That's all folk

Folk Alley recently polled its listeners to compile a list of the top 100 folk songs, the top ten of which are:

1. "This Land Is Your Land" - Woody Guthrie
2. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Bob Dylan
3. "City of New Orleans" - Steve Goodman
4. "If I Had a Hammer" - Pete Seeger
5. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" - The Kingston Trio
6. "Early Morning Rain" - Gordon Lightfoot
7. "Suzanne" - Leonard Cohen
8. "We Shall Overcome" - Pete Seeger
9. "Four Strong Winds" - Ian and Sylvia
10. "Last Thing on My Mind" - Tom Paxton

See the rest here, which reveals what an interesting list it is. Initially marked by most of the standout tunes and artists you'd expect to find, as you read on you'll see it's filled with a healthy handful of surprises, and seems to lack some key contributors to 20th century folk. What's most interesting about this list to me, though, is this discussion which it has generated among Folk Alley's listeners--i.e., the people who, in theory, created the list.

It's really part of an ongoing discussion among modern music fans about what "folk music" even is. To the hardcore folkies it may be a very narrow genre indeed, but to most of us it's likely something broader and rather more elusive. Words like "roots" and "traditional" are often associated with what we think of as folk, but where does a revelation such as "Like a Rolling Stone" fit into that category? Many might say it doesn't. Others might wonder what makes "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" a better folk tune than "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda." Is Americana implicitly folk? Neither Emmylou Harris nor Guy Clark made the cut, but the Carters slipped in there multiple times. So where to draw the line in the ever-shifting sands of country/western?

In Pittsburgh, we're lucky to have a unique organization to foster and stimulate this ongoing conversation with the local music community. Since 1976, Calliope has brought folk music to new ears and taught its instrumentations to new hands. In working with established folk legends while also scanning the nation for up-and-comers to introduce to its audience, Calliope is more than a concert promoter. Calliope's longtime ticketholders will attest that the organization has played an important role in bringing acts to town that might otherwise fall under the radar of the local promoters.

Calliope recently announced its '09-'10 concert schedule, which is a great example of its efforts to enrich the local live music scene. But, with acts ranging from the Klezmatics to Corey Harris (and, I must mention, the legendary Richie Havens, who's criminally absent from the Folk Alley 100), it also gives us a great point of reference to keep the discussion going: What is folk?

Download:
Billy Bragg and Wilco - "California Stars" (Woody Guthrie)