I read or heard somewhere that folk music is" music made by the people for the people". With that in mind " folk" could easily be reggae, hip-hop, rock and any other fill in the blank genre. As we move away from the last century folk has become a genre onto itself and already positioned itself into all aspects of music. Hard to define really.

Sent by Josh | 2:22 PM ET | 07-29-2008

I gave up on music classifications a long time ago. It's not that important anyway. I like what I like, not just because it's put into a certain group.

Sent by Rachel | 4:21 PM ET | 07-29-2008

Who gives a Folk anyway?!

now if you'd only spelled your name right Pete!

Sent by Pete Seger | 6:13 PM ET | 07-29-2008

Folk music, as I've heard it, is music that is passed down mostly through hearing, and thus writing it down would make it no longer folk music, as people will tend to know only the printed versions. However, I would tend to say that folk music tends to be that which strikes at the visceral, rather than the intellectual. Also, as you go up to Newport, you should definitely make time to see one of my favorite Folk bands: The Avett Brothers.

Sent by Roy A. Justus | 9:33 PM ET | 07-29-2008

Folk music today makes me think specifically of Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, and Dar Williams (who I know best from Redbird.)

Perhaps in the venn diagram of Folk and Country, you might find Old Crow Medicine Show in the intersection.

Sent by Greg | 10:28 PM ET | 07-29-2008

My favorite modern folkies have been Bon Iver, some of Sufjan Steven's stuff, Iron & Wine, HEM, Amber Rubarth (who I found thanks to ASC), Slowblow, Seabear, Neko Case's solo work, and M. Ward. I think folk has a very distinctive sound, but I'm having a hard time describing it. I guess it's a mix of country, rock, and blues, but very mellow. Specific instruments come to mind: acoustic guitars, banjo's, piano's and organs, violins, and upright basses. Long hair and thick beards come to mind as well.

Sent by Jeff C. | 12:58 AM ET | 07-30-2008

How can we have folk music when local culture is dead? Folk music used to be some guy or woman singing a song that was sung for hundreds of years, maybe so old that it came over from the Old World. Part of it was also telling stories about contemporary life. Of course there were other styles, but overall they were records of an era. I'd say we have some folk songs these days, but globalization (though maybe it started even earlier, with the invention of recording devices), the folk genre definitely died. You want names of some folk artists these days? I struggle to come up with any, but if pressed I would say John Gorka and Billy Bragg.

Sent by Pablo | 8:08 AM ET | 07-30-2008

I think defining folk music is definitely generational. People who came of age during the '60s folk revival can be wedded to Dylan and Arlo and even traditionalists like the Kingston Trio, while younger listeners have no trouble with artists that border on pop (I was mulling over Ben Folds just this weekend). Is it acoustic? Historic? Does it need to tell a story? It depends. Someone asked this question in the FolkAlley.com forum and it's been easily the most active discussion.

Sent by Ann V. | 10:34 AM ET | 07-30-2008

I do not understand why music must be labeled at all. Music has been forever changing due to the elements by which "folk" has been traditionally defined (even the so-called traditional folk songs are transformed by generations and cultures - witness 'Barbara Allen'). There is no question that folk music still exists, but the parameters have changed. What used to be an oral tradition was forever altered by sound recording. I think any music that is passed along either orally or aurally qualifies. Blues is certainly folk music, as are old ballads, work songs, etc. But jazz is folk music too. The Gershwins wrote "I Got Rhythm", but thousands of musicians have improvised and jammed on the chord structure of that song, and in the process created new songs. Rock music is folk music too. For the most part, rock musicians learn their craft or learn songs either from other musicians or from recordings. Sound recording has allowed music to be passed along in a way that was impossible in the past, and therefore the definition of 'folk' music must also be different. As for the label "Folk", who cares? Whether it was Beethoven or Dvorak using folk melodies as the basis for symphonies, or Louis Armstrong using blues as a basis for the 'new' jazz, or Bob Dylan using traditional idioms to create a new genre, the greatest innovators of the last 400 (or more) years have melded disparate elements into something new. To debate how their music should be labeled is essentially pointless. My favorite record stores are the ones that use broad categories which are hard to debate: Classical; Jazz; International; Pop, Rock, etc. Even at that there is occasional confusion, but this system for the most part removes labels, and even if one is looking for a recording that is hard to classify, at least one doesn't have to look in so many places. Duke Ellington said it best: "There are only two types of music: good music and bad music."

Sent by Rolf Gidlow | 12:50 PM ET | 07-30-2008

I also think that the death of provincial life and regional insulation effectively means the death of "true folk music," whatever that means anyway.

In any case, my favorite "new folk" music comes from the Hackensaw Boys, Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, some of Suf's stuff, early Okkervil River if that counts...

Sent by Mark P | 1:00 AM ET | 07-31-2008

This discussion has gone on regularly in the letters section of Sing Out, probably since the magazine's inception. I'm tired of it.

Sent by Clark | 7:14 AM ET | 07-31-2008

I guess I am showing my age (and the strange marketing currency of the time), but I remember (about the time I wanted to pick one up) when an acoustic guitar was a "folk gutiar." So, for me, I think an acoustic guitar is always somehow intrinsically connected to what seems like folk or not to me. Oh, and those chords us guitarists occasionally call the cowboy chords...

I don't know if that advances the conversation, but I though it was worth a mention...

Sent by Doug | 9:51 AM ET | 07-31-2008

The last real folk music that I ever saw was at the West Virginia Brewing Company in Morgantown, WV. In the early 00's they used to have a jam session every wednesday night, and there was no cover and free craft beer if you brought an instrument and played. Everyone would swap songs (always in D so the fiddle players could keep up) and sing along on the choruses. The tunes would range from Irish Fiddle Reels to Top 40, but it all took on a folk feel because of the way people were learning each new song.

Also, if you're looking to see some songs passed down generation after generation, check out the WVU Mountaineer Week Fiddle Contest. It brings in Fiddle players from all over WV of all ages and skill levels.

Sent by Glenn | 9:59 AM ET | 07-31-2008

Swannanoa Gathering rules! I've lived in Asheville since 2000 and have been a devoted guitar/singer-songwriter camper ever since. Great time to pass on the oral tradition.

Sent by james | 11:00 AM ET | 07-31-2008

will this be archived, or just streamed?

much of it is streamed live Saturday and Sunday August 2nd and 3rd and then archived.
there is also a lot that we will not be streaming live that will get archived to the site over the days following the festival.

bob

Sent by Peter | 1:02 PM ET | 07-31-2008

Rolf earlier in his comment, questions why music must be labeled at all. I agree and would go one step further - why does music have to be separated from the other arts? Would you run away from the folk festival if they also featured, artists, writers, and some theater? That too is part of the art revolution - new century, new everything.

Sent by Tom Hendricks | 10:08 PM ET | 07-31-2008

It depends whether "folk" is a genre or a means of music. Same problem with "indie." I think Dylan himself (on purpose?) destroyed traditional folk by supplanting it with intimate, highly stylized poetry. And so folk became the acoustic singer-songwriter genre (which Dylan then tried to destroy). Today true folk music (for my cultural group) has to be basement-show punk rock. No rules, no comodification, everyone who consumes it contributes directly to it, spread person to person, mostly orally, very simple and easy to learn, and much more of a group building experience than an individual artistic achievement (for better or worse).

Sent by Zebbart | 11:53 PM ET | 07-31-2008