tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43759214716950970622024-03-18T03:54:57.393-07:00The Glamour CaveA blog about folkEmma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.comBlogger184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-30601554432971522062016-01-03T11:45:00.001-08:002016-01-03T12:07:05.421-08:00The Little Match Girl: what Frank Moon did next<b><a href="http://www.frankmoonmusic.com/about" target="_blank">Frank Moon</a></b>: now there's a name to conjure with. This alumnus of <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/urban-folk-quartets-secret-weapon.html" target="_blank">The Urban Folk Quartet</a></b> has done loads of good work on the folk scene, having also been integral to <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/destroyers-do-something-constructive-at.html" target="_blank"><b>The Destroyers</b></a>. So it was a curious pleasure to see him on stage at the Lilian Baylis studio at Sadler's Wells last night in The Little Match Girl, having broken out, so to speak.<br />
<br />
Looking at <b><a href="http://www.frankmoonmusic.com/about" target="_blank">his CV</a></b>, I realise now that this a somewhat partial, folk-orientated perspective. But still...<br />
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I wasn't quite sure how he got there. So after watching this blissfully realised - but appallingly sad - story, I asked him.<br />
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"Why, why does the little match girl have to die?" I pleaded first, my thoughts already halfway to Syria and the refugee crisis. The traces of my new year's hangover might also have had a hand in it.<br />
<br />
"I know, it's awful, isn't it?"<br />
<br />
However, as he'd been working on the show with its choreographer, Arthur Pita, on and off for more than three years the misery of The Little Match Girl's existence must have long been a secondary concern: you just wouldn't be able to get any work done otherwise.<br />
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So how did it happen?<br />
<br />
"I met Arthur through The Destroyers at the Birmingham Dance Festival over five years ago. The band was asked to write some music for him and they nominated me to do the composing, which became <a href="http://www.frankmoonmusic.com/utopia" target="_blank"><b>Utopia</b></a>.<br />
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"Then a little while later I had a call from him, saying that he'd found it very easy working with me and had a commission from the Royal Opera House to do Metamorphosis, based on the Kafka novel. Would I be interested?"<br />
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Nice. This what they call "the big time".<br />
<br />
"So I said yes! And the Little Match Girl has been our third collaboration: this is the third Christmas in a row that it's been on. It's just that the first year it was on in Ipswich and didn't get reviewed until it came to London."<br />
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The show is primarily a dance piece, as you would expect given the venue. So the music is integral to the show: Moon composed and performs it, on stage, surrounded by a panoply of musical instruments, including a fiddle, oud, theramin and ocarina, making layers of sound. The theramin creates the difference between the faintly Dickensian tone of the first half of the show and the dreamlike sequence, set on the moon, that follows the little match girl's unnecessary death from cold, brought on by poverty and having no adults to take care of her. Excuse me while I struggle to compose myself again... <br />
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Moon, brilliantly, wears a motorcycle helmet with an aerial on top when he plays the theramin. Because yes.<br />
<br />
The scraps of dialogue in the show are in Italian. "Because Arthur - who is Portuguese himself - didn't want the thing to feel exactly like Dickens. I worked on the words with a couple of the cast members, who are from Italy." <br />
<br />
Since then Moon and Pita have done something else for the Royal Ballet called <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/10/whelan-watson-other-stories-review-dance-wendy-whelan-edward-watson-javier-de-frutos-arthur-pita" target="_blank">Whelan Watson: other stories</a></b> and on the night I saw him, Moon was recovering from the disappointment of hearing that the show's transfer to New York had been postponed, despite tickets already having been on sale.<br />
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So he's doing OK, Frank Moon. You can catch <b><a href="http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2014/arthur-pita-the-little-match-girl/" target="_blank">The Little Match Girl</a></b> in <b><a href="http://www.thelowry.com/event/the-little-match-girl" target="_blank">Manchester, at The Lowry</a></b>, and in <b><a href="http://www.danceeast.co.uk/performances/the-little-match-girl/" target="_blank">Ipswich at Dance East</a></b> before the end of this run. And then he's <b><a href="http://tifa.npac-ntch.org/2016/en/dance/the-little-match-girl/" target="_blank">off to Taipei with it for a while</a></b>.<br />
<br />
As I left the theatre the full extent of what this means came home when I looked at the three production posters on the wall outside the Lilian Baylis studio.<br />
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There was The Little Match Girl, with Moon's name on the poster.<br />
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There was this one, which we all know, with music by Howard Blake.<br />
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And then there was this one. <br />
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You might just be able to read who did the music for that one: Tchaikovsky. Moon's in good company.<br />
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* If you liked this post you might be moved by the final picture to read an earlier blog called <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/folk-artists-lying-in-foliage-picture.html" target="_blank">A Gallery of Folk Musicians Lying in Foliage</a></b>. Or <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/john-tams-on-stephen-spielberg-and.html" target="_blank">this one</a></b> about another of the folk scene's successful theatrical composers, John Tams, who wrote the music for War Horse.<br />
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<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like* <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a> and
then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your interests. This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You
could also follow me on Twitter<b> <a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-45707619327752856612015-10-10T05:10:00.001-07:002015-10-11T09:40:30.143-07:00Bridget Marsden and Leif Ottosson on gold bars, embarrassment and review etiquetteSomething new happened at my house - The Glamour Cave - in east London, the other evening: it hosted a folk gig. Yes: the Glamour Cave has finally done what it was born to do - at least it felt that way at the time. I met the musicians - <b><a href="http://www.bridgetandleif.com/#news" target="_blank">Bridget Marsden and Leif Ottoson</a></b> - when I was away on <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/09/sweden-folk-musicians-against-racism-fmr" target="_blank">a work trip</a></b> recently at the Stockholm folk festival, where I heard Bridget play and had my personal bacon saved by the two of them, when they gave me a lift very, very late one night.<br />
<br />
I had to be a bit careful while the event was being organised and not mention it on social media as they said they weren't sure about the small print in one of the contracts they'd signed for their UK tour, which made it look initially as if a - possibly megalomaniac? - promoter had sole rights over their playing in London.<br />
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However, that turned out to be not the case, even in the mind of the promoter, and now the house concert is over I would love to sing their praises, mainly because they are magical. In fact I would have liked to have done it sooner and helpfully have <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/bridgetandleif/photos/a.1583974181817591.1073741828.1583079751907034/1630632083818467/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">promoted their tour</a> </b>but I've been ill and can only apologise for any difference it might have made, mainly to them, obviously. <br />
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I don't want to gush too much, though, because while they were here they said something that made me think about the ways in which gushing can be bad. <br />
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This is the thing. As the evening was starting up I put someone else's CD on the stereo: Richard Shindell, an American musician and <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/american-bloke-runs-off-with-steve.html" target="_blank">friend of Show of Hands</a>,</b> who lives in Argentina. It was <i>Courier</i>, his live album, because it's one of my favourites. And found myself explaining, probably partly due to nervousness that no one would turn up to the house concert, that I'd managed to get myself in an awkward situation with Shindell by, I think, <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/richard-shindell-on-zen-and-art-of.html" target="_blank">writing something overly empathetic</a></b>. Read it and <i>feel</i> my girlish naivety.<br />
<br />
So this is my embarrassing story. Shindell had played in Islington at The Old Queen's Head - the venue where Leif and Bridget were due to be the next night - and I'd gone along with a photographer because, frankly, Shindell is fab and if you've never seen him and folk music is your thing, you really should. I'm doing it again. Anyway...<br />
<br />
The last time he'd been in the UK I'd<b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/richard-shindell-on-zen-and-art-of.html" target="_blank"> interviewed him</a></b> and the result had been fulsome. In fact, it occurred to me when I saw him in the upstairs room at The Old Queens Head that he looked a bit embarrassed, especially for an American. Let's face it, telling an American you admire their work is not usually a problem.<br />
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We hung around: the photographer, David Firn, liked the music nearly as much as I did as it turned out, and managed to get <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/american-bloke-runs-off-with-steve.html" target="_blank">one truly great shot of Shindell, above</a></b>. We all left the pub at the same time.<br />
<br />
"So where do you have to get to?" I asked Shindell.<br />
<br />
He mentioned a hotel that we'd never heard of and said he had no idea how to get there but thought it was quite a long way, so we recommended a black cab. And then, in all innocence as one was passing with a yellow light on, hailed it. He climbed in, perhaps somewhat dutifully, looking back on it.<br />
<br />
The next morning I looked up the hotel and realised that it was approximately 50 yards from The Old Queens Head and that there was *no way* he would not have known where it was as it had clearly been chosen for its proximity to the venue and that he must have left his bag there earlier. This filled me with a mixture of embarrassment and titillation. <br />
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Anyway. I told this tale to Bridget and Leif. "Aha," said Leif. "He suspected you of stalkerish behaviour." Apparently so, I admitted, slightly shamefaced. But not so much that I wouldn't write about it, obviously.<br />
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"Yes,"said Leif. "We once had a review that was so good that we didn't know what to do with it. I guess this is kind of the same thing."<br />
<br />
Leif was being amazingly socially adept and trying to make me feel less awkward that I'd told the story. As an English person I have the ability to recognise this quality of emotional intelligence in others, even if not actually to reproduce it myself.<br />
<br />
"This review. It contained so much praise that it was like a gold bar. We felt we couldn't show it to anyone because it would have been showing off. And we couldn't exchange it for anything because it was too much. 'Please can I exchange my gold bar for everything you have in your cash till?'"<br />
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Suddenly I saw the situation from the perspective of an unusually shy American or an average Scandinavian for the first time. You see? That's what folk's all about: learning about other cultures :-) <br />
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In the mean time please listen to Bridget and Leif because they are enchanting. Bridget is English and studied at Cambridge University and then music school in Stockholm, where she met Leif. And as a result their instrumental music has a really interesting quality that is something like listening to English being spoken as a foreign language by a Swede. Or vice versa. Some of the rhythms and cadences are familiar but many are not, so to an English folky it is both exotic and familiar.<br />
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Love them. Love their emotional intelligence.<br />
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* If you'd like to do a house concert at The Glamour Cave you can <b><a href="mailto:emma.hartley@firenet.uk.net" target="_blank">contact me here</a></b>. It could be fun. Also, if you would be interested in helping me livestream or record future events, same thing.<br />
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* Here's a story called <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/this-nyckelharpa-kills-fascists-swedish.html" target="_blank">This Nyckelharpa Kills Fascists</a></b> about Swedish folk musicians taking on racism. <br />
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* Here's <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/richard-shindell-pays-for-doctor-whos.html" target="_blank">a weird story about Richard Shindell and Doctor Who</a></b>.<br />
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<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like* <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a> and
then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your
"interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You
could also follow me on Twitter<b> <a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartle</a>y</b></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-10087627620831888482015-09-29T03:21:00.001-07:002015-09-30T07:06:53.069-07:00Making 'sense' of the Holocaust: they used music in the camps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"></span><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">This is a feature originally published in the Jewish Chronicle or The JC.com on 25/9/2015</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">“All
I can do for my family who were lost is to say I am with you in spirit. I take
on myself, as much as I can bear, the terrible despair and suffering and heartbreak
and pain that was visited on you. Although it is only a feeble gesture, I stand
with you at the moment of death, and create a living link with you. That’s all
I can do.” Mark Forstater</span></i>
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<span lang="EN-US">Mark Forstater’s book, I Survived a Secret
Nazi Extermination Camp, is a slim volume in three parts published by
Psychology News. The first section is a brief introduction to the Holocaust,
referencing the unique journalist and biographer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitta_Sereny" target="_blank">Gitta Sereny</a>. The second is a
testimony for the Jewish Historical Commission by Rudolph Reder, one of two
known Jewish survivors of the Belzec extermination camp in Poland: the other
being </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chaim Hirszman, who joined a communist
militia in postwar Poland and was shot in 1946 before he could testify to his
wartime experiences. The camp was “secret” in the sense that by the end of the
war it had been covered over with flowers and trees, no visible trace remaining
and those responsible for “vanishing” it had themselves been murdered at
Sobibor. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reder, above, had the role of “oven specialist”
at the facility where an estimated 600,000 Jews were murdered, a skill that
made him valuable to his SS captors for four months in 1942 until he was able
to effect an escape so prosaic that “you couldn’t make it up” does it a
disservice: he was taken into the nearest town as slave labour to pick up some
supplies, whereupon his captors got drunk and fell asleep, allowing him simply
to walk away. He spent the rest of the Nazi occupation of Poland hiding at the
house of a woman who had worked for his family and whom he eventually married.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The third part, which is beautifully
written – in contrast to the deeply troubling, matter-of-fact staccato of the
second – describes Forstater’s rationale for taking on the project and the
process that formed it. As a Jew from Philadelphia born in 1943, a baby-boomer
who has recently been in the UK news for winning a court case against the Monty
Python team, he says the Holocaust affected him hardly at all until he was 13
or 14 years old. “It all seemed to have happened very far away, to a people who
lived in a black and white world, in grimy ancient ghettos. Here in peaceful
and plentiful Philadelphia … it seemed an incredible – even an impossible thing
to happen. It was no wonder everyone thought of Hitler as a mad man.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He says it was not until the advent of
the internet – and specifically Forstater’s discovery of </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.jewishgen.org/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.Jewishgen.org</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – that the thing became deeply personal for him and he was
able to trace a web of ancestors whose existence he had barely considered but
nearly all of whom had perished at Madjanek, a concentration camp where Jews
from Lublin were sent, and Belzec, its closest extermination camp. The chance
discovery of Reder’s testimony in a museum gift shop “with the title Belzec
printed in rough red letters on a glossy black cover” led to this project:
Forstater realised when reading it that Reder had probably dug the graves and
carried the bodies of his relatives. So, then, a retelling of his own stateside
family history, done with an eye for the telling detail, has become a meditation
for the extended family he never knew: the domesticity of 1950s and 60s
Philadelphia a small compensation for the abrupt silencing of the massed ranks
of European Jewry. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is an extraordinary book. To say
that the section containing Reder’s testimony – surely one of the pre-emininent
documents of the Holocaust - is a “primary source” would be strange because the
effect when reading it is of being crowded and jostled by the fictionalised
versions of these events that have become standard fare – Schindler’s List, The
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. And yet there is something else.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every so often the various lenses – the
writerly eye or systems analyst – that we must use to view the horror of the
events at Belzec, described here in almost unbearable detail, slip and the
realisation that they happened to the person <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actually telling them to you</i> is like a punch in the face, in the
sense of a weirdly altered personal reality. To make the story make any kind of
sense I had to focus on details. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And so I found myself dwelling on the bizarre
idea that music was an integral part of the camp’s routine: that an orchestra
of inmates playing instruments belonging to the dead accompanied the removal of
bodies from the gas chamber. That the SS decreed songs should be sung on
certain occasions and that one particular SS guard forced the orchestra to play
a tune called Highlander Aren’t You Sad? over and over again.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I found myself wondering whether, as
Forstater says he was told, it is really possible for a person’s hair to go
white in a matter of minutes (internet says no) and what it would do to one’s
psychosexual development for one’s first sight of a naked woman to be in a
picture of Belzec inmates running to their deaths, an experience Forstater
describes having had while reading The Scourge of the Swastika by Lord Russell
of Liverpool. I found myself wondering also, given Reder’s detailed descriptions
of the behavior of some of the SS guards, whether psychopathy was a job
requirement and how exactly the candidates for the SS were selected? How is it
possible – though apparently it was – that Reder was an “oven specialist” and
yet did not know about Zyklon B?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is the issue of empathy that has
stayed with me more than anything, though. Unavoidably the nature of Reder’s
testimony is matter of fact: its value as a historical document being in direct
proportion to its credibility. And yet in order to remember the events that he
lived through without killing himself as many others did – Reder died in
