and organize information, and to those who have contributed suggestions and ideas. A list of contributors is at the end of this file. Terry Dawson / tdawson@delphi.com / 940101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS ======== INTRODUCTION QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q1: What is folk music? Q2: What folk music information sources are available via Usenet? Q3: What other network resources, including musical FTP sites & archives, are available? Q4: What are the best sources for discographies? Q5: Where can I find lyrics/guitar chords/tablature for songs? Q6: What mailing lists are available for folk music? Q7: What computer bulletin boards contain useful folk & music trade info? Q8: What is _Rise Up Singing_? Q9: What other print sources have useful information? Q10: Where can I find places to play / see live folk music? Q11: Where can I find artists' schedules? Q12: What are some good, award-winning or recommended artists or albums? Q13: Where can I find information about an artist? Q14: What's all this about Stan Rogers, then? Q15: Why worry about copyright? This is folk music. Q16: What are some good mail order sources for recordings, songbooks, or musical instruments? Q17: What's that music in the Volkswagen commercial? Q18: What is "The Digital Tradition?" Q19: What's that song "Willy McBride", or "No Man's Land" or "Green Fields of France"? Q20: What is Sacred Harp singing? Q21: What is filk music? ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Q1: What is folk music? A1: It's what I mean when I point to it and say "that's it". _Dirty Linen_ magazine ads answer this with "Who cares?" Big Bill Broonzy once said "all songs is folk songs". Schooner Fare said something like "Folk music is the music you can't keep yourself from singing." This newsgroup tends to be inclusive, accepting, and generally broadminded on the subject, at least for purposes for discussion. There is no one single, objective and comprehensive universally accepted definition. With that caveat, folk music is traditional music from an oral rather than written tradition, plus modern music, usually acoustic, in the same spirit as the traditional. Folk tends to be a popular music of the common people, *usually* not requiring electricity, amplification, or large numbers of people. Folk music concerns itself (though not exclusively) with common cares and concerns, frequently through stortytelling. Folk music is real, not artificial. It matters less what the record label is and what the instumentation is, than it matters that the songs and sounds speak truly. Q2: What folk music information sources are available via Usenet? A2: This question is answered in detail as part of the regular posting in rec.music.info and news.answers. Briefly: Newsgroups: rec.music.folk - the main source rec.music.bluenote - related interests rec.music.dylan rec.music.celtic rec.music.country.western alt.guitar.tab - other good stuff alt.music.bela-fleck alt.music.filk rec.arts.wobegon rec.music.info rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature This is not meant to be exclusive: interested persons should explore explore the rec.music. hierarchy and such portions of the alt. hierarchy as are relevant to personal tastes. Many periodic or FAQ articles are available for anonymous ftp from the archive site rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers. Selected files from the many useful ones available in rec.music.info include: List of Internet Musical FTP Sites List of Internet Musical Resources List of Usenet Musical Newsgroups Submission guidelines for rec.music.info Welcome to rec.music.info Look for these in news.answers and rec.music.info as a good overview of Usenet music resources. Q3: What other network resources, including musical FTP sites & archives, are available? A3: Most of the online information is stored at a few sites which may be accessed via ftp, telnet or gopher. An exception is the Digital Tradition database of songs. This is accessible via World-Wide Web and is searchable via hypertext searching software. Telnet info.cern.ch, see also Q18. A complete list of musical ftp sites is periodically posted in rec.music.info and news.answers. Those listed here are a folk music subset of that list. The two most wide-ranging are at NYSERNET in New York and University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Sites: casbah.acns.nwu.edu [129.105.113.52] Look in /pub/acoustic-guitar for issues of Acoustic Guitar Digest, maintained by Joe Germuska (j-germuska@nwu.edu) celtic.stanford.edu Has celtic music information and discographies via anonymous