This blog post is a more expanded version of the 21 December 2024 Instagram post.
Shortly before Christmas, I attended a folk showcase at the Cambridge Public Library entitled "Reclaiming Folk: Celebrating the Voices of People of Color in Folk Music." Three local black Bostonian artists in rotation perform two originals and a cover as part of an initiative (for lack of a better term) created by folk singer Naomi Westwater that regularly travels around Massachusetts. 🎶
We already know about folk music as a music genre. Acoustic guitars, harmonica maybe, a mandolin, very sparse production? Songs written back in the Dark Ages in the middle of boondock Appalachia? Or maybe a couple sea shanties?
True in some cases...but not all of them. You have Vusi Mahlasela, based in South Africa, who is termed a folk artist. And I, with my song "Charlotte's Tribute," have never been to Appalachia a day in my life.
That's just the thing, though. These black artists let us know very clearly that genres in music are just a racial construct. Reggaeton populated by Latin artists. Country music is mostly white. And rap and RnB are mostly black. Just a generalization, since if I were to ask you who the first artist comes to mind in each of these genres, they would fall under those race boxes.
And if I mention folk music, the first person to come into your mind is probably Bob Dylan.
But per the artists' definition during the Q&A, folk music is less about the instrumental content of a song but more about the storytelling nature and getting the listener in touch with their emotions. Where pop music can lift you into a fantasy as a form of escape from your emotions, folk music is the truth. And we need both. And if you analyze some of Bob Dylan's songs, particularly ones like "Masters of War" and "Blowin' in the Wind" which both address social justice and criticize the idea of war, those speak the truth about the state of the world. Not saying that pop music doesn't ever do this (I mean, we have Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" and Maroon 5's Grammy-winning "Makes Me Wonder," even if the latter doesn't seem political right off the bat), but it's more a definitive feature of folk music.
As far as black folk artists are concerned, we already know of Tracy Chapman and Rhiannon Giddens (Fast Car, anyone?). But keeping the above definition in mind, and all the boxes I described, we already had folk music dating back to the slavery era in the form of spirituals, work songs and code songs. American folk music is Black music. In fact, American music in essence is Black music. We had Sister Rosetta Tharpe before rock n' roll. Muddy Waters before there was country. The history of jazz, blues and soul music is full of us. Storytelling in songs was there before we even knew what storytelling was.
And in these bizarre times where history is consistently erased, let us not forget the truth, and write it. And sing it. And share it.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 🎤
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Stay educated,
Alexia