Toronto in 1968 - a deadening of the mind must have taken place. Would this be <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a human strength or a weakness? Forstater’s
warm rememberings of Philadelphia suggest that empathy is a joy and yet in the
context of Belzec empathy would kill you. Moreover, what are the ramifications
of this for modern Jewish identity?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Forstater has made something of
enduring value here: he and Reder both survived Belzec in a sense. I urge you
not to look away.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">*<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I Survived a Secret
Nazi Extermination Camp is available from Psychology News (</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.psychologynews.org.uk/catalog/i4.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://www.psychologynews.org.uk/catalog/i4.html</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) There is an audio version read by David Suchet available on
iTunes.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">* If you appreciated this article you may also be interested in <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-sound-of-heimat-or-why-do-germans.html" target="_blank">this, called Sound of Heimat. Or why the Germans hate their own folk music</a></b></span></div>
Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-23744114846842514602015-08-02T04:48:00.002-07:002015-08-03T11:17:55.940-07:00This nyckelharpa kills fascists: Swedish folk musicians stand up to the racist rightSeveral months ago I was sent an academic paper written by an American called David Kaminsky: hat tip Jim Good, a Canadian musician now apparently living in Berlin. This was a seriously international undertaking as the article was about folk music in Sweden and how it has become entangled - much to the disgust of many Swedish folk musicians - with the far-right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woody Guthrie, 1943</td></tr>
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Kaminsky's article, published in the Journal of Folklore Research in 2012 and called <i>Keeping Sweden Swedish: Folk Music, Right-Wing Nationalism, and the Immigration Debate</i>, <a href="http://escholarship.org/uc/item/71j5b0vp" target="_blank"><b>can be read here</b></a>.<br />
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It's an interesting paper, though a little short on specifics. The gist is that Sweden's folk scene is vulnerable to the far-right - "Sweden for the Swedish" etc - as a result of a slightly half-hearted folk revival in the 60s and 70s that left the country's 19th-century nationalist folk repertoire mainly in tact, myth of cultural purity and all. Think less <i>Dirty Old Town</i> and more <i>Green Grow the Rushes, O</i>. I guess, according to this thesis, racists find it easier to imagine white people in an imaginary rural environment than an imaginary urban one. <br />
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The context is that <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/datablog/2015/may/11/which-eu-countries-receive-the-most-asylum-seekers" target="_blank">Sweden currently takes more migrants as a percentage of its population than anywhere else in Europe</a></b> and that there is an international migration crisis taking place: <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jul/09/syria-refugees-4-million-people-flee-crisis-deepens" target="_blank">four million people displaced by the Syrian civil war alone</a></b>, which puts the <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/28/emergency-measures-on-kent-roads-to-combat-channel-tunnel-gridlock" target="_blank">3,000 people currently estimated to be camping out in Calais</a></b> in some kind of perspective. It is, let's face it though, mainly a crisis for the migrants themselves, not for western Europe, which has the resources to help if it chooses. Sweden chooses to help.<br />
<br />
An attempt to find Swedish folkies to speak to foundered initially in an illuminating way: my first Swedish folky, whom I shall not name, told me off roundly for not knowing enough about Swedish folk music to deserve to speak to him and for believing that the Swedish band Baskery - whom I first saw at the Shrewsbury folk festival in the UK - might qualify as a folk band. I say "illuminating" because it is easy to see that if a folk scene is elitist and exclusionary it could be easily captured by one group of people. <br />
<br />
However, through the miracle of Facebook and specifically by posting a question on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank">this blog's Facebook page</a></b> (followed by all the most cosmopolitan folkies), I found myself being handed between Swedes until I was in touch with <b><a href="http://www.annanyckelharpist.com/about/" target="_blank">Anna Gustavsson</a></b> and Jenny Franke, who are directly involved with the "folk musicians against racism" movement.<br />
<br />
This was a familiar idea to me as there was something similar in the UK abut six years ago called Folk Against Fascism, although this organisation doesn't seem to have adapted itself very well to way the UK immigration debate has evolved and the reality of the 2015 election result, in which Ukip received 12% of the national vote. I guess it's lucky that <b><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/nigel-farage-admits-he-doesnt-listen-to-music-watch-tv-or-read--and-that-hes-stretched-leading-ukip-and-running-to-become-an-mp-10142283.html" target="_blank">Nigel Farage has no interest in music</a></b>.<br />
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Anna, Jenny and I organised a chat on instant messenger but unfortunately on Monday - the allotted evening - Jenny had to go and earn a living at the drop of a hat. So I spoke with Anna and this is how it went...<br />
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Tell me a bit about yourself, Anna: are you a musician?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: <span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".fz.1:$mid=11438519759763=2cc4e88aecb4cf53e93.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".fz.1:$mid=11438519759763=2cc4e88aecb4cf53e93.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Joel Höglund</span></span></td></tr>
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"<span class="null">Yes, I play the nyckelharpa and am currently a student at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. I'm from the countryside outside of Uppsala - a small place called Börje - and I'm 24."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">Did you have a chance to read the essay by David Kaminsky?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">"</span><span class="null"><span class="null">Not the whole text, but some of it."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">And what did you think of it? Is his analysis correct? He was saying that there is a problem in Sweden involving folk music and the far-right. </span></span><br />
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<span class="null"><span class="null">"If that is his analysis, he's right. That was the start of the folk musicians against racism movement."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">Could you be a little more specific? </span></span><br />
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<span class="null"><span class="null">"It began really </span></span>when the leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson wore a traditional costume when entering parliament in 2010."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichHbsLP8OTikZE4ITsgtceZTzov2ZcKFqboe965oBdEFFG09wgsKxN8bEY1V5hmnLDqP1K3mutIpY23GEbXByvP7Jis75PK0c9UfGGETIzmKXSTIa63idbNo7r03TZFdeBeBqSOrEnU8/s1600/b1613306-a194-4090-86e8-b43663ebe3de-2060x1236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichHbsLP8OTikZE4ITsgtceZTzov2ZcKFqboe965oBdEFFG09wgsKxN8bEY1V5hmnLDqP1K3mutIpY23GEbXByvP7Jis75PK0c9UfGGETIzmKXSTIa63idbNo7r03TZFdeBeBqSOrEnU8/s320/b1613306-a194-4090-86e8-b43663ebe3de-2060x1236.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"Many parliamentary people have worn the national costume to the opening but when Jimmie Åkesson did it in 2010, it became clear that the aim was political and that the clothing was worn not only as formal wear. The same has been done by the deputy speaker, Björn Söder [another Sweden Democrat], and various Sweden Democrats also did this at public meetings, electoral work and the like."<br />
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The Sweden Democrats are the far-right party?<br />
<br />
"Yes exactly. <span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016102259=250e400e20bb224f807.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016102259=250e400e20bb224f807.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">I believe the English organisation Folk against Fascism has a similar story. It's not only happening in Sweden. </span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Many countries in Europe struggle with this."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Folk against Fascism was a response to a rightwing politician turning up to some gigs and his party selling folk music on its website, I understand.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"</span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Right wing is also a nationalist party?"</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Yes.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016227582=25f160d23153040a043.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016227582=25f160d23153040a043.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">In that case, it seems like the same kind of issues."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016121202=25c3a8dd7a9e0821d92.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016143737=23e215c5f68c1f87e94.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016184423=2468fc0814730a60b16.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016227582=25f160d23153040a043.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016227582=25f160d23153040a043.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016240565=23e1f6a47ca2d04a850.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016240565=23e1f6a47ca2d04a850.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">But the British National Party - which is specifically what Folk Against Fascism was against - was never a big political force in the UK: it didn't have any MPs. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">So I think it is a bit more serious in Sweden?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Yes, you have a different way of counting votes I think, so it's maybe harder for new parties to enter the parliament? Since they are in the parliament in Sweden it is, I believe, more serious."</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Do you know what percentage of the vote the Sweden Democrats got in the 2014 election?</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016413680=2d0cd68b23d1a2f0c62.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016413680=2d0cd68b23d1a2f0c62.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">About 12 %, I can check up the exact number. They are the third biggest party now...</span></span>"</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">That's interesting. It's exactly the same as Ukip - our most prominent far-right party - but because of our electoral system Ukip only got one MP out of about 650. 12% is quite a lot.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016511707=2cd2c0eca6bcecd8482.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016511707=2cd2c0eca6bcecd8482.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Yes, they doubled at the election last year. Before that they entered the parliament with 6%."</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016537387=28d2cceeccd218b1e00.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016537387=28d2cceeccd218b1e00.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">And does the government change every five years?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016537387=28d2cceeccd218b1e00.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016537387=28d2cceeccd218b1e00.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016537387=28d2cceeccd218b1e00.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016537387=28d2cceeccd218b1e00.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016582718=24894d52f14349dde42.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016582718=24894d52f14349dde42.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016582718=24894d52f14349dde42.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0">Every four years. <b><a href="http://www.val.se/val/val2014/slutresultat/R/rike/" target="_blank">Here's last years result</a></b>. <span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016596940=2202cae82390e5b1896.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016596940=2202cae82390e5b1896.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">So 12.86 % ..."</span></span> </span></span></span> </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">And apart from the leader of the SD turning up in national costume, have there been other events that have made folk musicians alarmed?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016794492=22cf3fd13b839baf615.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016794492=22cf3fd13b839baf615.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Nationalistic papers have visited folk festivals in Sweden and sent 'journalists' to report about the 'true Swedishness' of the event and written about how good and 'white' the folk scene is.</span></span>"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016824507=273845980a44843c921.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016824507=273845980a44843c921.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">I think David Kaminsky mentioned one of these at the beginning of his article. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016271176=23f6bb234cddc33cd53.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016354092=2b8acc9e6d4f7516f56.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016372767=25cf52662376d6ab628.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016631071=27318473898fc7f1b74.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016824507=273845980a44843c921.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016824507=273845980a44843c921.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"But do you mean only Sweden Democrats or the other nationalistic parties/forces also?"</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">How many are there?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"We have some more parties, which are not in the parliament. National Democrats and The Swedes' Party."</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016992764=2402288b79433ee8d47.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016992764=2402288b79433ee8d47.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">And do they all have an anti-immigration agenda?</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016992764=2402288b79433ee8d47.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016992764=2402288b79433ee8d47.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017053183=20243f291953f2ead01.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017053183=20243f291953f2ead01.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Yes. One National Democrat tried to infiltrate Umeå folk music association to ban all world music bands at the <b><a href="http://umefolk.umeafolkmusik.se/artister" target="_blank">big folk and world music festival in Umeå</a></b> one year.</span></span>"</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016992764=2402288b79433ee8d47.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016992764=2402288b79433ee8d47.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017088914=227e56aeb9fe805bd34.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017088914=227e56aeb9fe805bd34.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Wow. That's serious. So he/she didn't want any non-Swedes at the festival?</span></span> </span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017149451=2817793c92211c6e370.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017149451=2817793c92211c6e370.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Not performing at least. It didn't get through, of course. But it's really terrible that it even happened.</span></span>"</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017156220=20ea5262a533d6f6e85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017156220=20ea5262a533d6f6e85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Could you send me a link to something that was written about that?</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016833855=297dbbc3f8f1e454163.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438016924715=2a33f1831e8213f6565.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017156220=20ea5262a533d6f6e85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017156220=20ea5262a533d6f6e85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017258339=239ee920d6628271a70.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017258339=239ee920d6628271a70.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"I was told this by a friend from Umeå, who said it was 2009-10. I have tried to find anything written about it but not succeeded. I will write to see if she has a link.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0">I do have <a href="http://expo.se/2011/folkmusikfestival-hyllas-av-nazister_4212.html" target="_blank"><b>an article about the Swedish party coming to another festival</b>."</a></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0">Where was that one?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Korrö, in the south of Sweden. </span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">What I think is important to say, is that the folk music scene is progressive in many ways. And such a long way from the narrow-minded thinking about folk culture that these nationalistic organisations have."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017543953=23e19607ca8e392a734.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017543953=23e19607ca8e392a734.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Sure. It's unusual to be a musician and be rightwing, </span></span>perhaps?"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017561230=2be73e90d41d36e1d33.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017561230=2be73e90d41d36e1d33.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Yes, it's not very common.</span></span>" </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Are there any right-wing Swedish bands?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017312384=2c5b21406725921ef85.2:0.0.0.0.0.0.$text0:0:$text0:0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017388306=25328b868b246b0e911.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017519428=21768c0ec5f01a73b15.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017610247=2f28237d5194d99dc67.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017610247=2f28237d5194d99dc67.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Noooo. Not folk music at least.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017622195=221479d391c84333558.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017622195=221479d391c84333558.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Maybe some rock bands? </span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017690643=2670a67a1e3dbceb291.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017690643=2670a67a1e3dbceb291.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">There/s a band called <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_Thule_%28Swedish_band%29" target="_blank">Ultima Thule</a> </b>that I think is <b><a href="http://www.expressen.se/kvallsposten/ultima-thule-spelade-pa-sd-ledarens-kalas/" target="_blank">a right-wing band</a></b>. But that's more rock I think. </span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">That's the only one I know but I'm sure there are others."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">So there were no folk musicians who expressed any sympathy with the right of these "national socialists" to be at the festivals?</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"</span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017909492=2e18797b5a3fddb8303.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017909492=2e18797b5a3fddb8303.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">No. I know of one folk musician who is a Sweden Democrat. But otherwise I feel that we are united in our cause of developing our culture in many ways, and being a progressive movement.</span></span>"</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018002274=2c3b4c14f757e048507.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018002274=2c3b4c14f757e048507.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Which year did folk musicians against racism start?</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"2010."</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">And are you an official of the movement?</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"I'm not sure what an official is, but we have no one in the movement with some kind of title like chairman."</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">So how did it start?</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018358119=2f8bc72b7ab978e1273.