ftp. ftp.iastate.edu [129.186.150.150] daily mirror site for ftp.uwp.edu. ftp.maths.tcd.ie [134.226.81.10] pub/music/, maintained by John McDonagh (morpheus@maths.tcd.ie), is a relatively small archive site with some lyrics and guitar TABs. It is not as big as Nevada, and has only a few lyric files but is more of a site for those who like 'Gothic' or alternative music. ftp.nevada.edu [131.216.1.11] Guitar tablature, chords and lyrics to many songs for a wide range of musical tastes. Submissions copied from books are not allowed. Directories /pub/guitar and /pub/bass, maintained by James B. (jamesb@nevada.edu) ftp.uwp.edu [131.210.1.4] The directory /pub/music is maintained by David Datta (datta@cs.uwp.edu) and contains many useful information, not limited to folk music. The site is gopher-accessible. /pub/music/lists contains information on mailing lists etc., related to many artists, some not part of the Musical List of Lists (see Q6) The file /pub/music/folk/folk.music has an index to all the Folk Music, Bluegrass, Old-Time Music, Country Blues and Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitarist files. Available via anonymous ftp or gopher. Discographies, bibliographies, lyrics, guitar chords and more. ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au [149.171.224.9] /pub/guitar-lessons - archive for the guitar lessons mailing list, maintained by Kevin Elphinstone nysernet.org [192.77.173.2] Accessible via anonymous ftp, gopher, and telnet (by connecting to nysernet.org and typing "nysernet" as a login name, no password is necessary). Areas include: dirty_linen lyrics discographies artist_cals fanclubs Files are contained within the directory /folk_music. Check in the directory /folk_music/dirty_linen for the huge monthly tour calendars and the ASCII version of their excellent Guide to Folk/Roots/Acoustic Music Publications (GUIDE2.TXT). theory.lcs.mit.edu [18.52.0.92] pub/wald/concert-calendar, maintained by David Wald (wald@theory.lcs.mit.edu), is an online calendar of (mostly) folk music concert listings in New England, also available by email: send email with the line "send wald concert-calendar" to archive-server@theory.lcs.mit.edu. Q4: What are the best sources for discographies? A4: In addition to the ftp/gopher sites listed above in Q3, try _Phonolog Reports_, available in larger record stores and libraries- this lists titles currently available. Mailing lists devoted to an artist are an excellent source as well (see Q6). The books and magazines listed below provide good, but often outdated, sources. Q5: Where can I find lyrics/guitar chords/tablature for songs? A5: The ftp/gopher sites listed above in Q3. The newsgroups alt.guitar.tab and rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature are also good sources. See also the print sources in Q8 & Q9 Q6: What mailing lists are available for folk music? A6: There is no single source listing all the relevant lists available. Try the uwp.edu ftp site in the directory /pub/music/lists and the: Musical List of Lists-presented and updated by The Cleveland Free-Net Music SIG. Send corrections to mlol@wariat.org. For the most recent MLoL mail mlol-request@wariat.org. For any problems, or to get an update made, mail mlol-owner@wariat.org. Entries are four lines: 1) the name or topic of the list; 2) the address for requests to join a list; 3) address of the list manager (only mail the manager with problems); 4) comments or special instructions. One interesting aspect of the lists is encountering some of the practicing musicians who participate. Some of the better known current examples include: Christine Lavin, Bob Franke, Andrew Ratshin, and Peter Berryman. A few selected examples: BGRASS-L "Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Discussion" - listserv@ukcc.uky.edu (where else?) Mngr: UKAO16@UKCC.UKY.EDU: Frank Godbey Blues Newsletter - mojohand@shell.portal.com Boiled in Lead - [?] Leonard Cohen - lcohen-admin@unix.sri.com Bob Dylan - Highway61-Request@fuggles.acc.Virginia.EDU Enya - enya-request@boulder.colorado.edu Mngr: tim@boulder.colorado.edu : Tim Hunter folk and celtic harp - [?] Mngr: FOLKDJ-L "Folk and Bluegrass DJs" -listserv@psuvm.psu.edu Mngr: TMH1@PSUVM.PSU.EDU: Tina Hay folk_music@nysernet.org (New American Folk Music discussion List) Folk_music is a moderated discussion list dealing with the music of the recent wave of american singer/songwriters. List traffic consists of tour schedules, reviews, album release info and other information on artists like Shawn Colvin, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, David Wilcox, Nanci Griffith, Darden