Hey all. I’ve been reading a lot of posts lately where people have been talking about various styles of music (ex: ITrad, Old Time, Blue Grass, etc.). Can someone suggest a good website or book that can help me figure out what characteristics defines each of these styles (as well as other’s) and how they are different from the others?
Thanks.
That’s a big ask for one site. I don’t know of one. I’d be inclined to do a google search on styles that look interesting to you and find out that way. Just to use the styles you mentioned as an example, old timey and bluegrass are closely related styles broadly associated with the Appalachians. Both would be covered by books and sites devoted to American country music. Bluegrass developed out of old-timey. Irish trad is, as the name suggests, Irish. Go elsewhere to find out about that.
Central to finding out about these styles is listening to good examples. In many cases, what you hear will probably already be familiar—you’ll just be putting a name to it.
The best genre is Appallachian Controlee. Don’t get cork in yer whistle
I prefer S. Aus whites anyway
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One bet is to just go to a Borders or Barnes & Noble and browse the “listenable” CD stations for examples of the different styles. Cheap, easy, and fun!
As far as books on Bluegrass go, I’d start with [u]Bluegrass: A History[/u], by Neil Rosenberg. This is on Amazon.com, and there are lots of links to related materials.
Amazon has a DVD available, [u]High Lonesome - The Story of Bluegrass Music[/u], that looks interesting.
There’s a lot available on Bluegrass. I don’t see much on Old-Timey, which sort of spans the gap (if there really is one) between Appalachian folk music and Bluegrass. Old-Timey is sort of a catchall term that covers everything from individual performers to brother duets to full-blown pre-Bluegrass string bands, and includes quite a range of styles and influences. Most of it is based on Appalachian folk muisc, but you can hear blues and even swing influences. Much of it is more commercial than strictly folk, too.
If you want to listen to it instead of read about it, Harry Smith’s 3-volume (6-CD) [u]Anthology of American Folk Music[/u] has quite a variety (but also gospel, blues, Cajun, and jug band).
I’ve just discovered that there’s a fourth volume, and ordered it today. [u]Volume 4 (2 CDs)[/u] includes some classic Old-Timey groups like the Carter Family, Mainer’s Mountaineers, the Blue Sky Boys, the Arthur Smith Trio, and the Monroe Brothers, as well as some gospel, blues, and jug band material.
On the main anthology page, there’s a link to listen to all the tracks. “White House Blues”, by the North Carolina Ramblers (Disc 2, track 6) is typical of string band music just before the Bluegrass era. Disc 3 has a few more “pure” fiddle tunes (as well as the strangest version of “Home Sweet Home” you’re ever likely to hear [track 12]).
For a quick and dirty guide to different folk styles from all over the world, you can’t go past the two volume Rough Guide to World Music. This covers folk styles, well-known and obscure, from … er … all over the world. Fans of particular styles will almost certainly take issue with some of the things said about their particular favourite style but I don’t think reading these guides as a way of getting started could possibly do you any harm. Once you’ve listened a bit and you know what you’d like to explore in depth, then read books dedicated to the styles you especially like and search out all the classic recordings in those styles.
There are rough guides to country music and Irish music BTW, which strike me as fairly reliable. Of course, when you know a style well, you’re bound to find some surprising inclusion and some glaring ommissions. No self-respecting fan would agree with everything said in a record guide, whoever wrote it.
I just noted that Darwin recommended the Harry Smith Anthology. Although there are plenty of anthologies that run it close, I doubt that any anthology has bettered it as an introduction to the best American roots music. It’s amazing, considering that it was compiled in the early 1950s before the reissue boom, so Smith was drawing only on his own collection and relying entirely on his own taste. Just about every early 60s folk singer relied on Smith for a substantial part of his or her repertoire. His influence on what came later is just staggering.
Thanks to everyone for your replies. I’ll try checking out the resources you suggested. I know it’s asking for a lot of information, but until recently (like the past year of so), I pretty much considered all of this stuff as just “folk music”. I just never thought enough about it to consider that, just like rock or r&b, “folk” would have it’s own sub genres. Now I’m starting to wonder if I’m even correct by assuming that it all falls under the “folk” category. I guess probably the best place for me to start would be with a guide to world music. Hopefully from there, I can start focusing in on the particular sub genres and styles I’m interested in.
Again, thanks,
“Folk” is about as fuzzy as any other category.
In theory, “folk” implies that a song or tune has been passed around orally/aurally from person to person–and from generation to generation. Many a folk song started life as the composition of a single individual and ended up with a dozen versions. Even (relatively) recently composed fiddle tunes, like Byron Berline’s “Huckleberry Hornpipe”, can fall victim to the “folk process”.
I do find it odd to see new compositions by the likes of Bob Dylan and Joanie Mitchell referred to as “folk music”. You can’t just sit down and write a folk song. The folk have to pick it up and make it their own.
Having said that, there are lots of compositions that are heavily influenced by one kind of folk music or another. This is certainly true of most Bluegrass.
Live music is always helpful in deciding what you like. You’re in a good area for that. Depending on which part of North Carolina you’re in, you might be interested in attending some festivals as the weather warms up.
There’s the big Old-Timey fiddle contest up in Union Grove: http://www.fiddlersgrove.com/
There’re links to 25 North Carolina Bluegrass festivals at http://bluegrassfestivalguide.com/ (Just look under North Carolina.)
When I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, about thirty years ago, I used to go to several festivals each year, including the big ones at Camp Springs, up near Reidsville. I also got to see the Red Clay Ramblers perform at the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill. It wasn’t uncommon to find performances by Bluegrass bands, or by performers like Doc Watson, being held in school auditoriums and such throughout the year.