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018358119=2f8bc72b7ab978e1273.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"We are a so-called grassroots movement: it actually started with some students at the Royal College of Music. But now there are people all over Sweden that are in this all together. Everyone can join if they have the same beliefs as our statutes</span></span>."</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018378503=2fa2a15d796ce96a497.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018378503=2fa2a15d796ce96a497.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Are there membership cards?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018378503=2fa2a15d796ce96a497.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018378503=2fa2a15d796ce96a497.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018401584=2ac80baca923c745903.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018401584=2ac80baca923c745903.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"No, it is very unofficial</span></span>."</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018411838=2ffb45370b35d6d5388.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018411838=2ffb45370b35d6d5388.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">It has a Facebook page?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018204499=275b30535044e6de645.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018411838=2ffb45370b35d6d5388.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018411838=2ffb45370b35d6d5388.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018434379=288b4ad2baa8464d018.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018434379=288b4ad2baa8464d018.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"We mainly communicate <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/folkmusikermotframlingsfientlighet?fref=ts" target="_blank">on a Facebook page</a></b>. </span></span></span></span></span></span>"</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Your Facebook page has more than 5,000 likes! </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017756583=215ee960dd4546c5551.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438017799519=2cec8bbe25c728d6662.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"We are better at keeping the Facebook page, but here's <b><a href="http://folkmf.se/blogg/" target="_blank">a link to our website too</a></b>." </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018546360=22ff13088f001fc3c39.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018546360=22ff13088f001fc3c39.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">So is folk music closely linked to wearing traditional costumes in Sweden? We don't really have this in the UK. </span></span><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Is it usual for Swedish folk musicians to dress in traditional costume?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Well, it depends, but if you are at festivals in the summer you will definitely see some costumes. So it's a part of the folk culture 'kit'. Some people like to wear them, some don't. I believe it's different to England."</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">And does folk musicians against racism (FMR) organise any events?</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">"Here is a video of one of them: an anti-racism demonstration on the subway. It was in response to the Sweden Democrats talking about organised begging there."</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018608970=22ec9d393293ce80272.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"><span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".c0.1:$mid=11438018738960=2ac995b39d26fcb1101.2:0.0.0.0.0.0"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
How frequent are these events? Could I go to one this month in theory?<br />
<br />
<span class="null">"Yes, we organise not only
demonstrations and debates but also concerts with themes including 'Folkculture
without borders'.<span class="null"> This month, yes! We are on at a folk festival in
Stockholm: we have a tent there with information about us and will have
some different things going on.</span> </span><span class="null">Me and Jenny (mostly Jenny) are doing this festival - Stockholm folk festival - in a week. And I have been organising a meeting at <b><a href="https://www.womex.com/" target="_blank">Womex</a></b> in October, but that's not settled yet."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">Is there ever any trouble at the events?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">"The events I have been to and organised have been peaceful, but I know of one in Gothenburg where musicians played folk music
while Jimmy Åkesson was talking. I was told they were described as 'left-extremists' afterwards in the newspapers. Also, we had to stop playing when we demonstrated in the subway (video above), but there has been no violence that I know
of. People are often very happy and it's a nice vibe around our events - though they are serious."</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">So what happened at the Swedish Democrat rally in Gothenburg?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">"There is a short paragraph about it <b><a href="https://www.gp.se/nyheter/goteborg/1.2381198-akesson-kunde-tala" target="_blank">in the article</a></b>, which is from May 2014. The FMR people turned their backs and played their instruments, it says. They were demonstrating against nationalist forces attempting to kidnap the concept of folk culture. FMR wants to show that folk culture is about equality and diversity. Then </span><span class="null"><span class="null">Sara Andersson and Ebba Larsson danced - they also turned their backs to the SD's meeting.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">"The article quotes Sara Andersson saying: '</span><span class="null"><span class="null">For me it is important to stand up to SD, to stand up
to the normalisation of the party that has taken place, even though
they have a fascist ideology.</span> </span><span class="null">I'm not sure if it benefits the matter, or if it
benefits SD. I really do not know why, it's just a
feeling I have, it feels wrong to yell aggressive things."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">I guess that's why they were playing instruments instead? And did Jimmy </span><span class="null">Åkesson respond?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">"According to the article he said 'I could hold my speech, but it was bad that the police could not prevent all the yelling and screaming,' before he hurried off to the plane that was taking him to Stockholm for Saturday's third and final appearance in the run-up to Sunday's EU elections. 'I hope that all those interested in our message could hear what I was saying. But the police must ensure that those who simply want to prevent or sabotage our meetings do not get as much space'."<br />
<br />
The whole event reminds me of this event in the US, where <b><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/tuba-powns-kkk#.ghbxmm9B9D" target="_blank">a tuba player followed a Ku Klux Klan march</a></b>. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">So do you agree with David Kaminsky that Swedish folk
music is vulnerable to nationalist politics because there was no
real folk revival in the 60s and 70s?</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">"He said that? There was a huge folk revival in the 60s and 70s! It was part of what we call the 'green wave' - <span class="null">you know the hippies and environment and unisex and anti-nuclear movement?"</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">That sounds very like what was going on everywhere else in the world. So could you give me an example of something from the Swedish folk revival of the 1960s and 70s?</span><br />
<br />
</span><br />
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<span class="null">
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">"This is one of the most influential bands in the Swedish folk music scene from that time."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">And what is the translation of the title please?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">"</span></span></span>There lived a farmer at the harbour, I think that would be. <span class="null"></span>Or seashore maybe."<br />
<br />
<span class="null">And the musicians are called Folk & Rackare?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">"Yes, it's a band."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">What does rackare mean?</span></span><br />
<br />
"Buster/rascal. A person that likes to joke but also can be a bit mean? <span class="null">Maybe, its kind of an old word that we don't use any more."</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">It crosses my mind that maybe she is making Kaminsky's case for him? And what is the best band on the Swedish folk scene at the moment in your opinion?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">"We have Väsen and Frifot, but they have played for 25 years now...</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">Do you know Baskery?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">"No. English band?"</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">Swedish. They went down a storm at the Shrewsbury folk festival.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null">Are you surprised? I think I have</span></span><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"> discovered is that the definition of "folk" is pretty different in Sweden and the UK. When I contacted Baskery about this they told me that they also do not consider themselves to be a folk band, although they play folk festivals in the UK.</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">"Never heard of them, but I like it! In Sweden we have
a quite narrow meaning of folk music - it's often the same as
traditional music."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">And that's Kaminsky's case in a nutshell. I sent Anna videos from YouTube of Bellowhead and Seth Lakeman, both of which she liked very much. But she also said that even Bob Dylan would struggle to get himself a "folk" tag in Sweden and would, instead, be called a "troubadour".</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">In response she sent this by a band called Hoven Droven, which is at the most non-traditional end of the Swedish folk scene.</span></span></span><br />
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<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">And then this</span></span></span><br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><br /></span></span></span>
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<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">Which would probably tip over into being called "world music" in the UK. In response I sent this</span></span></span><br />
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<br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">which has elements of both but which, in my mind at least, remains folk music rather than world music on account of it being a traditional English tune. Not that it matters much...</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">* If you enjoyed this post you may also like this, called <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-sound-of-heimat-or-why-do-germans.html" target="_blank">Sound of Heimat. Or why the Germans hate their own folk music</a></b> Or there is also this called <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/afghanistan-where-fiddle-may-arouse.html" target="_blank">Afghanistan, where a violin may arouse</a></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like* <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a> and
then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your
"interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You
could also follow me on Twitter<b> <a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartle</a>y</b> </span></span></span>
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-5201151556032854182015-06-25T08:11:00.001-07:002015-07-29T15:30:09.431-07:00If you only remember three things about the EU...This EU in-out referendum makes me suspect that the grownups don't know what they're doing. I can see how we got to this point but it seems absurd that something so fundamental should be up - not just for for debate but possibly even - for reversal. It is doubly absurd because David Cameron has said that he will be campaigning - as you would expect of a conservative - for the status quo. <i>So why are you doing this?</i> I mouth at the television, wishing heartily that he would fight his internal party battles on his own time.<br />
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I like referendums, me</div>
<br />
Bewilderment is, it seems to me, one of the main
forces behind this referendum. Some - many - people are bewildered by the EU. And a knowledge gap makes a person suspicious: "Am I being taken for a ride? Is this organisation I don't fully understand responsible for my personal woes?"<br />
<br />
Getting your head around the European Union is hard because the organisation is unique: there are no good metaphors for it. This is its genius - it is an unparalleled work of political creativity - as well as its greatest problem. Because in politics a gap in understanding means there is also a democracy deficit.<br />
<br />
It also suffers from a deficit of explanatory reporting, reporting that deals with first principles. But having a ballot without understanding the issues sucks meaning from the event. <br />
<br />
So here's a contribution. <br />
<br />
Brass tacks, the EU was created to prevent us killing each other. For a millennium European wars destroyed the continent's quality of life every couple of generations or so: we had two pulverising, global conflicts that began in Europe in the 20th century alone and the unprecedented human misery that they engendered produced the European Community, given to a still-shocked continent in the spirit of "never again". This began with a coal and steel community involving those two old foes Germany and France: France became a market for German manufactured goods and Germany a market for French food. And economic connections – business to business rather than government to government - also worked politically.<br />
<br />
In the last 70 years there have been no major European wars and, as a result, large numbers of people - vast swathes of the population, in fact - exist who would otherwise have died in trenches or, as a result of their forebears' death, would never have been born at all. This is an extraordinary thing, a historical anomaly. As a generation, we are what the EU has made us. It always strikes me as ironic that the members of my own family who are the most anti-European are also those who would have been most likely to be conscripted in the event of another massive European war.<br />
<br />
This historically unprecedented peace and prosperity was what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Monnet" target="_blank">Jean Monnet</a> had in mind at the start. Now, for the first time in a millennium, there has been no pointless pan-European war for nearly a century.<br />
<br />
Ask yourself honestly whether without EU economic co-dependence you would trust our domestic political leaders not to lead us to war against each other: think about what else they have involved our armed forces in over the last 25 years, the fact that Cameron is playing domestic, party politics over this international issue in the first place – why doesn't he <i>just have more humility</i>? - and then truthfully tell me that you think our national security would be safer without the EU.<br />
<br />
Second fundamental: the common agricultural policy is a sophisticated mechanism for making sure we don't starve. Scarcity causes disputes and without food security, peace would be impossible: people do nearly anything if they are hungry enough. Europe's complex network of subsidies means that when a harvest fails at one end of the continent no one starves because we have slack in the system and the only "crisis" to speak of involves pricing. Europe subsidises its food production, which makes it more expensive than food in most of the rest of the world, but - guess what? - we can afford our expensive food due to the prosperity that our long-term political stability has given us. Moreover the percentage of our income spent on food is diminishing. <br />
<br />
Europe is the envy of large parts of the rest of the world. Refugees from war-torn regions - places without justice - fling themselves at our shores, wanting the peace and prosperity that we take so readily for granted. But take a long look at them on the television news – we really shouldn't.<br />
<br />
Thirdly, the EU is not a fortress. It has a mechanism for spreading its peace and prosperity. New countries can join but only once they have already remade themselves in the EU's image: having leaders invested in democracy and public service is the only way to get there. Historically speaking, this is an entirely new strategy for spreading ideas at a national level. And think of the ramifications. Turkey's drive for membership is idling at the moment. But if, one day, it did join, it has borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran. Because of the European Union it is possible to imagine a day when global democracy is more than a dream. I guess at that point some rebranding would become necessary.<br />
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* My book about European history and politics - <b><a href="http://amazon.co.uk/Did-David-Hasselhoff-End-Cold/dp/1840467940" target="_blank">Did David Hasselhoff End the Cold War? - is available on Amazon as a paperback</a></b> or as <b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=did+david+hasselhoff+end+the+cold+war+kindle" target="_blank">a download</a></b>.<br />
<br />
* If you enjoyed this you may also enjoy <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/necessary-outbreak-of-journalistic-self.html" target="_blank">A necessary outbreak of journalistic self-loathing</a></b>, which is about phone hacking<br />
<br />
<i>* This article was republished in The Spectator <b><a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/06/we-havent-had-a-pan-european-war-for-70-years-why-is-that/" target="_blank">here</a></b></i>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-40824866455041912642015-03-31T23:54:00.000-07:002015-04-01T05:09:36.961-07:00The Changing Room's wreckers: real or imaginary?Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr.<br />
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<br />
A <b><a href="http://www.thechangingroommusic.com/album/wreckers/" target="_blank"> song called Wreckers</a></b>
("we're the Moonfleet crew") by The Changing Room arrived through the post: hence the otherwise gratuitous picture of Ray Winstone looking a bit moody in a doublet in the recent mini-series of Moonfleet. Although the song was provoking, with its Cornish pirate-style vocals by John Cleave of Fisherman's Friends, back in December I was
living in a house-cum-building-site and, with the best will
in the world, finding it hard to concentrate on anything apart from
wild speculation about what kind of animals – cats? birds? badgers? – the builders would accidentally trap in the
house <i>next</i>. Seriously.<br />
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However,
the song – which is on The Changing Room's first album, Behind the Lace (just out) – preyed on my mind, with its wholesale retelling of the wrecking myth ("We plan by day, we move by night, Beware the lure of the wreckers' light") . This is because about 20 years ago I had a newspaper job in
Cornwall where I spent time mulling over what the editor
called "westcountry-ness". I was a feature of the Truro, then Bodmin offices of
the Western Morning News (WMN) from 1995 until 1997 and
our boss, Barrie Williams, would come down from Plymouth from time to time to tell us about the
direction the paper was supposed to be taking.<br />
<br />
He'd done some market research, much to the hysterical amusement of my older colleagues, and believed that the WMN's fastest-growing group of readers were recent arrivals to Devon and Cornwall from elsewhere in the UK, usually cities. They were most often attracted there not by the quality of life for - then as now - unless you're wealthy, the cost of buying housing in Cornwall is ridiculous. No. Many of them, Barrie thought, had been attracted by the <i>idea</i> of the place: something a bit wild, full of myths and legends, fluffy little bits of celtic fringe, mystical bollocks about piskies, pirates, wreckers, smugglers, Tintagel, the beast of Bodmin and the witchcraft museum in Boscastle. The readers, it seemed, really liked the part of Cornwall that was essentially fictional.<br />
<br />
My gnarly male colleagues were uniformly unimpressed by this theory: Robert Jobson, David Green, Colin Gregory and Michael Taylor (whose name is always pronounced very loudly and in a pronounced Northern Irish accent in my head, on account of that being how he spoke) thought it was ridiculous. Between them they had about 120 years experience in Cornish journalism, they knew where the bodies were buried, and they thought Barrie would probably blow over. <br />
<br />
