Lately I have been pondering the meaning of folk music.
what is it? What makes folk music, folk music.
After having conversations with many of my friends I think I came to an understanding of what folk music is. I wouldn't say folk music is anything with an acoustic guitar or banjo, because every culture has its own folk music, and they don't always use those instruments. What makes folk music, folk music is the role it plays in small culture and community. It actually has a function. To tell a story, or re-tell a story, to record history the way it happens to folk and carry that knowledge, in order to understand our past. It is also simply to be a center of community activity where people can dance, socialize and partake in cultural traditions.
There was a period in America when we stood for the principles we founded the country on, in that period of time we developed a music that became ours. Before capitalism literally destroyed small cultures everywhere. In our own country and others.The role of a folk musician is the same now as it was than.
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