Smith, Cheryl Wheeler, John Gorka, Ani DiFranco, and others. To subscribe, mail this request to : SUBSCRIBE FOLK_MUSIC Your Fullname Questions, requests for information, etc., should be sent to the moderator Alan Rowoth . Submissions are accepted by mail to or by fax at 315.474.2766. Folktalk -listserver@leo.vsla.edu Mngr: shammer@leo.vsla.edu : Scott Hammer Unmoderated discussion of topics of interest. More open and freewheeling than the moderated folk_music list. Guitar lessons - guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au Mngr: Kevin Elphinstone Weekly guitar lessons Harmonica players - listserv@wkuvx1.wku.edu subscribe harp-l Dan Hicks - sramirez@sedona.intel.com Mngr: sramirez@sedona.intel.com : Steve Ramirez Discussion on Dan Hicks (Hot Licks,Acoustic Warriors), past & present. Indigo Girls - indigo-girls-request@cgrg.ohio-state.edu Mngr: spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu : Stephen Spencer Discussion of Indigo Girls and related artists' music, tour info, etc. Regular and "digest" (compiled once every 24 hours) formats available, specify "regular" or "digest" in subscription request. IRTRAD-D TRAD (the electronic Irish Traditional Music Newsletter) is prepared in the Music Dept. of University College, Cork, Ireland by Paul McGettrick ARAR6013@IRUCCVAX & Hammy Hamilton ARMU6001@IRUCCVAX. Monthly digest of IRTRAD-L. To receive IRTRAD: send the mesasage "SUBSCRIBE IRTRAD-D your full name" to LISTSERV@IRLEARN.UCD.IE IRTRAD-L (Irish Traditional Music List) To subscribe, send to LISTSERV@IRLEARN.BITNET Please note that this command must NOT be sent to the listaddress IRTRAD-L@IRLEARN.BITNET To post a message, send to: IRTRAD-L@IRLEARN.UCD.IE Lute - lute-request@cs.dartmouth.edu Mngr: wbc@everest.cs.dartmouth.edu : Wayne Cripps Archives and lute tablature are available via FTP at cs.dartmouth.edu under "/pub/lute" Van Morrison - van-request@death.corp.sun.com (subscription requests) Mngr: zen@death.corp.sun.com Oyster Band - oysters-request@blowfish.taligent.com Mgr: Christophe Pettus cep@blowfish.taligent.com posting address: oysters@blowfish.taligent.com Sacred Harp Singing - shaped_note-request@tahiti.umhc.umn.edu List devoted to sacred harp singing and related traditions (see Q20) Richard Thompson - listserver@listserver.njit.edu Mngr: Brian White brw@hertz.njit.edu posting address is: r-thompson@hertz.njit.edu Q7: What computer bulletin boards contain useful folk & music trade info? A7: BBS's of interest to musicians and the music trade: Celebration Station 207/374-5161 tour info for P,P & M Blue Hills, Maine 207/374-2303 (sysop: Noel Paul Stookey) The Folk Musician BBS 716/467-2422 extensive giglist with venues and contacts NewGrass City BBS 301/414-2358 up to 14400 Baud 301/414-2383 up to 2400 Baud online files and news The Point 215/635-4830 subscription service Bay Area Musician's 510/524-3106 All musicians, all instruments, Forum all styles, all genres welcome! Q8: What is _Rise Up Singing_? A8: A songbook of 1200 songs, published by Sing Out, and including lyrics, chords, and sources. It's fun to browse, topically arranged and wonderfully useful; accessible via six indices (or a half dozen indexes). The songs are excellent selections and the book is an essential part of a folkie's library. Occasionally controversial because some people treat it as gospel (hey, remember the "folk process"?) or make it the central organizing principle of their music or get-togethers, to the dismay of some others. Q9: What other print sources have useful information? A9: There are a number of good print sources offering a variety of information. Unfortunately, there is not a good, up to date, comprehensive, biographical and bibliographic guide to the music and musicians. Titles below are a semi-arbitary selection. The file GUIDE2.TXT, available from the NYSERNET ftp site (nysernet.org) in the directory /folk_music/dirty_linen is extensive (over 30 pages) and lists many useful periodicals, general and specialized, with notes. Douglas H. Henkle (henkle@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu) of the Univ. of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, has contributed much scholarship. The archives at ftp.uwp.edu are gopher accessible and include an extensive bibliography of sources, file /pub/music/folk/bibliog. Books: Baggelar, Kristin and Donald Milton, _Folk Music: More Than a Song_, Crowell, 1976. Alphabetical list of singers, musicians, festivals, organizations, publications, and instruments. Encyclopedic with lots of entries, but dated. Child, Francis James, _The English and Scottish popular ballads_, 1882-1898, republished by Dover, 1965, 5 vols. THE basic source for traditional ballads. Bronson, Bertrand Harris, _The Traditional Tunes of the Child ballads; with their texts, according to the extant records of Great Britain and America_. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1959-1972, 4 vols. including music. _Folksongs of Britain and Ireland_ Schirmer Books, 1975. Mammoth compilation (824 pp.) of traditional songs. Each section (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) contains an introduction, guide to pronunciation, extensive notes, and a bibliography. _The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music_ New England Pub. Associates, 1992. 4 vols. Includes bibliographical references, discographies, and indexes. Not strictly folk, but contains entries for many major folk artists. Harris, Craig, _The New Folk Music_, White Cliffs Media, 1991. Lists nearly 100 performers with photos and in-depth interviews. [not seen but reviewed in the folk_music list] Lifton, Sarah, _The Listener's Guide to Folk Music_, Quarto/Facts on File, 1983. Out of date, incomplete and too short, still one of the best single sources available. Divided by nationality and including essays on types of music and instruments with representative artists and discographies. Lomax, Alan, _The Folk Songs of North America, in the English Language_, Doubleday, 1960. Mammoth and substantial (656 pp.) listing of more than 300 songs with words, music and extensive notes. Includes bibliography, guitar guide, discography. _Rise Up Singing_ [see Q8 above, address below] Sandberg, Larry & Dick Weissman, _The Folk Music Sourcebook_, Knopf, 1976. Topical book in four sections: "Listening" includes 5000 recordings in discographies by topic and artist, with reviews; "Learning" is books, including collections, songbooks; "Playing" has information about many instruments (banjo emphasis); "Hanging Out" lists organizations, festivals, archives. Many source notes and essays. Outdated but good information. Silber, Irwin, _Folksinger's Wordbook_ (2d ed.) 1973 Nice complement to _Rise Up Singing_, contains many lyrics and chords. Periodicals: _Dirty Linen_, bi-monthly covering "Folk, Electric Folk, Traditional and World Music". No doubt, this is the "big tent" of folk magazines. Several indepth articles on artists each issue, good coverage of festivals, LOTS of album reviews. Includes tour schedules. Slight emphasis on celtic music. Subscriptions $20/yr Dirty Linen PO Box 66600 Baltimore, MD 21239-6600 74020.47@compuserve.com _Fast Folk_ It's a magazine! It's a CD! It's both...back issues $15-$20 each plus P & H Fast Folk Musical Magazine P.O. Box 938 Village Station New York, NY 10014 _Folk Roots_, monthly. Similar to U.S. Magazine _Sing Out_ in balanced coverage of revival and traditional music, but without publishing songs and with greater coverage of European and world music. Subscriptions: 31 pounds (foreign) Southern Rag Ltd. PO Box 337 London N4 1TW UK _The Living Tradition_, a new magazine from the UK, covering traditional and "new traditional" folk music, including British and Celtic. For free preview issue write: Inform PO Box 1026 Kilmarnock, Ayrshire KA2 0LG UK They'll appreciate it if you include an International Reply Coupon (available from post offices for about $1) _The New England Folk Almanac_ is a bi-monthly, 24 pg newspaper style publication edited by Scott Alarik. Lots of info on performers, reviews, & extensive NE Calendar. $15/yr (6 issues) F.A.N.-Folk Almanac PO Box 336 Cambridge, MA 02141 _Old-Time Herald_, quarterly covering "old-time" music, traditional American folk and bluegrass. Good serious treatment. $18/yr Old-Time Herald PO Box 51812 Durham, NC 27717 _Sing Out!_ a quarterly, includes songs published in each issue. Wide-ranging and interesting with many reviews and columns. Venerable and very worthwhile. Publishes other useful info such as _Rise Up Singing_, maintains research center. $18/yr Sing Out PO Box 5253 Bethlehem, PA 18015-0253 _ZMN (Zassafras Music News)_ is a quarterly publication from & about songwiters and performers. Memberships/Subscriptions available at $7/yr or $12/2 yrs. "Sounding board" membership $35/yr. Zassafras Music News PO Box 1000 Gravette, Arkansas 72736-1000 There are *many* other specialized magazines for special interests and instruments. Ads in the general interest magazines are a good way to identify these, beyond the aforementioned GUIDE2.TXT file. Q10: Where can I find places to play / see live folk music? A10: [?] This question works on several levels: personal, local, organizations, clubs, coffeehouses, bars, festivals, all are places to