However, I was young and keen, and Barrie had just given me a job. So I set about doing as I was bidden – looking for the kind of stories the editor had mentioned – and hit the trail of Daphne Du Maurier quite hard. Other areas potentially of interest, I decided, included Poldark, a New Age conference in Polperro where David Icke sometimes spoke and Mayday in Padstow, which I explored in addition to the usual round of court hearings and council meetings.<br />
<br />
During the course of these endeavours I soon met Daphne Du Maurier's son, Kits Browning, who lived overlooking the chain-link ferry in Fowey. Browning was a charming old gent - probably not <i>that</i> old, I realise now, but I was very young - and going to visit him was such a pleasure for a cub reporter in bad shoes (they always seemed to be soaked through), that I went as much as possible. His place was warm, dry and civilised, I always got a cup of tea and he was a good talker. I suppose I was slightly starry-eyed about his famous mother.<br />
<br />
So, perhaps inevitably, when I heard <i>Wreckers</i> the other week I thought of <i>Jamaica Inn</i>, Du Maurier's novel that did its bit to cement the reputation of the Cornish as semi-feral pirates and thieves who would cut your throat for a barrel of something that had washed up on a beach. <br />
<br />
I'd once tried to write something about wreckers as a reporter, you see. In my imagination wreckers were men and women who would actively lure ships to their doom on rocky shores by moving lights around at night-time to misrepresent where the land was – but the whole idea had been thoroughly squashed, in the sense that there was no truth in it, by someone who knew whereof they spoke, making it impossible to go any further with a good conscience. The more interesting question immediately became how these stories got started if there was nothing in them?<br />
<br />
So, when The Changing Room's single arrived, I thought I'd ask Kits whether his mum had ever discussed with him the aspect of her work that involved mythologising Cornwall? His phone number was the same the same 20 years on – yay! – but slightly disappointingly his response was: "No, sorry. Mum never really discussed that kind of thing with me. I was probably too young." A brief catch-up convinced me that, in search of something interesting and fact-based to say about wreckers, I should try the academic route.<br />
<br />
Professor Philip Payton of Exeter University wrote <b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cornwall-A-History-Philip-Payton/dp/1904880053" target="_blank">a rather fab coffee table book about the history of Cornwall</a></b>.<br />
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In fact, there it is on my coffee table, wearing a Changing Room beermat.<br />
<br />
I emailed Payton, who had once sent me that book in the post, while all the time using the web to find out things about wreckers that were basically unavailable 20 years ago, on account of the internet being very much in its infancy.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shipping_News" target="_blank">The Shipping News</a></b>, a wonderful Pulitzer prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx, was mainly set in Newfoundland, and Proulx's wreckers, from memory, were rumoured to be cannibals. Intriguingly, the entry about wreckers in Wikipedia is <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrecking_%28shipwreck%29" target="_blank">nearly all about North America</a></b> – so the legends seem to have have currency wherever there are rocky shores. <br />
<br />
Professor Payton, however, is an expert on the westcountry. He replied to my email, saying: "All that false lights and deliberate wrecking is a myth, really a result of the romantic re-invention of Cornwall by late Victorian and Edwardian novelists and writers. There is an excellent and very comprehensive book by Cathryn Pearce called 'Cornish Wrecking 1700-1860: Reality and Popular Myth' which deals with this. It'll be in the British library."<br />
<br />
But was I right to think that "false lights" would never have worked? I understand there was an episode of the BBC2 series Coast that dealt with this? Surely any helmsman would just steer away from any kind of lights? "'False lights' would only work when a ship was in close in shore, due to the low visibility of lanterns before electricity," he said.<br />
<br />
"Such ships would be making for harbour or running along the coast, in which case they would have a good idea of what lights to expect and to look out for. But if, by mischance, a ship was run close on shore on an unfamiliar coast then 'false lights' would be superfluous, as the ship would probably be wrecked anyway. The main reason why 'false lights' were unnecessary, though, was because wrecks were so commonplace along the Cornish coast."<br />
<br />
No luring required. <br />
<br />
Cathryn Pearce's book was indeed in the British Library and I spent a happy half a day splashing around in the warm Gulf Stream of Cornish history – although Kent also seems to have its share of wrecking stories.<br />
<br />
Pearce is very thorough. She points out that "wrecking" can refer to a lot of different things, including "harvesting" goods that the sea threw ashore and "salvage", in which locals tried to save the lives of shipwrecked sailors in the days before the RNLI. This was in addition to the "mythic wreckers" and "plunderers" who were rumoured to be prepared to attack a boat for its cargo but for whom there is very little historical evidence. In fact only one person was ever hanged in Cornwall for the crime of "wrecking", his name was William Pearce (maybe some relation?) and he was 82 years old when he died in 1767 near Launceston. His alleged crime – for he claimed he was innocent to the last - was to have helped himself to small amount of cotton from a beached wreck. His great age meant he was slow enough to catch, I guess.<br />
<br />
The bigger story that unfolds in Cathryn Pearce's extremely readable book is about a fight of epic proportions over the legal right to shipwrecked property in, what was to all intents and purposes, a free-for-all and propaganda counted for a great deal. Eighteenth-century Cornwall was a part of the world where laws written in London were often confused with local custom and habit. Cornish landowners would claim a portion of any cargo that washed ashore and the locals acquiesced. Except when they didn't. And there was the rub.<br />
<br />
The way Pearce tells it, the stories of the feral, murderous, immoral Cornish men and women that gained traction in popular fiction demonised ordinary people because it suited a coalition of landowners, shipowners, investors and insurance companies who were – unusally for them – the financial losers of the situation.<br />
<br />
It also suited fiction-writers, fiction-readers and eventually even the Cornish themselves. Pearce writes:
“As other marginalised groups have done,
[the Cornish] have attempted to ‘own’ the myths through a retelling of the
stories in their own way, whether in the yarns told to willing listeners, or
through more permanent means of literature, theatre and film.<br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">“</span>Yet defensiveness is also apparent…
wrecking is a sensitive subject. At the root of Cornish defensiveness is the
accusation that they lured ships ashore using false lights, not that they were
involved in the plunder of shipwrecks."</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It's not surprising. There's a huge moral difference between picking things up off the beach and murdering a ship's crew. Aside from anything else, Methodism was pretty big in Cornwall. </span></div>
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<br />
I like a good pirate story – and The Changing Room are from Looe, so I'm sure they've heard a few. But give me the complicated truth any day.<br />
<br />
Since I can't find a video of The Changing Room to embed, here's Show of Hands playing Tall Ships Medley.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OCBvCNcHE_A" width="420"></iframe></div>
<br />
* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like* <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a> and
then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your
"interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-23951996929127702542014-11-29T09:15:00.001-08:002014-11-30T10:02:39.621-08:00Are you a BBC folk awards judge who is proud to be associated with the awards? Why not out yourself?I've moved caves.<br />
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<br />
The previous one was in Bethnal Green and I've made the long, arduous trek of a mile and a half to Mile End, where my new cave is, to be perfectly honest, much less cave-like while also containing far fewer fairy lights (so far). But the glamour is - obviously - eternal. I'm renting from some friends who've moved abroad and their place is blinking marvellous: I'd love to invite you all round but there's building work going on...<br />
<br />
I mention this by way of an apology for recent quietness. There was an issue with wifi and a general sense of upheaval but I'm back.<br />
<br />
And I have an idea.<br />
<br />
A few days ago I fell to wondering why I hadn't heard anything about the folk awards this year, which made me slightly nervous as I'm perfectly well aware that if, for any reason, the BBC decides not to hold them a minority will inevitably point in my direction, on the grounds that rocking the boat is the worst sin of all. It wouldn't be fair but - hey - what is?<br />
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<br />
However, it turns out that the awards will be held in April 2015 instead of the usual February, which explains it.<br />
<br />
So yes: the judging process.<br />
<br />
You'll probably be aware that I've been waging a long and highly educational - for me - campaign to get the BBC to name its folk awards judges, who are currently anonymous while also enjoying strong links, many of them financial, to the folk music scene in the UK. <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/in-which-bbc-bigwig-bob-shennan-argues.html" target="_blank"><b>Read about it again here</b></a>.<br />
<br />
What started as mere curiosity led to the realisation that the BBC is contravening its own <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-interactivity-awards" target="_blank"><b>transparency guidelines</b></a> and then astonishment at its imperviousness to having this pointed out, publicly and repeatedly. In addition to <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/freedom-of-information-request-for.html" target="_blank"><b>a failed freedom of information request</b></a>, pressure from <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/could-it-all-be-a-fiddle-folk-stars-tell-the-bbc-to-reveal-who-judges-awards-6358939.html" target="_blank"><b>national newspapers</b></a> and <a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/01/bbc-radio-2-folk-awards-bottom-of-the-class/" target="_blank"><b>magazines</b> </a>and three MPs wading in, including <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-bbc-briefing-for-john-whittingdale-mp.html" target="_blank"><b>the chairman of the culture, media and sport committee, John Whittingdale</b></a>, the BBC press office sent me an email this year saying that it intends to continue in its opaque ways. They seem not to mind that it undermines the credibility of the thing. Perhaps someone at the Beeb feels that the folk awards don't need any credibility?<br />
<br />
Their line is that naming the judges would mean that people would be able to get in touch with them and lobby them - by which I can only assume they mean "play them some music" - and that this would be a bad thing. So from my point of view there are only two possible courses of action this year.<br />
<br />
(1) I call on the BBC to anonymise every other judging panel they have, including Strictly Come Dancing. This would immunise them from the charge of hypocrisy, make it clear that they've publicly reversed their transparency guidelines and simultaneously prove that it is not laziness, corruption or just giving folkies the shitty end of the stick.<br />
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I touched on <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/david-cameron-and-border-morris-side.html" target="_blank"><b>some of these issues in a blog about morris dancing the other day</b></a>. I think the corporation's intransigence is, at least partly, a class issue. Don't let the BBC treat you like a second class citizen – for be in no doubt that if you are a folky this is what's happening. They are sending the message that you don't deserve the same levels of integrity that are commonly applied to public life: folkies are not worth it. Email Bob Shennan, the controller of Radio 2 on bob.shennan@bbc.co.uk if you think this matters. If you don't: that's why it's happening in the first place.<br />
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(2) On the other hand, if you are a folk awards judge and would like to go on the record - and I suspect there are some because they've been in touch - please email me (again) and let me know. There are probably around 200 judges in total by now: I wonder how many will come forward?<br />
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So if you are a folk awards judge and would like to "out" yourself please email me <a href="mailto:emma.hartley@firenet.uk.net" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. If you are a folk awards judge who thinks this is a storm in a teacup then you can <i>prove</i> it by emailing me <a href="mailto:emma.hartley@firenet.uk.net" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. However, if you think it's important that the status quo be maintained I'd just bitch and moan about me on a web forum if I were you.<br />
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You could also email me if you know someone who is a folk awards judge, who you think may not have seen this post and I'll happily forward it to them without letting on who tipped me off.<br />
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This is going to get interesting.<br />
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-55529611396903273042014-10-20T13:19:00.002-07:002014-12-08T04:39:14.956-08:00David Cameron and the border morris side: why is morris dancing so little understood?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">David Cameron had his picture taken with some black-face border morris dancers last week and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/11162018/Dont-read-racism-into-folk-dance-costumes.html" target="_blank"><b>a kerfuffle ensued</b></a>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Was it racially edgy? Much of the mainstream media<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/david-cameron-blacked-up-morris-dancers-nationalistic-englishness-black-people" target="_blank"> <b>seemed initially unsure</b></a>, being apparently unable to play the "some of my best friends are morris dancers" card: I can. (Stand up, James Creaser.) Moreover I was unafraid that border morris dancers blacking up their faces was racist for the simple deductive reason that you couldn't find a more politically correct crowd than folkies and morris dancers: the question of whether border morris is racist has doubtless been discussed over and over again and if it were an issue, <a href="http://www.folkagainstfascism.com/" target="_blank"><b>someone would be calling for a ban</b></a>. But they're not. So either it isn't racist or there isn't enough evidence to make a case. The interesting part was that the Guardian – the natural political home of most folkies – didn't sense this in its bones. It took a few days before <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/15/black-up-row-uk-one-nation-cameron" target="_blank">Martin Kettle was able to say something less than standoffish about morris</a></b>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">By that time border morris dancer James Bell had also written a<a href="http://jamesbellcentral.net/2014/10/15/chapter-69-morris-dancing-borderline-racist/" target="_blank"><b> frankly enormous blog post on the subject</b></a>, in which he tied himself in knots and, in the process, posted a brilliant video of Christopher Walken dancing (thanks!). Because of James's direct involvement it's interesting to read what he has to say. But he basically didn't know if black-face was racist. What I learned from his peroration was, once again, that morris dancers are a very politically correct, extremely nice bunch of people who really don't want to offend anyone, which is kind of where I started. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Every country's relationship with its traditional music and dance is essentially its relationship with its own past. <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-sound-of-heimat-or-why-do-germans.html" target="_blank"><b>The Germans have a huge problem with their folk music</b></a> as it was recently appropriated either by the Nazis or the communists, depending on which side of the east/west divide they were on. But the English are nearly as uneasy, which takes some thinking about. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">I mean, how come morris dancing is so widely thought of as ridiculous? Is it really any sillier than dressing up in lederhosen, playing the bagpipes or any number of other European traditions?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">I would suggest this: the greatest trick the British ruling class ever pulled off - as an intrinsic part of the steep class distinctions we choose to maintain in the UK - was making its underclass ashamed of themselves, the sound of their own voices and their traditions: hence the collective national cringe over our folk song and dance. What could be more embarrassing than morris dancing to anyone but the proudly thick-skinned and the contrarian? It's hard to imagine. If you attacked anyone else's folk traditions you'd be under suspicion of racism yet it's OK to attack the harmless pastime of your own underclass, branding it ridiculous over and over in order to try and suck the pride from it. The demonisation of morris dancing is a peculiarly English form of class warfare. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Such is the success of this false class consciousness that even Terry Eagleton, the supposed Marxist, said in the Guardian the Saturday before Cameron's black-face episode that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/10/terry-eagleton-king-for-a-day-jeremy-clarkson" target="_blank"><b>if he were king for a day he would execute morris dancers</b></a>. Thanks a fucking lot, Terry. I mean, what kind of Marxist offers, even in jest, to execute a bunch of his own comrades? An English Marxist, is the answer. One who has been successfully denatured by the ruling class he once opposed. I know that most morris dancers are able to have a laugh at themselves but on this occasion I'm being humourless on their behalf because I think it's important.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The story of England's rural working class has always been a lot about emigration and exile, people turfed off the land and dispossessed: it's just that as soon as the English working class successfully left England they became American, Canadian, New Zealanders, Australians and more. We love our sailing songs because they're a massive part of our history and if there is any shame to be located in the morris perhaps it is that these guys with the hankies, these are the guys who stayed and tried to make a life for their families despite the desperate conditions that had driven their brothers and cousins abroad. They compromised and stayed. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Still. There has been a folk revival over the last decade that could be partly attributed to the comfort that any kind of tradition provides during a recession, partly to that emanation of the English public school system known as Mumford & Sons and partly due to the relatively recent introduction of some folk music awards at the BBC: awards that are taken insufficiently seriously and <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/in-which-bbc-bigwig-bob-shennan-argues.html" target="_blank">need a big dose of transparency</a> </b>as a mark of respect for the musicians, the audience and the tradition. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">It's just ironic that it should be David Cameron who had his picture taken with the border morris side as - if we believe <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/15/black-up-row-uk-one-nation-cameron" target="_blank"><b>the narrative about concealment</b></a> - he's the one they were blacking up to avoid.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">* If you enjoyed this post you may also be interested in <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/way-of-morris-morris-on-big-time.html" target="_blank"><b>this about a wonderful film called Way of the Morris</b></a>.</span><br />
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-58559784634088149952014-10-06T10:54:00.000-07:002014-10-20T12:47:55.884-07:00John Ball and Sydney Carter: the motherlode of English folk politicsSometimes, looking at David Cameron's gammony face, it is hard to believe that Britain has 700 years of revolutionary politics behind it. But it does.<br />
