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"What is Celtic music?
If anything, it is a marketing strategy - and a very successful one."Kenny Mathieson, writer ("Celtic Music", 2001)
" To a listener abroad who has caught a set
by one of the roots bands bursting out from Galicia or Asturias,
it might seem that in Northern Spain there exists music
which is broadly similar to that of Ireland or Scotland,
but with an exotic southern tinge."Andrew Cronshaw, folk musician ("Celtic Music", 2001)
"The folk movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s
seems impossibly distant and antiquated now."Mark Brend, writer and musician ("American Troubadours", 2001)
"Today, Brittany has one of the richest
and most complex traditional music scenes anywhere."Stephen D. Winick, contributing editor for Dirty Linen magazine ("Celtic Music", 2001)
"Sheena Wellington delivered a spellbinding,
unaccompanied rendition of 'A Man's A Man'
at the state opening of the Scottish Parliament,
resumed in the summer of 1999 after almost three centuries.
The singing of Robert Burns's egalitarian anthem at such an event
- and in the presence of the monarch, no less -
not only marked a turning point in history,
but was a recognition of the renewed worth in which
Scottish folk song was held at the end of the 20th century."Jim Gilchrist, Scottish journalist ("Celtic Music", 2001)
"The folk and ballad revival that ensued dominated
the Irish music scene in the 1960s, drawing strength too
from a folk-song movement which had similarly emerged in th UK."Geoff Wallis & Sue Wilson ("The Rough Guide to Irish Music", 2001)
"Despite the state's record of musical excellence
and commercial recording, Georgia's music is generally
not as well understood or as highly acclaimed today as
that of Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, or Louisiana."David Evans Ph.D., University of Memphis
(liner notes to: Deep River of Song, "Georgia", 2001)
"If Celtic music has proved one thing
during its long and eventful history,
it is that it is a cultural survivor."Sue Wilson, arts journalist ("Celtic Music", 2001)
"I urge people not to argue as to whether
something is a folk song or not.
These are silly attempts to classify music."Pete Seeger, folk singer (liner notes to "If I had a song", 2001)
"... Jamaica can also claim a share of the credit
for bringing the concept of 'roots music' forward on the world stage."Steve Barrow (liner notes to: "Jamaica" Rough Guide CD, 2001)
"Why a folk song continues to be 'defined'
in opposition to a popular one remains intangible"Michael Brocken, senior lecturer ("The British Folk Revival, 1944-2002", 2002)
"Both in Gooik and in Dranouter an actual school of folk music has been created.
Those schools are currently in full expansion
and will soon yield a new generation of trained musicians.
Flemish folk music is growing both in quantity and in quality!"Liner notes to "2002 Flemish Folk Music", 2002)
"Skiffle's (and Donegan's) legacy is
a sincere reflection of our social mores, our folkways."Michael Brocken, senior lecturer ("The British Folk Revival, 1944-2002", 2002)
"At a crucial turning point in the pop continuum
many folk singers and song writers
were following Dylan's lead into amplified rock production...."Arthur Levy, music historian (liner notes to "Joan", 2003)
"American folk music includes
all the music that fits between the cracks"Mike Seeger, folk musician (Society for American Music, February 28, 2003)
"From 1958 to 1965, every record company in the land
recorded and released folk records."Jeff Place (liner notes to: "Classic Folk Music from Smithsonian Folkways", 2004)
"To measure the success of a folk songwriter,
the usual pop yardsticks are useless,
like using a level to measure a river."Scott Alarik (liner notes to: Si Kahn, "We 're still here", 2004)
"But even in folk music terms,
Wales has always seemed to get the thin end of the wedge
compared with Ireland, England and Scotland."Colin Irwin, (fROOTS, October 2004)
"In Hungary not only it is well known
that the country has a huge store of traditional music,
but that the music is held in a high artistic esteem,
and instruction in traditional instruments and techniques
is available in the country's educational system."Andrew Cronshaw, (fROOTS, October 2004)
"Kirghiztan is one of the Central Asian countries
that best preserved the art of the Turkic speaking bards,
that kept alive the popular vocal art of the steppes
and that accompany their songs
with a small three string lute."liner notes to "The Musical Silk Road" (2004)
"The work of work, of having a job and earning a living,
is often the stuff of folk music."Linda Ronstadt, singer ("The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to American Folk Music", 2004)
"Anyone who wants to be a songwriter
should listen to as much folk music as they can,
study the form and structure of stuff
that has been around for 100 years.
I go back to Stephen Foster."Bob Dylan, songwriter (interview with LA Times critic Robert Hilburn, 2004)
"Despite its long history in Europe and the Americas,
the guitar is a relatively new addition
to the world of folk music in the British Isles."Chris Foster, musician (liner notes to "Jewels", 2004)
"If ever the full account of the folk revival
in these islands is finally written,
it 'll surely be one of bright dreams, happy accidents,
powerful intellects, missed opportunities, hard slog,
great plans, wrong tunings and ultimate triumphs."Steve McGrail, (The Living Tradition, January 2005)
"Being folk music,
Celtic music touches on our shared humanity
and the countless and nuanced emotions
we experience every day."Eileen Ivers, musician ("The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Celtic Music", 2005)
"Laïs have proven that Belgian folk
can be sexy and contemporary
and have given it a new twist."Hélène Rammant, (fROOTS, April 2005)
"The succes of 'folk' music in 2005 is quite amazing.
There are thriving festivals, concerts, magazines and
other signs of this although the music media seems not to agree!