play and see folk music. On a personal level, look for others in your area. Music stores, libraries, or information & referral centers might refer you to a folk group. Colleges or churches may operate coffee houses. Once you have found people, you may have a ready source, or you may need to organize activities like song circles or house concerts. Public radio stations are often good sources. Check for local and state broadcasts. Some states may offer toll-free numbers for coffeehouse and concert information. There is a list of "Open musical jam sessions" regularly posted to rec.music.folk. The list is copyright by Rich Kulawiec, 1992, 1993. The Folk Musician BBS 716/467-2422 maintains extensive listings of venues that hire musicians (and much other useful info). See the next question. _Sing Out!_ magazine in the U.S. does a good job of noting upcoming festivals, with an extensive listing for three months. The _Dirty Linen_ calendar has an "Events" section and lists selected festivals many months in advance. The big festivals are often discussed well in advance on the net, so be watchful.[?] See also the calendar information in Q3 & Q11. Q11: Where can I find artists' schedules? A11: There are several places: _The New England Folk Almanac_, bi-monthly, includes an extensive NE Calendar (see Q9). NE calendar also from ftp site (see Q3) and on the Folk Musician's BBS (see Q7). _Dirty Linen_ magazine, bi-monthly, has an extensive U.S. calendar. Avail. in print or in ASCII via anonymous FTP from nysernet.org. Look in directory /folk_music/dirty_linen the for the huge monthly tour calendars. Also available on Compuserve (GO POINT), GEnie (page 135 in the Music Roundtable), and on the New Grass City BBS (301/414-2358), which contains other information of interest. There's a World-Wide Web hypertext version of the Dirty Linen calendar at: http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/hypertext/music/AboutDirtyLinen.html The folk_music mailing list concerns itself heavily with artist information and frequently has posted schedules Q12: What are some good, award-winning or recommended artists or albums? A12: This is very much a matter of taste and subjective, but there are a few sources worth looking at. For American traditional music, the Folklife Center at the Library of Congress has compiled an annual listing of the best traditional music recordings of the year. These represent traditional American folk and blues and are often on limited-release small labels. Copies of the list are many libraries or from the Library of Congress. There are Grammy Awards given annually for traditional and con- temporary folk. The following list does not include all folk music which won Grammy awards, but only that which won those awards designated for folk or folk-related music. An interesting shift in the Grammy awards occured in the late 60s when more of the "pop" awards were won by folk-pop or folk-rock artists, such as Simon and Garfunkle, the Mamas and Papas, etc. Then the "folk" award disappeared and was replaced by an "ethnic or traditional award", which was usually given to blues artists until the early 1980s when separate blues categories were established. Related awards, such as blues, bluegrass, and world music, are not listed here. 1959-Best Performance, Folk: Kingston Trio _The Kingston Trio at Large_ 1960-Best Performance, Folk: Harry Belafonte _Swing Dat Hammer_ 1961-Best Folk Recording: Belafonte Folk Singers _Belafonte Folk Singers at Home and Abroad_ 1962-Best Folk Recording: Peter, Paul & Mary "If I Had a Hammer" 1963-Best Folk Recording: Peter, Paul & Mary "Blowin' in the Wind" 1964-Best Folk Recording: Gale Garnett _We'll Sing in the Sunshine_ 1965-Best Folk Recording: Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba, _An Evening with Belafonte / Makeba_ 1966-Best Folk Recording: Cortelia Clark _Blues in the Street_ 1967-Best Folk Performance: John Hartford "Gentle on My Mind" 1968-Best Folk Performance: Judy Collins "Both Sides Now" 1969-Best Folk Performance: Joni Mitchell _Clouds_ 1970-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including Traditional Blues): T-Bone Walker "Good Feelin'" 1971-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including Traditional Blues): Muddy Waters _They Call Me Muddy Waters_ 1972-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including Traditional Blues): Muddy Waters _The London Muddy Waters Session_ 1973-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: Doc Watson _Then and Now_ 1974-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including Traditional Blues and Pure Folk): Doc & Merle Watson _Two Days in November_ 1975-Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including Traditional Blues and Pure Folk): Muddy Waters _The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album_ 1976-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: John Hartford _Mark Twang_ 1977-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: Muddy Waters _Hard Again_ 1978-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: Muddy Waters _I'm Ready_ 1979-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: Muddy Waters _Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live_ 1980-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: Various artists _Rare Blues_ 1981-Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording: B.B. King _The Must Be a Better World Somewhere_ 1982-Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording: Queen Ida _Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band on Tour_ 1983-Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording: Clifton Chenier & His Red Hot Louisiana Band _I'm Here_ 1984-Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording: Elizabeth Cotten _Elizabeth Cotten Live!_ 1985-Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording: Rockin' Sidney "My Toot Toot" 1986-Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watsdon _Riding the Midnight Train_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: Various artists _Tribute to Steve Goodman_ 1987-Best Traditional Folk Recording: Ladysmith Black Mambazo _Shaka Zulu_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: Steve Goodman _Unfinished Business_ 1988-Best Traditional Folk Recording: Various artists _Folkways: a Vision Shared--a Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: Tracy Chapman _Tracy Chapman_ 1989-Best Traditional Folk Recording: Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Choir: _Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgare, Volume II_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: Indigo Girls _Indigo Girls_ 1990-Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson _On Praying Ground_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: Shawn Colvin _Steady On_ 1991-Best Traditional Folk Recording: Various artists _The Civil War (Original Soundtrack Recording)_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: John Prine _The Missing Years_ 1992-Best Traditional Folk Recording: The Chieftains _One Irish Evening_ -Best Contemporary Folk Recording: The Chieftains _Another Country_ Ken Josenhans (krj@netsun.cl.msu.edu) of Michigan State University has conducted an annual poll in rec.music.folk each January since 1987, asking for favorite albums of the year; he has generally done extensive statistical tabulation of the poll results. He keeps copies of the results but has not, to date, archived them anywhere. There was an informal poll in 1992, asking r.m.f readers to name their top ten albums of all time. Dozens of artists and hundreds of albums were mentioned; the following were the most frequently named artists: 7 times- Fairport Convention 6 times- Bob Dylan Pete Seeger Dick Gaughan 5 times- John Gorka Joni Mitchell Stan Rogers Bill Staines Mississippi John Hurt 4 times- Nanci Griffith Bok, Trickett & Muir Judy Collins Peter, Paul & Mary 3 times- Bothy Band Tom Paxton Bill Morrissey Greg Brown Tom Rush Kate Wolf Bob Franke Steeleye Span Bert Jansch Ian & Sylvia Richard (& Linda) Thompson "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" For modern U.S. singer-songwriters, the compilations by Christine Lavin provide a good introduction. These include: "On A Winter's Night", "When October Goes" and "Big Times In A Small Town". Q13: Where can I find information about an artist? A13: There's no good single source of artist information. Ask: there may be someone here who knows the answer. Join the folk_music mailing list, where a lot of artist info is exchanged. Some artists have mailing lists or discographies available: see Q4, Q6, Q9. The "birthdays" file at uwp.edu indexes biographical information from a variety of print sources. Q14: What's all this about Stan Rogers, then? A14: There are a number of artists mentioned here frequently, but Stan Rogers seems to be a special case. For a long time it seemed there was little or no information available about him, beyond the liner notes on his albums and his comments in his songbook _Songs from Fogarty's Cove_. The release of a new album and a biography (_An Unfinished Conversation_ by Chris Gudgeon) in 1993 have rekindled interest and supplied more public knowledge. If you've never heard any of Stan's music, find