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It rustled in the William Morris undergrowth of my background. I've had three grandparents – one with us still – who were active in Labour politics and who between them had a collection of Labour movement pamphlets dating back many decades. From childhood I met words like "socialist" (which meant being nice to people, according to mum) and "Fabian" (those who believe in inflicting socialism on the working class because it's good for them, I gathered, unable to tell whether this was a joke. It was – but only a <i>good</i> one because of the truth buried in it). The words' competing nuances came to life around the family dinner table, especially with my grandparents after we moved to Norwich. The city was a bright red dot in a blue sea on election night, mainly as a result of the university based there, and until I moved away after school I was under the misapprehension that "Tory" was a term of abuse, not knowing that they also referred to themselves in this way. This makes me smile now.<br />
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As an undergraduate I worked for Harriet Harman as a researcher for a few months: months that I seemed to spend mainly retracing Harriet's movements, trying to find the spot where she had most recently abandoned her handbag. <br />
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One of my most treasured memories of my course at Leeds is of finding a first edition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dream_of_John_Ball" target="_blank"><b>William Morris's A Dream of John Ball</b></a> in the stack under the Brotherton Library and realising that I <i>knew</i> it and its beautiful illustrations (see above) even though I'd never seen it before.<br />
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What I am trying to say is that Labour politics is my hinterland. And that hinterland is a dimension of this country that coexists spectrally, a misty gauze of hope and expectation that lies over the landscape, as much a part of Britain as the version of it familiar to bankers and property developers – more permanent because the need for it is greater.<br />
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And Sydney Carter's song John Ball is the motherlode of English revolutionary politics in folk music, it seems to me.<br />
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It kicks in after about eight minutes: my favourite version of the song so far, by The Old Dance School. At the Warwick folk festival in 2013 the song's harmonies rang in my ears in the beer tent for the best part of three evenings and I saw The Old Dance School play their powerfully ecstatic version of it more than once. I assumed to begin with that it was a traditional song because the lyrics seemed smoothed by time and their meaning evoked religion through the lens of ethical socialism. There were lots of versions...</div>
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It wasn't traditional though. </div>
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What it is, is a story about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ball_(priest)" target="_blank"><b>John Ball, the hedgerow preacher</b></a> who inspired the peasant's revolt in the 14th century, the ex-communicated priest who told his congregation that "Now is the time" in such a way that many of them laid down their lives alongside him and Wat Tyler. His revolutionary, proto-socialist ideas lived on after his death at the hands of Richard II and can be traced forward to the nonconformism of the civil war and from there to <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/composer-harry-escott-talks-about.html" target="_blank"><b>the new world</b></a>. In a nutshell</div>
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<i>"Labour and spin for the fellowship you're in. Labour and spin for the love of one another. When Adam delved and Eve span who was then the gentleman?"</i></div>
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Work for the dignity it gives you and to support those whom you love, and never forget where we all came from – and where ultimately we're all going. When The Old Dance School plays John Ball, a part of me would like to sing it with them but another chokes and wells up with emotion, making it impossible. It makes me feel a little foolish but there you go.<br />
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But far from being a traditional piece, the song was written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Carter" target="_blank"><b>Sydney Carter</b></a> – who is probably best known for also having written <i>Lord of the Dance</i> – and John Ball was written in the 1960s and <b><a href="http://mainlynorfolk.info/john.kirkpatrick/songs/johnball.html" target="_blank">recorded for the first time, I believe, by John Kirkpatrick and Sydney Carter in 1981</a> </b>on the album Lovely in the Dance.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/mar/17/guardianobituaries.religion" target="_blank"><b>Sydney Carter</b></a> died in 2004 after <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/mar/17/guardianobituaries.religion" target="_blank"><b>a long and eventful life</b></a>. But, probably because I learned my politics from my forebears, it made sense to me to ask what kind of a man he was of his only son, Mike Carter, who is a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon in Bristol these days.<br />
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When I Googled Dr Carter there was a lot about <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-26252938" target="_blank"><b>parking fines at his NHS hospital trust</b></a>: it seems that the same non-conformism that led his father to write so many songs that found their way into my hymn book at school – <i>If I needed a neighbour</i> and <i>One more step</i> among them – had led the son to be the kind of person who does not mind making some waves.<br />
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"It was a very corporate-minded trust that expected us to work on two sites but made no provision for parking," he explained when I caught up with him. "Eventually Jeremy Hunt announced that they had changed their tack."<br />
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Perhaps inevitably Carter is also a part-time musician, a multi-instrumentalist with <a href="http://pmhb.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Peter Mouse's House Band</b></a>, which seems to do a lot of weddings and revels in the accolade of being Bristol's second-favourite covers band. "I knew the story of John Ball as I was growing up – I heard it from dad. And then we sang a lot of dad's songs at school. Mum was a teacher at Bessemer Grange Primary in Dulwich and even though the repertoire of dad's stuff is usually to be found in schools, ours was much greater than usual.<br />
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"John Ball was a preacher who was excommunicated for his anti-church views. He felt one should be living the life of Christ and that those who had everything and did not share it were not living the life of Christ. And he felt that the church at the time was supporting the rich and not the poor. This was at a time when the discrepancy between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor was at its greatest ever. The Hundred Years War against France was going on and it was incredibly difficult to finance. There were three poll taxes – which were regarded as a terrible injustice by many people. This was a time, you see, when many were born into servitude and had no prospect of getting out of it.<br />
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"So in a way what John Ball was preaching was a form of liberation theology, of the kind that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero" target="_blank"><b>Cardinal Romero</b></a> used to espouse in Latin America and a little bit like the present pope, who gets rid of all his riches and walks around in the streets of Rome." But there was very little precedent for it back then.<br />
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Carter said that he deals with his father's estate and the royalties due to it. "John Ball seems to be coming up more frequently all the time – it's great that it's been picked up by contemporary performers." The first version Carter mentioned was Chris Wood's, though he seems to hold a candle especially for one by Wood and Karine Polwart, which I can't seem to find on the web.<br />
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He also mentioned Crow on the Cradle, which is performed by Show of Hands.<br />
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And then wondered out loud whether they had picked it up from Jackson Browne, who sang it at Madison Square Gardens in 1969, after which it appeared on his live album.<br />
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"Dad and I were incredibly close. He was extraordinarily kind, incredibly intelligent: a polymath. He knew everything about everything, it seemed to me as a child, and came from a very humble background himself: he got to Balliol through a series of scholarships. He was very influenced by Quakerism but I'm not sure he would call himself a Quaker. He didn't think you should respond to authority unless it was in the right and that established religion was too didactic... A lot of his beliefs are my beliefs. I was brought up to call things if they were wrong."<br />
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Thoughtfully, Mike also provided this family snapshot, which includes his mum, Leela: he was an only child and this was, essentially, the fellowship they were in.<br />
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* If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/afghanistan-where-fiddle-may-arouse.html" target="_blank"><b>this one, about folk music in Afghanistan</b></a>. Or <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-sound-of-heimat-or-why-do-germans.html" target="_blank"><b>this one</b></a>, which is about why the Germans have such a difficult relationship with their music.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-55066803747309134362014-09-14T04:37:00.000-07:002014-09-14T14:38:08.735-07:00The Willows teach a crucial PR lesson at King's PlaceThe Willows played a late set - 9.45pm - on Saturday at the <a href="http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/festival#.VBWFxihDxG4" target="_blank"><b>Kings Place festival</b></a> this weekend that worked like coffee. Jade Rhiannon is their beautiful lead singer, with a highly distinctive and beguiling voice; there is a charming and eccentric guitarist, Ben Savage, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Rupert Grint; they have a fabulously musical brother and sister banjo and fiddle combo in Cliff and Pru Ward; and an absorbing and upbeat collection of songs that wraps you in a blanket of sonic joy: their four or five part harmony (the drummer, Evan Carson didn't seem to have a mic though I could be wrong) was transcendent. They're the real deal.<br />
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Their second album, Amidst Fiery Skies, is from a place where folk and bluegrass cohabit and has immediately taken up a residency on my multi-disk CD player. But it was interesting to hear about the problem they had with their first album. "We didn't put the name of the band on the cover," explained Savage. "Our PR went nuts when she found out: apparently that's a PR disaster. Rumour has it we'd be HUGE if we'd put our name on the cover."<br />
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It (above) was called Beneath Our Humble Soil, they have taken to using stickers bearing their name to compensate, and the absence of most of the salient information from the CD cover didn't stop it picking up some <b><a href="http://www.thewillowsband.co.uk/" target="_blank">very nice reviews</a>,</b> from Bob Harris and Mike Harding among others.<br />
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Nonetheless it got me thinking because I have a related problem with CDs and it's do with the basics: there is a large-ish collection of CD covers in my front room that have become separated from their disks, and while some of it is due to negligence and enthusiasm (playing stuff to people without taking the trouble to replace CDs toward the end of the evening) there is a handful that I have been unable to match with their covers because the CDs have no information whatsoever on them. For instance, can anyone put a name to this - rather beautiful - orphan?<br />
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Or this?<br />
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It has a doodle of two large-headed humanoids and was apparently produced by Parlaphone - who should probably know better - but I'm having no luck finding its cover. This means that unless it's instantly recognisable when I play it - though it'll be hard to find a reason to do so since I don't know what it is - it's going to languish in a kind of musical no-man's land for the forseeable future. </div>
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It crossed my mind that in the case of The Willows, the missing name on the cover could have been misplaced modesty, which is something one comes across quite a lot among folkies and frequently ties in with an anti-capitalist ambivalence about being better known (good) and making money (not entirely the point). Also there is often no one who thinks of their actual job as being to check this stuff at cottage-industry-sized labels. </div>
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However, I spend a large amount of time making sure that all the basic information is present in newspaper stories and feel qualified to suggest that there are very few circumstances in which it is inappropriate to fully label one's output. And if in doubt, do it again: no one will complain.</div>
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Here's something else by The Willows to make up for my hectoring tone, which is certainly connected with annoyance about futile attempts to de-clutter The Glamour Cave. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you liked this post you may also be interested in reading <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/rodney-branigan-high-plains-drifter-who.html" target="_blank"><b>this post about Rodney Branigan</b></a>, who deserves more attention than he gets.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-57889451004424050532014-09-03T11:03:00.001-07:002014-11-20T02:29:33.955-08:00Nancy Kerr: never underestimate Towersey's sweetest visitorNot enough women hear themselves called geniuses. A lot would be embarrassed: as a group we're most often brought up to believe that modesty is the way forward, to having our triumphs mitigated and our disasters emphasised while, for the most part, being rewarded less fully than our brothers, underestimated at the outset and frequently discounted in the final reckoning. This is not something I would have written twenty years ago or something I was brought up to believe: it's something I've learnt.<br />
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Part of me wishes I could un-know it.<br />
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But Nancy Kerr brings the discomfort of this under-acknowledged truth into sharp focus. If the definition of a genius involves exceptional creativity resulting in a leap of insight, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a contender: no blushing, if it's all the same to you.<br />
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One of the UK's finest original folk albums of recent years has been <a href="http://www.brightyoungfolk.com/gigs/twice-reflected-sun-nancy-kerr-and-james-faga/record-detail.aspx" target="_blank"><b>Twice Reflected Sun</b></a> by Kerr and her husband, James Fagan, for the explosive impact of the songwriting and its strong sense of two places - England and Australia. Kerr is English while Fagan, of course, is an Aussie. It was rightly honoured by the Radio 2 folk awards and has several songs on it that feel as if they will outlive us all. Kerr and Fagan each have a voice you would be able to tell from anyone else's, which multiplies their distinctiveness as a duo by several powers of magnitude. Couple this with Kerr's ability to play both ends of a fiddle simultaneously - drawing the bow with one hand while plucking with the other - and they're a proposition of unique and powerful singularity.<br />
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I came to the album - and Queen of Waters, above, about a canal boat - <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/fagan-and-kerr-issue-denial-at-warwick.html" target="_blank"><b>about three years ago at the Warwick festival</b></a>, and loved it a lot, immediately. At the time Kerr could herself have been the Queen of Waters, so heavily pregnant was she, and Fagan left an indelible impression as a result of an overwrought and highly memorable conversation (for me, anyway) after the gig during which I was buying a copy of their CD and he was giving off static, jangling with nerves and anticipating the imminent arrival of their second child. He might be medically trained but when it's your own family I guess all bets are off. </div>
<br />
I saw Kerr play again this year at <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/folk-by-oak-2014-this-time-with-beer.html" target="_blank"><b>Folk by the Oak</b></a>, as a part of The Elizabethan Session, and received a copy of her wonderful first solo album, <a href="http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/Nancy-Kerr-Sweet-Visitor-171227" target="_blank"><b>Sweet Visitor</b></a>, soon afterwards through the post, which I absorbed walking to and from work for several days. One particular thought jostled to the front, sat up and begged for attention though: while this was Kerr's solo debut it was <i>not</i> a departure from Twice Reflected Sun; the brilliant continuities and lyrical consistencies were far greater than the differences. Why was that?<br />
<br />
"I also wrote all the songs on Twice Reflected Sun," Kerr nodded. We were perched on a sofa in a green room behind the CD tent at the Towersey festival and I was not-very-discreetly delighted by the significance of what she had just said.<br />
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Not that it had been a secret. Had I paid greater attention, <a href="http://www.brightyoungfolk.com/gigs/twice-reflected-sun-nancy-kerr-and-james-faga/record-detail.aspx" target="_blank"><b>the information was out there</b></a>. But because several of the songs on Twice Reflected Sun were written in a male - even martial - voice, I had made sexist assumptions about the division of labour between the two of them - she and Fagan - that were, quite simply, wrong. And that, I suppose, is how it all starts...<br />
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<br />
"That album really uncorked me as far as song-writing goes," said Kerr. "It was the first one I ever wrote and I was consciously doing some songs for me to sing and some for James. Sweet Visitor came about because James told me to sing them all, like other singer-songwriters. For Twice Reflected Sun I was trying to write in the way that the tradition behaves: it was quite abstract. And I think that's the case because folk songs trickle down through so many filters. The old ballads might tell a personal story but the proponent has often been lost, so the singer-songwriter becomes a very powerful agency."<br />
<br />
It should be more widely known that you're the writer, I suggested, with all the leaps of imagination implied by that. She smiled wryly.<br />
<br />
"A good friend said to me after he'd listened to Twice Reflected Sun 'Is that all going on in your head?' And it tickled me because it was just an inch away from 'your pretty little head'. But my mum is a songwriter and I grew up listening to Peggy Seeger's songs about being female. This gender thing can be quite subtle. You often get a man telling women's stories and it's an interesting perspective: the messages get altered when you give them a different context."<br />
<br />
Sweet Visitor has a lot on it about London 2012?<br />
<br />
"Yes. Radio Two commissioned me to write three songs about the Olympics, though the theme was a bit bothersome to me. I wasn't sure how to find my part in it. I'm not sporty and my writing is all about mood. Also a lot of folk relies on jeopardy, adversity and hard times, which is kind of the opposite to what the Olympics was about. But in the end I thought of my grandparents, who were from the East End, and I thought about the cost of this incredible event in their lives, then wrote about the Greek gods coming to the East End, all golden."<br />
<br />
I love the folk rock track on there called The Bunting and the Crown: it pounds along a little bit like an early Steeleye Span track.<br />
<br />
"It's about competition and how a lot of things come down to nationalism: I dwell a lot on music and identity, and nationalism is about power and a sense of power. But if someone's personal sense of power is derived from their country being better than someone else's I'm not interested. The Bunting and the Crown is about that <i>not</i> being important... I do like bunting though."<br />
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<br />
She giggled. It was infectious.<br />
<br />
"But the main thing about these songs was that someone asked me to write them. It was a very big deal and the deadlines helped."<br />
<br />
I hear you.<br />
<br />
"I need deadlines. Your brain gets refreshed by them. I love a deadline and I have learned to make my own: if I say to James 'can you take the kids out for two hours?' I have to have a song by the end of it. After the Olympics, I wrote Sweet Visitor <i>as if </i>someone had commissioned it and then you could say that I was match-fit for <a href="http://www.folkbytheoak.com/tes" target="_blank"><b>The Elizabethan Session</b></a>.<br />
<br />
