Preshow setting up And now for something completely different. If Griffyn Ensemble's last concert, Do you believe? (my review), kept us on our intellectual toes from go to whoa, their third concert* of 2014, House on Fire, had our toes-a-tapping and feet-a-walking in a program that owed more to folk traditions than classical. Collaborating this time with … Continue reading The Griffyns are on fire
Folk music
Vale Pete Seeger
If music is powerful, and words are powerful, what power can words set to music have? Pete Seeger knew, but I don't need to tell anyone that do I? What a legacy he has left us from his 94 years on this earth! I'm an Australian of course, but Seeger, who first came to me … Continue reading Vale Pete Seeger
Every folkie knows … Leonard Cohen
I recently wrote about the National Folk Festival in relation to Australian stories and history, but I can't resist also writing a little post about "the man" because he was, it seemed, everywhere. I'm exaggerating of course but he - Leonard Cohen, of course - did seem to keep popping up. There were performers who … Continue reading Every folkie knows … Leonard Cohen
Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary Folk
As I attended my 13th or 14th (losing count now), National Folk Festival* this Easter weekend, I started to think about the relationship between folk music and literature. Some folk music is purely instrumental - think Celtic fiddling and bluegrass picking, for example - but, as a reader, it's the storytelling side of folk that … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary Folk
Whispering Gums 