some and you'll understand the fuss. Stan was a Canadian singer-songwriter who recorded six albums and was beginning to attain wide popularity when he died in an airplane fire in 1983. His powerful songs and untimely death have given him a larger than life status and mystique: "Saint Stan" to some. Stan is survived by his wife Ariel and children, his mother Valerie, who has continued to market his records, and his brother Garnet, who accompanied Stan, but has emerged as a strong artist and performer in his own right. Garnet has reacted negatively to the Gudgeon book's portrayal of Stan. The address for Valerie, source for Stan's and Garnet's records, is: Valerie Enterprises R.R. #1 Hannon, Ontario L0R 1P0 Canada The other primary source for Stan's music (and the publisher of most of it) is Ariel Rogers, at: Fogarty's Cove Music 23 Hillside S. Dundas, Ontario CANADA L9H 4H7 (905) 627-9808 Q15: This is "folk" music. Why worry about copyright? A15: The following remarks pertain only to the U.S.A. since the editor is generally ignorant of copyright laws in other countries. Folk music which is truly traditional is in the public domain and and belongs equally to everyone. Some arrangements of old songs have been copyrighted by performers or arrangers. Songs written by contemporary composers are intellectual property and bread in the mouths of the writers. Giving away what does not belong to you or, worse, selling it (via recording or paid performance) is a copyright violation and real theft of intellectual property UNLESS royalties are properly paid, under U.S. copyright law. Copyright laws vary from country to country and worse, between countries. In the U.S. you can legally copyright something by including a printed statement of copyright on physical copies. Copyrights may be registered with the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress for increased legal protection. Recording artists can obtain rights to perform a song through this same office. Public performances for money generally require payment to organizations which represent artists, such as ASCAP and BMI. Whoever organizes performances (not the performers) has the responsibility to see that any necessary payments are made. Net reaction is somewhat mixed toward the posting of copyrighted material, such as song lyrics. While this may be technically illegal, it does not involve any cash and might be construed as not damaging to the composers. Certainly many song lyrics and chords reside in FTP sites and are thus widely available, despite possible copyright problems.[?] For more information, look for the six-part copyright FAQ, posted monthly in the misc.legal, misc.legal.computing, misc.int-property, comp.patents, misc.answers, comp.answers, and news.answers newsgroups. This FAQ is (c) 1993 Terry Carroll and is available via anonymous ftp from charon.amdahl.com [129.212.33.1], in the directory /pub/misc.legal/Copyright-FAQ, filenames part.1 - part.6 Q16: What are some good mail order or online sources for recordings, songbooks, or musical instruments? A16: Elderly Instruments Andy's Front Hall 1100 N. Washington PO Box 307 PO Box 14210 Vorheesville, NY 12186 Lansing, MI 48901 518/765-4193 517/372-7890 orders MC/Visa $15 minimum publishes separate catalogs for acoustic instruments, Ladyslipper electric instruments, books PO Box 3124R and recordings, has news- Durham, NC 27715 letter on used instruments 800/634-6044 recordings by women Alcazar some gift items PO Box 429 South Main St. White Swan Music Inc. Waterbury, VT 05676-0429 1705 14th Street Box 143 800/541-9904 Boulder, Co 80302 800/825-8656 Projection Records Mail Order 19, Mount Pleasant Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 7AH UK Good source for British Isles folk releases; payment with Visa eliminates currency hassles. Online record stores: Compact Disk Connection (CDC) lists more than 75,000 CDs, searchable by artist, title, song title, performer, category; many with ratings. Discount prices. Telnet to holonet.net, enter CDC at Member Name prompt. Compact Disk Europe lists over 100,000 imports from Europe and Japan. Dial 408/730-8138 up to 9600 bps 8N1. Q17: What's that music in the Volkswagen commercial? A17: It's "Harry's Game" by the Irish family group Clannad. Enya is sister to some of the band members & appeared on the "Fuaim" album. Q18: What is "The Digital Tradition?" A18: The October 1993 release of "The Digital Tradition", a database compiled by Dick Greenhaus, contains 4000 folk songs and 1700 tunes. It's not only extensive, but it comes with powerful searching ability. An exciting, commendable project. It will also