"There is a slight subtext to Sweet Visitor, which is that we are <i>all</i> visitors. At a time when there are a lot of questions about nations, heritage and where you are from - people fleeing terrible countries, trying to escape risk - if we realise that we are all where we are by the grace of coincidence or fate, that should make us behave better to each other."<br />
<br />
When I'd told a friend I was hoping to catch you for an interview here, he said he thought you were Australian.<br />
<br />
"I've spent a lot of my life in Australia," she said, her often deliciously flat vowels getting a twang for the occasion. "I <i>get</i> that whole emigrant experience. Where The Jacarandas Grow (from Sweet Visitor) is about asylum seekers in Australia and how a pretty wealthy country has closed itself off to humanitarian concerns."<br />
<br />
Interesting. I saw a thing on TV recently about the British "orphans" who were sent there in the 50s and 60s, around 180,000 of them – and lots hadn't actually lost their parents: they were taken away from poor families, exported and then horribly brutalised in corrupt institutions, lots of them run by nuns and priests. Australia's got a small population and perhaps to have so many people to whom that happened so recently - a substantial portion of a generation - I was wondering whether it would have an effect on a country's public discourse as well as its family life?<br />
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"Maybe. We played a folk festival at a place called Fairbridge on one of those old sites – the institutions - south of Perth. It had a very peculiar atmosphere.<br />
<br />
"James and I met in the UK, though, back in 1995. He was a medical doctor at the time and when he went back for his first year of being fully qualified I went with him. We split our time between Britain and Australia for several years: it was a constant round of festival summers on two sides of the world. So I do feel quite Australian and I got to really love the music scene there.<br />
<br />
"It's not as easy for us to go back now that we have heaps and heaps of work, but we will at some point, when it fits in with schooling. We sing in a five-piece when we're there, with James's sister and his mum and dad, Bob and Margaret."<br />
<br />
I wondered about the vast distance between England and Australia and <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/dave-swarbrick-on-sandy-denny-australia.html" target="_blank"><b>the people whose lives are shaped by both places</b></a>.<br />
<br />
"It was really cool meeting James and realising how much we had in common, our backgrounds and references. I sometimes wonder how people make connections without music as an opener: there's a certain amount that's understood, that doesn't need to be said. I mean, I've been playing the fiddle since I was five. And I don't really know how to hold my bow properly, but it works for me. I'm really interested in the texture and the colour of the sound it makes: I like the little scrapes and growls and even if you are just playing one note, I love how you can change the tone. I'm an accompanist as much as anything."<br />
<br />
I <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/bristol-folk-festival-at-colstan-hall.html" target="_blank"><b>once had a chat with Kathryn Roberts</b></a> in which she'd said something about her husband and musical partner, Sean, that I'd misunderstood at the time. She'd said that he was at his best as an accompanist and, in my ignorance, it had crossed my mind this might have been a slight. Later I realised the opposite was true. Without collaboration music amounts to very little.<br />
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Kerr nodded.<br />
<br />
"I like accompanying but it's hard then being a leader. When you're accompanying you have to put any ego away for a bit and play differently... but there is a lot of power in supporting something properly. That's why I love working with James: he knows where to pitch what he is doing. He doesn't just think about the notes, he thinks about the rhythm and the notes and about telling a story all at the same time. That's what I love in his music: with the right accompanist we can do anything."<br />
<br />
I really wanted to ask this next thing because the song sets my imagination ablaze: I Am The Fox, from Twice Reflected Sun, was written for James's voice (though it was also served up convincingly as hard rock at a dreamlike late-night Towersey ceilidh by Fagan's excellent "metalcore dance band" <a href="http://www.glorystrokes.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Glorystrokes</b></a>). What alchemy could possibly have produced that slice of lyrical subversion?<br />
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<br />
"It was the cusp of the financial crash and for about ten minutes I thought maybe it was payback for capitalism... That was before I realised that the crap always trickles down and there were difficult times ahead. I thought that for once in my life, being a folk musician was not a ridiculous choice. The character in that song was partly Fantastic Mr Fox, Robin Hood and Reynardine. I thought that if you can't make money on the stock market then you might as well write songs about it."<br />
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I asked whether Now is the Time, from the new album, was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d8khr" target="_blank"><b>a reference to John Ball</b></a>, whose rallying cry those words were: I thought she might know this because the song about him by Sydney Carter is a part of <a href="http://www.melrosequartet.co.uk/Melrose_Quartet_Home.html" target="_blank"><b>The Melrose Quartet</b></a>'s set - the group being Kerr and Fagan's collaboration with fellow Sheffielders Jess and Richard Arrowsmith. In fact, Kerr said it was coincidence, that the song had been written about someone else. But she seemed very taken by what was evidently new information to her (about the rallying cry). I probably glowed a little when she mentioned my question while introducing the song at her album launch later.<br />
<br />
Sophie Parkes' biography of Eliza Carthy, Wayward Daughter, is partly about how the two of you played music together as teenagers. Will there be a reunion?<br />
<br />
"I don't think Eliza and I will work together in the future," she said, somewhat to my surprise. "There's something about identity in music: we were two women of exactly the same age. We don't sound similar, but we both sing and play fiddle, and people compared us with each other. It's very hard to be compared: I don't want to be compared to anyone. I found it hard back then: she was so successful so quickly."<br />
<br />
That has an irrefutable emotional logic to it. In any case, I cannot resist the thought that, for Kerr at least, the time is now.<br />
<br />
* Also from Towersey 2014 there is <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/blair-dunlop-does-determinism-at.html" target="_blank"><b>this, about Blair Dunlop</b></a> believing that he invented determinism, <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ashley-hutchings-at-towersey-festival.html" target="_blank"><b>this about Dunlop's dad, Ashley Hutchings</b></a>, and the forthcoming film about his former wife, the folk singer Shirley Collins, and <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/hands-up-for-laus-seal-boy-at-towersey.html" target="_blank"><b>this short thing about Lau</b></a>.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-18252996935188489842014-08-28T07:48:00.002-07:002014-09-03T12:12:21.217-07:00Blair Dunlop does determinism at TowerseySometimes Blair Dunlop, whose maturity shines through his music, betrays his extreme youth through his references. "Is anyone here doing philosophy A' level?" he asked the Big Club tent on day two of Towersey.<br />
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<br />
Someone in the audience made like a windmill, indicating that they definitely were.<br />
<br />
"Hey! I did that course and I remember when we did <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism" target="_blank"><b>determinism</b></a>. I opened up the book and I couldn't believe my eyes: I'd believed in that philosophy since when I was a little kid and it used to make me feel really down. I was a strange child."<br />
<br />
Determinism, if you recall, is the belief that everything that happens is the only possible thing that could happen, given all the circumstances that led to it. It leaves no space for free will and so, in a society that places a high value on freedom of expression, could very easily be depressing.<br />
<br />
"I stuck my hand up in class and said 'Miss, miss. I invented that'," Dunlop recalled.<br />
<br />
Provocative. I mean, it makes perfect sense that an intelligent child should feel this way: a "good" childhood in modern Britain is basically the condition of being subject to the will of a bunch of responsible adults and the knowledge that you have less freedom than them and that many of your basic decisions - what school you go to, for one - have been made for you can weigh very heavily. I remember.<br />
<br />
It also made me wonder how Blair Dunlop - who by the time he took his A' levels<b> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1967103/" target="_blank">had been in a film with Johnny Depp</a></b> - could feel trapped in this way, and curious about how he thought, at the time, that his life was predetermined to turn out? <br />
<br />
So I asked him.<br />
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"What it was, basically, was that I felt that my entire existence was being determined by a girl called Alice Whitehead," he explained.<br />
<br />
Ah. That makes sense.<br />
<br />
"I'm over that now."<br />
<br />
* Blair Dunlop has a <a href="http://www.rooksmerestudios.com/rooksmere-records" target="_blank"><b>new album out on Rooksmere Records</b></a>, called House of Jacks. It's <i>really</i> good.<br />
<br />
* If you would like to read more about Blair Dunlop on this blog, you could try <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/blair-dunlop-hits-open-road.html" target="_blank"><b>this, which is about his first album</b></a> Blight & Blossom.<br />
<br />
* If you would like to read more from Towersey 2014 there is <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/hands-up-for-laus-seal-boy-at-towersey.html" target="_blank"><b>this, about Lau</b></a>, and <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ashley-hutchings-at-towersey-festival.html" target="_blank"><b>this, which is about Dunlop's dad, Ashley Hutchings</b></a> and the forthcoming documentary about folk legend Shirley Collins, who is his former wife. And there is <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/nancy-kerr-is-sweet-visitor-at-towersey.html" target="_blank"><b>this interview with Nancy Kerr</b></a>, on the occasion of launching her debut solo album, kind of.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-90831696975302397962014-08-24T02:35:00.001-07:002014-09-03T12:13:39.908-07:00Hands up for Lau's seal boy at TowerseyLau played a transcendent set in the Big Club at Towersey last night and also took the opportunity to raise the flag for local journalism, in particular <a href="http://www.aidanorourke.net/" target="_blank"><b>Aidan O'Rourke</b></a>'s local rag in the west highlands.<br />
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"I'm from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seil" target="_blank"><b>an island called Seil</b></a>," he said, pronouncing it "seal".<br />
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Martin Green stepped in. "When Aidan won best musician in the folk awards earlier this year <a href="http://www.obantimes.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>The Oban Times</b></a> ran a story about it. And the article had a headline - I'm not joking - the article had a headline that read 'Hands up for Seil boy'."<br />
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Much laughter from a packed audience whose collective imagination had clearly turned to flippers.<br />
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"And I've been in show business long enough to know that there's more money in a seal boy than there is in a fiddler," Green deadpanned.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* You may also be interested in<b> <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ashley-hutchings-at-towersey-festival.html" target="_blank">this from Towersey on Saturday</a></b>, which is an interview with Ashley Hutchings about <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/folkies-shirley-collins-movie-needs.html" target="_blank"><b>the film being made about Shirley Collins, his ex-wife</b></a>. T<a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/blair-dunlop-does-determinism-at.html" target="_blank"><b>his, in which Blair Dunlop wrestles with the existential condition of being himself</b></a>. And <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/nancy-kerr-is-sweet-visitor-at-towersey.html" target="_blank"><b>this interview with the delightful Nancy Kerr</b></a>, in which I veer extremely close to calling her a genius.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-49195999717868913272014-08-23T04:41:00.000-07:002014-08-28T08:02:07.994-07:00Ashley Hutchings at Towersey festival on the Shirley Collins filmIn June there was <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins" target="_blank"><b>a successful Kickstarter campaign</b></a> to fund a movie about the fascinating early life of folk singer and song collector Shirley Collins, to be made by Tim Plester and Rob Curry. The pair also made the elegaic <a href="http://www.wayofthemorris.com/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Way of the Morris</a>, and have their fingers in several other pies including, brilliantly, <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/tim-plester-game-of-thrones-and-shirley.html" target="_blank"><b>Game of Thrones</b></a>.<br />
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Part of the blurb for the Kickstarter campaign read: "We will explore [Shirley's] relationships with men, tracing the connections from her first great heartbreak, when her father was pushed out of the family after the war, through her controversial affair with Lomax, to her two - ultimately doomed - marriages."<br />
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Who should I run into at Towersey festival but Ashley Hutchings, formerly of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, now of <a href="http://www.rainbowchasers.co.uk/Rainbow_Chasers/Here.html" target="_blank"><b>The Rainbow Chasers</b></a>. He was also Collins' second husband. Turns out he's working on a project with his son, Blair Dunlop, to write an album of "proper" songs about football, which is, ahem, likely to have a strong emphasis on Tottenham Hotspur. Inevitably the conversation turned to the Shirley Collins movie.<br />
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"I heard about it on the Mark Radcliffe show," he said. "And when I looked at the Kickstarter campaign it was already up to £23,000 or so - they were going for £25,000, weren't they? I thought about whether I had a spare two grand but, well, I didn't. But the next time I looked they'd hit their target anyway, so that was good. Obviously I wish her the best and hope the movie works out well...<br />
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"But we're not in touch. It was a very acrimonious breakup: she was right, I was wrong."<br />
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Do you remember what the issues were?<br />
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Hutchings nodded.<br />
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"Women."<br />
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For a second I thought he was blaming women as a species for the failure of his marriage, but then realised that he was saying he had been unfaithful to Collins. There were a couple of beats of silence.<br />
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"I've been wondering whether I should expect a phone call from the filmmakers?" he said. "John Marshall, Shirley's first husband, died earlier this year, so I'm the only left now."<br />
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I said I thought it was quite likely they'd be in touch, given that they had already said on the Kickstarter page they were interested in exploring Collins's relationships. Plus there's the right of reply thing and they'd probably be interested in getting the whole picture before they decide what to leave on the cutting room floor and what to keep. But that's just my best guess...<br />
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"Well, I <i>was</i> thinking that I don't particularly want to do the interview because the situation with Shirley was so acrimonious by the end. But then I was talking to a friend about it and they pointed out that I didn't have to talk about <i>everything</i> if I didn't want to. I could talk about the good years and and focus on the positive things that I remember. I mean we were together for seven or eight years and she did some good work during that time.<br />
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"So I suppose I'm waiting for the phone call."<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* You may also be interested in <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/hands-up-for-laus-seal-boy-at-towersey.html" target="_blank"><b>this from Towersey, about Lau</b></a>. And <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/blair-dunlop-does-determinism-at.html" target="_blank"><b>this, about Blair Dunlop and his early dalliance with determinism</b></a>.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-50908515332538234302014-08-13T15:55:00.000-07:002014-08-14T02:46:32.507-07:00Unsigned Welsh rockers Fireroad get taken to the Bahamas by Lynyrd Skynyrd Yes, yes, yes. They're not folk: I know. But you may like this because it casts a powerful light on the prickly question of how hard bands have to work these days in order to get lucky, if you know what I mean. I thought I'd heard it all when I interviewed <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-keston-cobblers-club-at-blacks.html" target="_blank"><b>Keston Cobblers Club</b></a>, but these guys take the proverbial welsh cake.<br />
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Fireroad (inset), an unsigned band from the Cynon valley, <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/lynyrd-skynyrd-choose-unsigned-valleys-7585617" target="_blank"><b>have been invited to support US southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd</b></a> (main picture) on a cruise around the Bahamas this November. I know: sounds awful, doesn't it? You may know Lynyrd Skynyrd from Sweet Home Alabama...</div>
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Or maybe Free Bird...</div>
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The Jacksonville band has been through lots of incarnations since the original line-up was involved in a plane crash in 1977, killing three members – a third of the band – and seriously injuring the rest. But the Lynyrd Skynyrd juggernaut rolls on. <a href="http://www.fireroadrock.com/" target="_blank"><b>Fireroad</b></a>, on the other hand, are a relatively new thing.</div>
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"We've been going for about two years," Richard Jones, their singer, told me. "And we do everything ourselves. I do graphic design and promotional work. It's pretty much me sitting at home 15 to 18 hours a day contacting people on the internet and by phone."</div>
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<br /></div>
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So how did you land the Lynyrd Skynyrd gig? It says a piece in <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/lynyrd-skynyrd-choose-unsigned-valleys-7585617" target="_blank"><b>Wales Online</b></a> that you went on a "charm offensive". How charming do you have to be exactly to get invited to the Bahamas by a legendary rock band?</div>
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<br /></div>
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"I actually went <a href="http://www.sixthman.net/events/" target="_blank"><b>on the cruise to Miami</b></a> last year with our manager – who had taken another band there in 2012 – to see how things were. It's relatively cheap if you're American, I think: a cabin for the four days is about $750. But if you're from elsewhere obviously there are flights to the US to consider as well. He managed to get us on the short list of eight support acts for this year but said there was only any point us being on there if we built up a fan base in the US.</div>
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<br /></div>
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"So it turned out that it was the passengers on the cruise who would have the final say about who the support were and when I started looking around on the net there was a Facebook group for the cruise with around 2,000 people in it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
"I joined the group and spent about four months contacting these people individually. I'd send them an introduction explaining that we're from Wales but that we grew up with American music and would they be willing to have a listen to our stuff? And then there would be video and Soundcloud links. We're just four boys from the valleys: it seemed like the thing to do.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
"Then when the voting happened it turned out it had worked."</div>
