| When folk is a four-letter word
 Irish and British music
enthusiasts are expected to be out in force this weekend for Folk Britannia
— the Barbican and BBC-supported two-day festival. Daughters of
Albion organiser Bryn Ormrod chats with TARA McWEENY about what to expect.
For Irish people folk and traditional music is part of the scenery —
the very backdrop of who they are. In the first instance then it was very
unusual to have a wholly English folk concert premiered to a wholly Irish
audience at the Cork Opera House — an event staged as part of Cork’s
European City of Culture celebrations 2005.
The Daughters of Albion project brought together Britain’s greatest
female folk artists such as June Tabor, Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson
and opened to critical acclaim.
The show sold out but even organiser Bryn Ormrod agrees that the project
premiered in a somewhat unusual location.
“The show was a one-off in a series of events focusing on different
traditions, to celebrate the European City of Culture celebrations,”
he says.
“They all reflected the change in music that happened in Cork and
in Ireland in general but this section focuses on English folk.”.
“What appealed to people was the irony of doing something very English
during that year — as people wouldn’t expect it.
“To be honest everyone in Ireland was slightly bored of doing traditional
Irish music so to present the premiere of a show like this — with
just English artists — was interesting.”
Daughters of Albion is now set to make its British premiere at Folk Britannia
— a joint venture between the BBC and London’s Barbican.
It includes a weekend of concerts at the Barbican from February 2-4 which
coincides with the BBC’s series of documentaries looking at the
folk phenomena in Britain.
Each night looks at a different aspect of the culture. It surrounds countless
musical artists and legends mixing with up-and-coming talent.
Bryn Ormrod the organiser of Daughter’s of Albion — who are
set to appear on the second night of the festival — is also involved
with Folk Britannia.
Opening the festival is Which Side Are You On? presented by singer Billy
Bragg with folk singers Martin Carthy and Dick Gaughan. This looks at
the strong social commentary throughout folk music with offerings ranging
from Donovan to Woody Guthrie.
On the other side of the festival is Into The Mystic which is a look at
the more experimental side to English traditional music. It combines musical
legends such as Bert Jansch and Vashti Bunyan with modern singers who
are part of the folktronic modern movement — partly attributed with
making folk trendy — including Adem and King Creosote.
Within all aspects of folk and traditional music the focus is on passing
on the music to the next generation as can be seen through the Folk Britannia
line-up with renowned legends standing alongside talented protegees.
With Irish Trad music this has been an immediate culture continuously
repeated through the ages with a strong emphasis on the importance of
music in cultural identity. However English folk hasn’t been so
forthcoming instead taking a back seat to its neighbours strong traditional
music culture.
With the Irish folk revival in the ’50s many Irish traditional artists
would come to Britain to play for the large Irish communities based around
the country. This led to the majority playing the English folk circuit
which was especially prevalent in working men’s clubs across the
north of England.
Donal Lunny and Christy Moore were two such artists who did the circuit
with the latter often talking about the influence that English folk and
in particular Martin Carthy had over his music.
So why is Irish folk so inherent to the country’s culture but not
in England?
For Ormrod it’s straightforward.
“It looks like British folk music has been a bit shy to make its
own identity known, despite there being a really deep tradition in Britain,
with an interesting social context to it.
“In a nutshell this televised focus on English folk feels really
overdue. It brings up lots of very important questions, such as why Britishness
is so hard to pin down. What is it about Britishness that means we lack
a real musical tradition, even though we’ve always had a really
diverse culture? This feels like addressing the balance.”
For the Irish living in Britain it’s clear as emigrants why music
from the homeland is important, but surely it is just as crucial to stay
in touch with your roots whilst present in your country of birth.
“We’re really bowled over by the amount of interest there
has been about this festival,” enthuses Ormrod. “Mostly I
thought people would ignore it after all they say folk is a four-letter
word.”
Although maybe not so much anymore.
The Barbican’s Folk Britannia festival (February 2-4) has been
programmed to coincide with BBC Four’s three-part documentary of
the same name due to be broadcast in early February 2006. For more information
check the Barbican website for more details.
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