Folk, Wyrdfolk, Dark Folk, Neo-Folk, Brit-Folk, Celtic Folk. Folk Music, links, opinion.
There's a considerable buzz about something called 'Neo-Folk' or 'Anti-Folk' and I was curious how one would classify this sub-genre.
"Alasdair Roberts doesn't like the F-word. "I'm not a folk singer," he insists, looking ever so slightly twitchy about such an apparently contrary epithet. "I'm not really interested in continuing any kind of tradition. It's about something more selfish than that."
Denials like this have already lost the Callander-born singer and guitarist column inches in his native land, where scene-setters intent on creating some mythical "new Scottish folk revival" have had their angle snapped apart as abruptly as an overwound acoustic guitar string..."
Some of the old songs have a complicated history and a varied pollination. “Matty Groves,” for instance, a bloody tale of adultery avenged, came to its maturity in England as “Little Musgrave” and “Lady Darnell,” then passed on to America (where some iterations allow the star-crossed lovers to live). But it was “a degenerate American version” that was covered by the English folk-rock group Fairport Convention.
The Rainbow Chasers, Ashley’s new group, continues to gig and to pick up great plaudits and reviews from audiences and organisers alike, as well as the media who have made the effort to check out the group thus far.
As the Rainbow Chasers’ first album, “Some colours fly” on the Talking Elephant label (TECDO73), is officially released on 11th April, the Saltaire gig listed below has been designated a launch gig for the new album. This will also be the day that Free Reed Records launch a magnificent 4 CD boxed set, plus book, entitled “Burning Bright”, covering Ashley’s career. Anyone who has seen their award-winning boxed sets of artists such as Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick and Fairport Convention knows how extensive and well structured the set will be. Neil Wayne and Nigel Schofield have compiled a major career retrospective and celebration of Ashley’s life and music. The lavish boxed set features four full length themed and bookletted CDs, huge full colour book and rare picture archive, plus an extra 5th 'write-in' free CD.
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