The music there is confined to obscure BBC TV digital channels,
occasional Telegraph CD reviews, the 'Mike Harding' show
and Guardian obituaries."Jim Bainbridge, (The Living Tradition, March 2005)
"Czech folk song is like sap rising."Ken Hunt, (fROOTS, April 2005)
"It 's a great relief that the world of folk music
is not filled with self-seeking egomanics,
keen only to promote themselves to the detriment of the music
and the boredom of all those that look on."Hazel Dane, (The Living Tradition, May 2005)
"[...] there is immense (and unprecedented)
commercial pressure in traditional music:
musicians are compelled to produce a CD
even when they are (a) not ready and (b) not able."Toner Quinn, ( editor The Journal of Music in Ireland, 2005)
"There was a time [...]
modern day folk artists and those responsible
for marketing their music had become reluctant
to align themselves with a narrowly defined term
that for many still evoked visions of the 1960s:
hippies with acoustic guitars singing protest songs,
or budding singer-songwriters
exploring 'the canyons of their minds'."Jim Bessman, journalist (liner notes "Putumayo presents American folk", 2005)
"English traditional music is not dead
- it's there in the nursery rhymes, it's in the soul,
but it's just not recognised as important in this country!"Tom Bliss of "Napper & Bliss" (May 2005)
"There is no life with music
if there is no folk music at all."Nora Guthrie, Director of the Woody Guthrie Archives, (Rudolstadt, July 2, 2005)
"For many people there's an endless fascination
in the history of English and American folk music,
and the links between the two."Shirley Collins, (liner notes, "Song links 2", 2005)
"Folk music comes from the people
and goes back to the people. That's what it is."Jim Page, folk singer, (Rudolstadt, July 3, 2005)
"Folk music publications will always remain
the underdogs to mainstream magazines and,
therefore, will always need to depend on
voluntary journalists who earnestly complete
their articles out of pure love for the art form."Sophie Park, (letter in The Living Tradition, September 2005 )
"In 1940 Woody came to New York and with
such legendary man as Pete Seeger, Leadbelly,
Josh White, Sonny Terry and Brownie Mc Gee,
he laid the foundation for the folkboom of the 1960's."Billy Bragg, (English songwriter, interview on DVD: "Woody Guthrie, This machine kills fascists", 2005)
"Today, Alberta's folk and traditional music scene is thriving,
as artists are nurtured by commercial
and publicly sponsored events and institutions."Peter North, music journalist, (liner notes, "Alberta, Wild Roses Northern Lights", 2006)
"Technological innovations would permanently transform
the performance and reach of folk music
throughout the 20th century."Ronald D. Cohen, (Professor Emeritus of history, "Folk", 2006)
"Every time a folk song gets sung,
something gets added to that song."Bruce Springsteen, (pop artist, explaining "The Seeger Sessions", 2006)
"The image of the guitar-strumming nasal voiced
singer/songwriter singing about contemperory events
became a stereotype for many of what folk music is."Richard Carlin (music publicist, "Folk", 2006)
"Even more important than the Kalevala
for modern folk singers is the sister work, the Kanteletar (1840),
a collection of lyrical poetry also compiled by Lönnrot."Pirkko Kotirinta, (liner notes to "Arctic Paradise,
Contemporary Folk Music From Finland", 2007)
"From the seeds of the legendary voices
of folk, traditional en topical music,
there have emerged new voices to carry on the tradition
and to twist and alter it powerfully
and unpredictably to make it their own."Jim Musselman, president and founder of Appleseed Reordings
(liner notes to "Sowing the seeds", 2007)
"Back in the 1950s and 1960s, folk was considered dangerous.
In fact, the American mainstream music media still regards it as dangerous."Martin Simpson, folk musiscian (2007)
B
"I guess to some extend
folk always was a thing for the folkies.
Except that in The Netherlands,
its own reservation was even smaller than elsewhere."Matthijs Linnemann, (liner notes to "Dutch Rare Folk", 2007)
"Danish folk and roots music builds
bridges between present and past,
people and cultures.
It is music with roots
firmly planted in history and tradition"Louise Naber Lasen, (liner notes to "Folk & Roots Music from Denmark", 2007)
"Troubadours, poets and musicians
attached to the different kingdoms that were
influential in the Middle East and Asia Minor,
the goussans have worked to the development
of city music over the centuries."Caroline Bourgine, (liner notes to "Goussan, Armenian troubadours", 2007)
"I guess to some extent folk always has been a thing to folkies.
Except that in the Netherlands, it's own little reservation
was smaller than elsewhere. Take the mid sixties.
Whereas any town in Great Britain and Ireland
had a folk club at every street corner,
in the whole Holland there were just a handful."(liner notes to "Dutch Rare Folk", 2007 )
"The modern folk revival shows no signs of slowing down"(liner notes to "Folk Roots, The sound of Americana", 2008 )
"Lots of songs were about the fear of nuclear war
but without the folk revival they wouldn't have had a platform."Leon Rosselson, singer-songwriter ("The Guardian", 10 August 2008)
"No more the private domain of a small coterie of enthusiasts,
the folk market has exploded in recent years,
spawning a new genre that has come to know simply as 'Americana'."(liner notes to "Women Folk, Iconic women of American folk", 2008)
"Folk songs carry the emotional truth of our history."Andrew Calhoun, American singer, (liner notes, "Bound to go", 2008)
"[...] Leon Rosselson has never achieved fame or fortune
and the uncompromising and often controversial nature
of his songwriting ([...]) has ensured
an almost blanket absence of radio play
and even on a British folk scene starting to thrive again,
he remains something of a peripheral figure."Colin Irwin ("The Guardian", 10 August 2008)
"Folk songs frequently contains every kind of trouble and harm."Alec Wilkinson, writer ("The protest singer", 2009)
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