play the tune, but this is easier on your own PC. From the DT blurb file: "it's a simple matter to sift through our ever-growing collection (4000+ songs as of October 1993) and extract any song with, say, the name Mary in it. Or all (or any) of the more than 220 Child ballads we have. Or songs by your favorite composer. Or, for that matter, any bawdy Scots parodies dealing with computers --- yes, we even have one of those ... We're not sure exactly where the Digital Tradition will wind up, except that it will always represent the best way we can come up with to disseminate folk songs. And it will also be supplied at no charge to anyone who wants it. We've recently added a UNIX version, and a Macintosh edition has just been released. Internet users can get copies directly over the net through the magic of FTP; mere mortals can mail us blank disks and we'll use the Post Office's snail mail. We're currently adding about 300 songs (mostly with tunes) every six months...If you wish to give a copy to someone else, feel free. The Digital Tradition is copy-encouraged" The World-Wide Web server is at: http://web2.xerox.com/digitrad If you want to get your own copy of the PC, Mac, or ASCII Digital Tradition, see one of the FTP sites below: ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/music/digital_tradition/current/ ftp://ftp.uwp.edu/pub/music/folk/digital.tradition/current/ or (PC version only) send three formatted HD disks (5.25" or 3.5") and a STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED mailer to Dick Greenhaus at: The Digital Tradition 28 Powell Street Greenwich, CT 06831 Phone: 203/531-7314 E-Mail: digitrad@world.std.com Q19: What's that song "Willy McBride", or "No Man's Land" or "Green Fields of France"? A19: The song is "No Man's Land" by Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle. The lyrics and chords are in _Rise Up Singing_. The song has been frequently recorded by Bogle and others. The lyrics have been somewhat "folk-processed", but the chorus is often misunderstood. The last two lines refer to songs traditionally played at soldiers' funerals: Did the bugles play "The Last Post" in chorus? Did the pipes play "The Flowers o' the Forest"? Q20: What is Sacred Harp singing? A20: Sacred Harp singing is a form of traditional community music making. Originating in colonial New England, it made its way south and west, and was preserved in the Deep South, where it takes place at all-day singings in rural churches, schools and courthouses. It is now being revived all over the country. Sacred Harp singing is music in four vocal parts with no instru- ments. Singers sit by part facing each other in a hollow square. They sing from a large, oblong singing book (usually _The Sacred Harp_) containing songs by the first American composers. The leader selects a group of songs (a lesson) and stands in the center of the square, beating time with the hand; all singers take turns as leader. The music is printed in four shaped notes, with the melody in the tenor part; the singing is uninhibited and infectious. Although groups outside the south may omit some of these traditional practices, the best way to learn about it is to try it. There is also a seven-shape notation, used in tunebooks like _Christian Harmony_, in a few church hymnnals, and in small paperback songbooks for singings and conventions (convention music, "little-book" singing, "shape-note gospel" singing) Seven-shape events may share in some of the traditional practices found in Sacred Harp singings, or they may be more like performances for an audience, or something in between. The music is likely to be in a more modern style. See Q6 for info on the shaped-note mailing list. Q21: What is filk music? A21: Briefly, it's science fiction folk music. Filk singing arose at science fiction and fantasy conventions and frequently involves parodies using melodies of popular and folk songs with SF lyrics. For example, a recent thread in alt.music.filk included Star Trek Christmas carols. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Contributors include: Leo Breebaart rec-music-info@cp.tn.tudelft.nl Andrea Crain s976378@Umslvma.umsl.edu Doug Henkle HENKLE@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu Ken Josenhans 13020KRJ@msu.edu Doug Landauer Doug.Landauer@Eng.Sun.COM Steve Putz putz@parc.xerox.com Alan Rowoth alanr@nysernet.org Barry M. Schlesinger BSCHLESINGER@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV Warren Steel mudws@sunvis1.vislab.olemiss.edu David Wald wald@theory.lcs.mit.edu Many thanks! ******************************************************************************