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Woo-hoo!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
"It's my idea of heaven on a boat," he added, sounding properly excited. "The music starts at about midday every day and goes on until the small hours."</div>
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<div>
So here's the hardworking Fireroad, who a completely brilliant live, according to my cousin Helen, whose seen them several times and knows a thing or two about rock.</div>
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The company that puts on these cruises – which are worth knowing about in their own right – is called <a href="http://www.sixthman.net/events/" target="_blank"><b>Sixthman</b></a> and other artists on their roster include Richard Thompson, Steve Earl, <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/waging-civil-wars.html" target="_blank"><b>The Civil Wars</b></a>, Emmylou Harris, John Mayer, Loudon Wainwright III and The Indigo Girls, who I absolutely love... all of whom need support bands.</div>
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Better than a fist full of dramamine any day.</div>
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* If you like reading about hard-working bands you may also enjoy <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-keston-cobblers-club-at-blacks.html" target="_blank"><b>this about Keston Cobblers Club</b></a>.</div>
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<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-33741983909007948612014-08-10T08:32:00.000-07:002014-08-13T15:21:31.197-07:00Boomtown: the Ryanair of festivalsRemember those stories a while back about how <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/jun/02/ryanair-airline-oleary-toilet-charge" target="_blank">Ryanair would be charging for using the toilets</a></b>? How's this for a sign of the times? Spotted at Boomtown festival, near Winchester, this weekend and subsequently appearing in a Facebook feed near you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho546OSKnkUtp3W1zJbW7MSkOvBWLJ_UB24FkMwp0HDa9f4QYtH5l78kKKh-RlU2-tyZJae0IGll2Xy7oS6m5KjW4EetOvYJ3riq4WeVLCRhqngsWQlMBzSKkV-CHsVKRkhACgYZb2k4A/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-08-10+at+15.52.00.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho546OSKnkUtp3W1zJbW7MSkOvBWLJ_UB24FkMwp0HDa9f4QYtH5l78kKKh-RlU2-tyZJae0IGll2Xy7oS6m5KjW4EetOvYJ3riq4WeVLCRhqngsWQlMBzSKkV-CHsVKRkhACgYZb2k4A/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-08-10+at+15.52.00.png" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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I rang, curious about how this particularly delicate distinction – the £1 or £2 service – is policed? Surely where commerce is concerned the festival needs to make sure it is not being taken advantage of?<br />
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"I only heard about this today, but I understand that it is operated on a trust system," said Anna Wade, a festival spokesperson. She went on to explain that there are also free toilets on site but the distinction is that those in the tastefully named "Poonarnia" are cleaned regularly.<br />
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Lovely.<br />
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And since we're all here: way to go with the name, Poonarnia. Managing to be <b><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poonanny" target="_blank">tasteless, sexist</a></b> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia" target="_blank"><b>childish</b></a> in four syllables is no mean feat. I'd probably find it amusing if it weren't for the usuary thing.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy reading this one about the <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/in-which-bbc-bigwig-bob-shennan-argues.html" target="_blank"><b>BBC's efforts to keep the names of the folk awards judges a secret</b></a>. Or maybe, in a more carefree vein, you'd like <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/folk-artists-lying-in-foliage-picture.html" target="_blank"><b>a gallery of folk musicians lying in foliage</b></a>?</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-55428389888575978592014-07-24T13:42:00.001-07:002014-09-01T11:28:16.512-07:00Folk by the Oak 2014: this time with beerI love this festival. I love the idea of it, of naming a folk festival after a tree under which something important happened: in this instance Elizabeth Tudor discovering that she would be Queen while living at Hatfield House.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0vEFNeZn8HMSfzoqQkVAgO7CfmxvtJMlDte0U_GINLNIrmYcm6HZ56d3IZP3gAPImgyc84SK6kWjGkzl23fSvF3T97OEm4NTRnpHKTI9xKZlrNqTqMRjWFxXMdzOK-WvjnM8MvyGykQ/s1600/IMG_0640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0vEFNeZn8HMSfzoqQkVAgO7CfmxvtJMlDte0U_GINLNIrmYcm6HZ56d3IZP3gAPImgyc84SK6kWjGkzl23fSvF3T97OEm4NTRnpHKTI9xKZlrNqTqMRjWFxXMdzOK-WvjnM8MvyGykQ/s1600/IMG_0640.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also love the location, the fact that it is only about half an hour out of central London by train and that therefore every folky in the capital could, theoretically attend. And that it was on the same weekend as Lovebox, a fairly horrific hip-hoppy celebration of public drunkeness, vomiting and urination that happens pretty much next to my home - the eponymous (and ironically named) Glamour Cave - in Bethnal Green. While I was enjoying Richard Thompson and Seth Lakeman, other people on my Facebook timeline were already complaining about the mess that Lovebox makes.<br />
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I didn't care. I was being discerning at Folk by the Oak. And I don't get to feel smug or discerning very often so this was a bit like a holiday for me.<br />
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I love this festival. And this year <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/folk-by-oak-drink-all-beer.html" target="_blank"><b>it didn't even run out of beer</b></a>, which was good because it was as warm in Hertfordshire as it was everywhere else last weekend and running out of beer would have constituted folky armageddon: the festival equivalent of fate giving us a big ding over the head with a banjo.<br />
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I missed Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker, for which I basically have no one to blame but myself. But obviously this won't prevent me trying. Part of my brain was convinced, as I lazed in bed for an extra half an hour, that there was no way the schedulers would put them on first – not while there were other, less self-evidently brilliant, acts to choose from – and I didn't get much of a clue from <a href="http://www.folkbytheoak.com/artists/josienne-clarke-ben-walker.aspx" target="_blank"><b>the website</b></a>. I should have asked for more information but... didn't. You know how it is. I'm looking forward to their new album a lot though, string arrangements and all.<br />
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So the first thing I saw that made a big impression was The Elizabethan Session, which was arresting mainly for the voices. There was Nancy Kerr, who is <i>in my considered opinion</i> a genius, singing the word "Gloriana", her flattened vowels making it unique to the place and the occasion forever now in my mind. And there was John Smith, who had me Googling him before two verses had escaped his lips, only to remember receiving a suggestion a while back from Phil at Folk Cast that I should do a follow up to my much-beloved post (judging by the number of hits it still gets, anyway), <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/folk-artists-lying-in-foliage-picture.html" target="_blank">Gallery of folk musicians lying in foliage</a>,</b> with a new gallery of damp folk musicians, inspired by this. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7D20Q4Red0QXgmy8N3EHEqbCvf_78fSH9BtuPhiYgJYf06HD0RzVu1a5x0cvKFYk5vxguS15cLZ4dZaFfSAodttwtP9RMf2jCugaJ2Yeiatn9ejCF4FqIU2HmMDC2BbT_lTNZPOmbycU/s1600/John_Smith_2508531b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7D20Q4Red0QXgmy8N3EHEqbCvf_78fSH9BtuPhiYgJYf06HD0RzVu1a5x0cvKFYk5vxguS15cLZ4dZaFfSAodttwtP9RMf2jCugaJ2Yeiatn9ejCF4FqIU2HmMDC2BbT_lTNZPOmbycU/s1600/John_Smith_2508531b.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
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For the avoidance of doubt: it's John Smith. In fact, please contact me by email <a href="mailto:emma.hartley@firenet.uk.net" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> or on Twitter <b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a> </b>with other pictures of damp folkies. This would be good.<br />
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It turns out John Smith has a great voice, so standing up to your waist in water is obviously honey for the vocal cords, if not necessarily your other body parts – it's more likely to be trench foot, mould or fungi for those – or your musical instruments, come to that. Having Bella Hardy, Jim Moray, Martin Simpson, Hannah James and Emily Askew as backing couldn't have hurt either.<br />
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The second stage then played host to <a href="http://www.salthousemusic.com/" target="_blank"><b>Salt House</b></a>, a Scottish four-piece with some new takes on old tunes – She's like the swallow, for one – while one among their number played a beautiful, cherry-coloured double bass that had been buffed to a high shine. Somebody clearly loves that instrument very much.<br />
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While they were doing this, I sat on a bale of hay and reflected that the crowd was clearly adoring the combination of old songs and young musicians and that the rest of the music industry, with its incessant <a href="http://brainz.org/20-best-covers-1980s-songs/" target="_blank"><b>re-releases of songs from the 1980s</b></a> is becoming more like the folk scene all the time.<br />
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Speaking of which, Beth Orton clearly had a few fans in the crowd.<br />
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And it wasn't hard to see why, although her between-song banter sounded a little as if she were attempting it for the first time after having awoken from a 10-year snooze. It centred around how she was feeling old... but she looked fabulous and was talking to a field full of folkies who had an average of 15 years on her, I'd say, and who were also being rained on at the time, just to make them feel even more glamorous. Not me though. I had an ugly rain-deflecting garment taking care of the water (no, I don't have a picture, sorry) and word has it that Beth and I were in the same class at the Hewett school in Norwich for a while: one day I hope to be able to ask her about that and some other things for the blog.<br />
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Keston Cobblers Club, at the Acorn stage, made a big splash with their oompah, brass-bandy brand of folk that would sound comfy on a bank ad. I say that with love and <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-keston-cobblers-club-at-blacks.html" target="_blank"><b>I hope they make their fortune eventually</b></a>: they had us wondering why they weren't on the main stage?<br />
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But then the Richard Thompson and the Seth Lakeman finale kind of supplied the answer: folk festival programmers play to the essentially conservative nature of their audiences and it is both why folk festivals do better than average and a bit of a drag sometimes to those of us who consciously enjoy novelty.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/r8HwhIDhgcY?rel=0" width="460"></iframe><br />
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I mean, I love Vincent Black Lightning as much as the next person and also that Seth Lakeman sings songs about mainstream male experiences like being in the army and being a lifeboatman. But... *sigh* No actually, it was fine. Especially as Seth came with fireworks, allowing the male, heterosexual portion of the audience to experience first hand that for which the rest of us did not need fireworks. (I'm just fighting with myself, don't watch.)<br />
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In fact, it was more than fine. Did I mention that I actually love Folk by the Oak?<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-48350959829776873082014-07-11T15:52:00.000-07:002014-07-12T02:21:49.318-07:00Folkies! The Shirley Collins movie needs your help on Kickstarter before 22 July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Film-makers Tim Plester and Rob Curry shot a frankly brilliant morris dancing documentary, <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/way-of-morris-morris-on-big-time.html" target="_blank"><b>Way of the Morris</b></a>, and if you haven't seen it, it's <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Morris-DVD-Tim-Plester/dp/B0051NTSYK" target="_blank"><b>not too late</b></a>. It's <a href="http://www.blinkbox.com/movies/way-of-the-morris-(40258)" target="_blank"><b>available to stream</b></a>, for instance, on Blinkbox</div>
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But there is something else of theirs vying for your attention. They're hoping to make another folk-related movie: this time about <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Collins" target="_blank">Shirley Collins</a>, </b>who was absolutely central to the folk revivial of the 50s and 60s.<b> </b>And they're raising funds for it on Kickstarter, the crowdfunding site. It's become quite the thing recently – especially in tech circles and for film – and some people have raised <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/most-funded" target="_blank"><b>unbelievably large amounts of money on it</b></a>.</div>
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However, Tim and Rob are only trying to raise £25,000 and they are <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins" target="_blank"><b>already more than half way there</b></a>.</div>
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Watch this for a flavour of the film they would like to make.</div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe></div>
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There is also a series of interviews about Shirley Collins with people including the super-sharp comedian Stewart Lee and Graham Coxon of Blur, available to watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/shirleycollinsfilm" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.</div>
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I'm interested in a couple of things in particular about this story. First of all, Collins's music-collecting trip to the US with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Lomax" target="_blank"><b>her lover Alan Lomax</b></a> sounds like an epic tale, full of subterfuge, that needs to be told. It's as if <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Karpeles" target="_blank"><b>Maude Karpeles</b></a> were still alive to give us the low-down on Cecil Sharp – and correctly apportion the credit for the work that took place – but with a spot of George Clooney thrown in. </div>
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The soundtrack to <i>Oh Brother Where Art Thou</i>, which is sometimes credited with having given impetus to the present pick-up in interest in folk music on both sides of the Atlantic, would not exist in the form that it does were it not for that trip across America by Collins and Lomax, for the simple reason that they collected some of the music.</div>
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And then there is the somewhat thorny issue of Collins having misplaced her voice for 35 years, which is something that I've heard Curry talk about in impassioned terms as a wrong that was done to her as a woman – and something that she has in common with Linda Thompson. Both of them, Curry contends with a feminist anger, were "chewed up and spat out" by the men of the folk rock scene. And perhaps that, too, would bear some examination.</div>
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"I'm not sure how much Shirley wants to talk about it," said Plester. "What is interesting is that she stopped doing what she was doing 35 years ago for personal reasons, private reasons. There is a medical term – dysphonia – for what happened, but neither Shirley nor Linda use it to describe what they've been through. And that is maybe part of what's been so paralysing about it. It happened to both of them: the two most important leading ladies of their day. Both were struck down in the same way: they literally found themselves voiceless.</div>
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"If nothing else, making this film is allowing Shirley to come back and embrace the limelight a bit. She played earlier this year at Union Chapel, which we filmed. And there is talk about recording again. Many people have come forward to express their love for Shirley and she's thriving on it.</div>
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"But I'm always wary of talking too much at the start of the film-making process about what's going to be in it, because things that seem like a great idea at the outset have also to be filmic in order to work. And there's no knowing how some things are going to turn out."</div>
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The thing about Kickstarter is that is they don't raise the full £25,000 by 22 July then they don't get any of the money. The target has to be hit before any of the funds are released. So think about making a contribution – and check out the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins" target="_blank"><b>rewards for doing so here</b></a> – as well as forwarding this to anyone you know who might take an interest.</div>
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* Help crowdfund the Shirley Collins film <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shirleycollins/the-ballad-of-shirley-collins" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.</div>
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-9319510901244633042014-06-05T00:47:00.000-07:002014-06-13T14:20:01.522-07:00Rodney Branigan: the high plains drifter who came from LA to Somerset, via Nashville<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i>"The idea in my head was that if I could do this thing it would attract a lot of attention initially and what I did with that attention would be the true test of my entertaining ability."</i></div>
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Maybe I watched too much Aerosmith on MTV in the 1980s but I can’t shake the sensation that there is a kind of one-upmanship involved in playing two guitars simultaneously that goes way beyond the usual. Calling Doctor Freud?</div>
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Rodney Branigan, 37, was <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/hello-rodney-branigan-guitar-geek.html" target="_blank">at the BBC in Portland Place</a> </b>a couple of years ago, taking part in a showcase. He had a blues voice, was passionately involved in what he was doing and could definitely play guitar, plus he had a kind of rude health about him that, combined with the American accent, made me think of something my nana had said about American GIs during the second world war seeming “corn fed”. Then he pulled out a second guitar - whoaaah! - and started playing it alongside the first. One was a kind of rhythm section and he was managing each with one hand. Nifty… and slightly disconcerting. Certainly memorable. He was already extremely good, you see, when he was only playing the one guitar: why bother?<br />
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Poking around on the web I could
find very little about him, which seemed odd as he’d clearly been around for a
while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">somewhere</i> and had the serious demeanor
of a pro. He reminded me a little of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7A1qfrqIAU" target="_blank"><b>Chris Whitley</b></a>, minus the drugs, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Fpx-z2Ykw&feature=kp" target="_blank"><b>Lindsey Buckingham</b></a>, for the guitar energy. But there was something wilfully non-standard about him: perhaps it was just that he seemed to have a rough idea what he was doing at a time when the music industry was in disarray. How?</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Fast forward a couple of years and he played the Half Moon in Putney. We had a brief conversation during which he mentioned a sponsorship deal with Yamaha that made me think someone was probably marketing him, and that he'd recently moved to Frome in Somerset. So I tried
again with the Googling. This time there was more: I could see evidence of a
dalliance with Show of Hands, six records and – eh? - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a DVD of him playing in India, as well as an <a href="https://player.fm/series/the-guitar-channel/rodney-branigan-interview-rodneybranigan" target="_blank"><b>audio interview with a Parisian</b></a> who wanted to know an awful lot about guitar tuning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I get a lot of very
guitar-orientated stuff,” he said on the phone later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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So tell me about yourself?</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“OK. I’m from Amarillo, Texas, originally.
I grew up on the high plains and left home when I turned 20. I moved around a
lot, playing any place that would let me, and in those days I used to do a lot
more folk-orientated stuff. Bob Dylan, that kind of thing…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“So I’ve been playing music professionally
for 16 years and in my adult life I haven’t had another job. I lived on the
road for years… opened for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toadies" target="_blank"><b>The Toadies</b></a> and The Nixons, did several tours. Then
I moved to LA in 2005 and had been there for about six months when I met a
manager and moved again, to Nashville. I signed with a manager called <a href="http://vimeo.com/45537720" target="_blank"><b>Eddie Wenrick</b></a> and he got me a gig writing for EMI.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So you were like one of those young musicians
in the brilliantly bling <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/29/5-reasons-nashville-is-the-best-tv-guilty-pleasure-4735011/" target="_blank"><b>TV series Nashville</b></a>? They did that job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Yes. That was me, kind of. So I had a day
job while I was writing my album and I lived in Nashville for two years, had a
couple of song-writing coaches, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Loggins" target="_blank"><b>a guy called Dave Loggins</b></a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Like Kenny Loggins? The tune from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siwpn14IE7E&feature=kp" target="_blank"><b>the opening sequence of Top Gun</b></a> was suddenly going around my head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Yeah. I think he’s his cousin or
something. So I was writing country music in Nashville and it was all right. I didn’t
get any final cuts on albums and it wasn’t massively lucrative but it was a day
job.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There was a slightly guilty pause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I prefer not to write country music if I’m
quite honest about it. It’s a very specific type of thing you write about and I
don’t like to write songs about drinking beer and failed relationships. Most of
it is about failed relationships.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Suddenly he seemed immensely likeable. So you’ve been right to the heart of the US music
industry?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Yeah. I guess you could say that. But one
of the reasons I moved to London in 2007 was that my record label – Little Wooden Boy
Music - went bankrupt and my manager got out of the business.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Oh dear. Was this connected with the rise
of the internet in the music industry?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“It all seemed to start slightly
before then. When I was in LA in 2002-03 I dealt with a lot of record labels
and a lot of the A&R guys lost their jobs around that time. By 2005-06 it
was taking a massive downturn. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
more money in independent music these days.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Really?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I mean as a whole there is. But on an
individual level there isn’t.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">OK. So why London?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“There seemed to be a lot of opportunities
for me in London. I signed with a record label based out of Paris called Bad
Reputation Records and they re-released an album of mine from the States. It
was a kind of rebranding. I’m still signed with them: in the UK I can release my own stuff but in France - because I don't speak the language - it's useful to have someone doing my groundwork. There's a booking agent and someone who does PR. But in this country I don't have a record label. </span>I have an agent who does bookings in India and one who does tours in Germany. And I went to China once and did a tour of conservatoires, a lecture series on composing music."<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">So what's going on with Yamaha?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"Right. Yes. I'm on the Yamaha tour right now."</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">When I'd first tried his number he was breaking up a bit but I could just about hear that he was in a car on his way to a guitar workshop in Derby with Tim Snider.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"It's for the release of the LL series. That's a type of guitar they make: they just redesigned it and we're going into music shops and performing there."</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">So when I saw you at the Half Moon that was also part of the Yamaha tour?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"They took the dates we were already playing and filled in the rest, put us in music shops on the dates we weren't playing. I've been working with Yamaha for six years. I do clinical work for the guitar manufacturers and they fly me around the world to demo the guitars. Basically I sell the guitars to the people who sell the guitars."</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">Suddenly, the pieces fell into place for me. Branigan does a business-to-business thing a lot of the time. Yes, he's a pro but it also accounts for the lack of footage on the web of him giving concerts, which you'd usually expect for someone who was making a good living from music. Eureka.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"Yeah. I get loads of free guitars. I haven't had to pay for a guitar in about 12 years."</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">And I guess that's just as well, considering your website is called <a href="http://Brokenguitars.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">Brokenguitars.com</a>?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"Ha! I started that website in 2001. When I started playing percussive guitar I wasn't sure how hard you could hit them and I broke six in a year. But I've figured out how not to break them now. I pretty much know the exact tensile strength of my guitars."</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">And do you ever worry that the "two guitars" thing gets in the way of the music? That your gimmick overshadows your reputation as a serious musician?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"Yes. I do feel that it gets in the way. It gets a lot of attention, so I reserve it now for the last track of every set I play. But it's where all the guitar endorsements come from. Initially I did it because I was trying to make as much sound as possible. The idea in my head was that if I could do this thing it would attract a lot of attention initially and what I did with that attention would be the true test of my entertaining ability. I do get some criticism for it - mainly from other guitarists, who say 'What's the point of playing two when you could play one and make more of it.' But I get some pretty rare endorsements. I make a comfortable living."</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><br />So you moved to Frome? You said you have a five-year-old daughter now with your partner, whom you met in London? Is she from Somerset?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">"No, she's from London. But she was more up for the move than I was: she just wanted to get out of town. I grew up in a bit more a of a country environment myself, where there was more space to run around and I want that for my daughter. We looked at Trowbridge but decided on Frome when we heard that there would be a Steiner school opening there. It's a kind of alternative education where they focus on the creative arts more than they do in the state system. And one of the ways they do that is by </span>slowing up the academic side of things before the age of seven, then they speed it up again. From the age of seven to 16 she will learn Chinese and Spanish and most of the kids that come out of Steiner schools are pretty fluent in both. I met some people on the road who had their kids in Steiner schools and one of them had a 16-year-old who was fluent in French."<br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
Useful stuff.<br />
<br />
"Frome has a creative community and a farming community, and I'm fine with both. My family farmed wheat, maize and cane for animal feed, and I can appreciate both mindsets."<br />
<br />
And how are you settling in? Have you met the neighbours? I went to the folk festival in Frome a couple of years ago - coincidentally I ended up writing a piece about <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/three-mildly-dysfunctional.html" target="_blank"><b>musicians who had mildly dysfunctional relationships with instruments</b></a> - and remember that Sam Lakeman and Cara Dillon live there.<br />
<br />
"Yes. I've met them in passing. And I met Seth before, through Steve Knightley. He invited me to play one year, to help stand in for Phil Beer when he was away, and it took two of us: me and Seth. In fact I saw Seth two days ago at the <a href="http://www.acousticfestival.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Acoustic Festival of Britain</b></a>: I was trying to see if he'd be at Glastonbury this year. My partner and I are both involved in a project in the kids' field: we take guitars and violins along with us, as well as teachers, and give free lessons to children. My partner is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luthier" target="_blank"><b>a luthier</b></a> and she recycles musical instruments from music schools. I'll always be at Glastonbury doing this, even if I'm not on the bill."<br />
<br />
He explained that this was how he also met Billy Bragg: he donated some recycled guitars to Bragg's <a href="http://www.jailguitardoors.org.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Jail Guitar Doors</b></a> charity after being invited to play the Left Field stage at Glastonbury one year and even went with him to HMP Wandsworth to play back in 2007.<br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-11007733385105613942014-05-02T23:35:00.000-07:002014-05-04T01:31:27.519-07:00Saul Rose: 'Firing the War Horse band was shit. They shouldn't have done it'Saul Rose knows a thing or two about <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/john-tams-on-stephen-spielberg-and.html" target="_blank"><b><i>War Horse</i></b></a>. He played Songman in the West End show for a year starting in 2011, which was the year it came out as a movie. But more than that... As a folk musician he's known and much loved as one-third of Faustus, for <a href="http://www.whapweasel.com/" target="_blank"><b>Whapweasel</b></a>, as Eliza Carthy's musical foil in the Kings of Calicutt and now as <b><a href="http://saulrosejamesdelarre.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">James Delarre's other half</a>,</b> kind of.<br />
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For ages I thought he was in Bellowhead because the first time I saw them live he was depping for <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/how-squeezy-is-john-spiers.html" target="_blank">John Spiers</a>.</b><br />
<br />
"He was off being a daddy," nods Rose, referring to Spiers' paternity leave.<br />
<br />
It's a Tube-stricken evening in Camden and Rose & Delarre are playing at <a href="http://www.greennote.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4" target="_blank"><b>The Green Note</b></a> to a handful of delighted diehards who are blase about their chances of getting home. What I want to know is what Rose thinks about events at the National Theatre, whose management recently, somewhat thuggishly, <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27034895" target="_blank">sacked the entire band from War Horse</a>? </b><br />
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"I think the problem ultimately was that they were musicians, rather than actors," said Rose. "They have the Musicians Union and their pay scale is different. When <i>War Horse</i> was originally commissioned it was only supposed to run for a short while. But then it went to the West End and is still running six or seven years later.<br />
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"The cast's deal was worked out on the basis that it was a three month run. But the same five musicians are still there after all that time later and their wages... It's why I'm a member of the Musicians' Union and not Equity."<br />
<br />
When Rose was in <i>War Horse</i> he was a member of the cast who played music, rather than a member of the band. Do you have any idea how the musicians are, I ask?<br />
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"I should think they are feeling ever so slightly relieved," he said thoughtfully. "I'm just saying it's possible... because to play the same thing eight times a week for seven years takes some doing. I couldn't do it.<br />
<br />
"What really appalls me, though, is that" <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27034895" target="_blank"><b>whatever that judge said</b></a> "those musicians are an integral part of the play. I sometimes worry about the idea of authenticity, but they had been in the show from the beginning and there <i>was</i> an authenticity to that. Audiences that see it with recorded music are being short changed and I think the play will suffer as a result...<br />
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"I'm not expecting to go back into <i>War Horse</i>," he grinned.<br />
<br />
Probably just as well...<br />
<br />
"I did a year and that's fine for me, that's plenty. It's not because I wouldn't do theatre again. I might. But I really had to put everything on hold as a musician for that year and it was hard.<br />
<br />
"Maybe the audience numbers are dwindling now, finally?" he suggested<br />
<br />
Well, it doesn't really matter, does it? War Horse has been <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/oct/04/national-theatre-record-87-million-war-horse" target="_blank">the biggest financial success the National Theatre has ever had</a></b>. There can't be any excuse for this kind of behaviour over money, can there? So what was it like, being in that show?<br />
<br />
"It was amazing. One of the best years of my life. You know when you get a group of ten people there is always likely to be someone who is idiot?"<br />
<br />
OK.<br />
<br />
"Well, we had a cast of 35 and everyone was amazing. No idiots. They were all so generous to me, as someone who didn't really know anything about acting. I got to dress up as a colonel in one of the roles they had me play, and bark orders. And there was one scene"...<br />
<br />
There may have been some ordnance going off like nostalgia at the back of Rose's mind...<br />
<br />
"... where every time I did a back flip Malcolm, one of the other guys in the cast, would give me a fiver. I tell you what I missed though... There are certain parts of that show when the Songman is allowed to interact with the audience. And in that role you get to do it more than anyone else. But even so... it wasn't much. It was like there was a wall up between the actors and audience most of the time."<br />
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And I guess having recorded music can only exacerbate that. What about John Tams (who wrote the original music for <i>War Horse</i>)? I tried to get in touch with him about this business with the band and the union but he appears, uncharacteristically and despite <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/john-tams-to-bellowhead-what-are-your.html" target="_blank"><b>his apparent political views</b></a>, to have gone to ground on the subject. He didn't return my messages.<br />
<br />
"Ah, Tams... Being the Songman in <i>War Horse</i> was a little bit like depping for him on a permanent basis. Ordinarily I like to mould a song to my way of speaking but Tams came in one day to the theatre and told me 'They've been through enough sieves already'."<br />
<br />
That made me laugh because it reminded me very much of <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/john-tams-on-stephen-spielberg-and.html" target="_blank">the story Tams tells about Richard Curtis on the set of War Horse</a></b>. It's true, then, that what goes around comes around...<br />
<br />
There was a bit more chatter. Rose and Delarre's CD wasn't out in time for their tour, which is a shame though you can pre-order one <a href="http://saulrosejamesdelarre.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. As well as the Tube strike they were also in competition that evening with an album launch at Cecil Sharp House, although judging by the tide of people sweeping down Parkway at 9.25pm (the strike was due to start at 9.30) they weren't quite so blase about getting home. Rose and Delarre had the cooler audience. Just saying... The gig was fantastic. And apparently they haven't got much lined up festival-wise this summer, so are open to suggestions.<br />
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At the end of the evening Rose had had a good long time to think about the subject under discussion, and summed it up thus: "Firing the War Horse band was shit. They shouldn't have done it."<br />
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There is a <a href="http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-royal-national-theatre-save-the-war-horse-band-keepmusiclive" target="_blank"><b>Musicians Union petition here</b></a> that you can sign if you agree with him, asking for the musicians to be reinstated. There are about 6,500 signatures so far.<br />
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<br />Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-45989413673690851652014-04-11T03:29:00.002-07:002014-05-02T15:00:25.277-07:00Composer Harry Escott talks about Channel 4's New WorldsSome people have a gaydar, that goes ping! under certain circumstances. Me, I have a folkdar and it went off watching the first episode of <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/new-worlds" target="_blank"><b><i>New Worlds</i></b></a> on Channel 4 the other day. Episode two of four was on this Tuesday, available to catch up with on 4OD.<br />
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I'd been looking forward to this series. My undergraduate degree was a lot about comparative US and British democratic theory and <i>Last of the Mohicans</i>, of which <i>New Worlds</i> reminds me a little, came out while I was working in Washington DC for a US senator, a formative period. This part of our history with its religious zealotry and high stakes seeking-after-freedom still, it seems to me, echoes in news bulletins every time a US gun nut shoots a load of people or Mitt Romney fails to be sufficiently religiously normal - ha! - to satisfy the Republican mainstream... to say nothing of the countless tiny ways in which <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/in-which-bbc-bigwig-bob-shennan-argues.html" target="_blank"><b>the British remain to this day less "free" than their American cousins</b></a>. (Try telling an American that they're not allowed to know how their tax dollars are spent.) I love this period of history: it contains the seeds of everything the US and Britain are today, but with proper, pioneering adventure and the danger of dying from a horrible disease at every turn (especially, unfortunately, if you are native American).<br />
<br />
New Worlds is set in the 1680s, 20 years after the English restoration and its plot takes place on both sides of the Atlantic. There are two love stories but the dynamic of the tale is religious and political freedom, and many of the most sympathetic characters are unhappy with Charles II's monarchy. Balefully, the king's influence extends across the Atlantic, defeating the attempts of some non-conformists to start a new life - something that would eventually lead to the war of American independence.<br />
<br />
It is visually lavish and there were intriguing musical flurries all the way through: a slightly dramatically implausible drinking song for the wig-wearing Earl of Monmouth, nice incidental music and then this, brilliantly, over the credits at the end.<br />
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The series' composer is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Escott" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Harry Escott</a>, 37, whose previous work included <i>Shame</i> starring Michael Fassbender, by <i>Twelve Years a Slave </i>director Steve McQueen, the man who won all the oscars this year. And this is not something to be sniffed at given the who-you-know nature of the film industry. I asked Escott whether he'd been in the running to do the music for <i>Twelve Years a Slave</i>? "I wish!" he said. "No, I'm not big enough, I'm afraid. I hope to work with him again though - I think he's doing some TV stuff next, so I may get a look in."<br />
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So what did working on <i>New Worlds </i>involve? "I've worked with the director, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1790560/" target="_blank"><b>Charles Martin</b></a>, once before, on a mini-series called <i>Run</i> for Channel 4, which had Olivia Coleman in it, and this time there was a lot of involvement for me while the shooting was going on. There were a couple of scenes where there was music taking place in the action and I had to devise bits and bobs.<br />
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"There was a drinking song for the Earl of Monmouth, which was in the first episode, and then later on there is a Native American death song. The director asked me whether I could come up with something that would have been sung in the 17th century by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abenaki" target="_blank"><b>the Abernaki people</b></a>. So I set about doing some research, but there wasn't much to go on because death songs were improvised on a riff and it looked for a while as if there was no record of this riff because it was a sacred thing.<br />
<br />
"But god bless the internet. I managed to find the tribal leader of the Abernaki people and he was very generous with his time. His name is Paul Puliot, he is Sag8mo and speaker for the Cowasuck band of the Pennacook-Abenaki people: the '8' in the name is a long, nasal oo sound. He said that the native Americans were nearly entirely wiped out on the eastern seaboard but that down in the south and west of the United States there was a lot more in the way of cultural heritage to go on.<br />
<br />
"Puliot is an ethnomusicologist and he was able to track down a death song that dated from the late 19th century that had been recorded on a wax cylinder - and then he sang it to me down the telephone. He had rattles on his wall that he took down and played, and he gave me a lot of background. As a result I was able to go down to the set and teach the song to some extras."<br />
<br />
Cecil Sharp eat your heart out.<br />
<br />
"For the incidental music, the director didn't want anything particularly traditional. His main concern was that the story should emotionally connect with the viewers and he thought there was enough of a barrier with all the wigs and the the other costume drama-y stuff. So he wanted to emphasise the universal themes - the love stories and the fear of living under tyranny - and make the music a bit more current."<br />
<br />
So what's the song over the credits?<br />
<br />
"I wrote it... partly. In an early version of the show there were lots of shots of ravens, which were symbolic of things about to go wrong: a harbinger of doom. There were also these two big love stories and a fair bit of god involved. And I thought it might be nice to have something a bit lighter at the end, just to lift things. So I thought it would be good to find something that was originally 17th century and make it more modern.<br />
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"I was going through a book of Broadside Ballads and there was this song called Three Ravens, whose words really struck me. It was a story about three ravens sitting in a tree, asking each other 'Where should we take our breakfast?' And there's this dead knight in a field nearby, and they're considering flapping over. But he has a horse and some loyal dogs that are nearby to prevent it, and then his lover comes by and buries him, only to die herself immediately afterwards. The ravens are enormously impressed by this and so was I.<br />
<br />
"The melody was sad, though, and kind of depressing, so I wrote a different one and added a clappy version of a hip-hop beat. It was recorded with singers from <a href="http://www.thebourne.org.uk/" target="_blank"><b>St Thomas on the Bourne church</b></a>. The director really liked it but there are a lot of people involved in making TV and some of the others weren't so sure. The children of one of the executive producers said that they thought it was cool, though, so it stayed in."<br />
<br />
This feels like a salutory tale. So how long did it take?<br />
<br />
"The shooting was in the summer last year. And then I started to do the proper score early in January this year and went in to lockdown mode. I find it difficult to work on more than one thing at a time because I get very emotionally engaged and become immersed in these things. I was seeing the dailies as they came out and it's my job to get engaged with the characters and their concerns.<br />
<br />
"Musically there were two separate worlds: the English world, which was more harmonically complex and poshly orchestrated. And then when the drama moves to America there are more drones and tones and I tried to incorporate a kind of Appalachian folky sound. But the Englishness did seep across the Atlantic - that's a big part of the story - and Abe, the English outlaw, (below, played by Jamie Dornan who is shortly to star in the movie of Mumsnet's favourite book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8qAb7Vuoso" target="_blank"><b>50 Shades of Grey</b></a>) has a rock and roll thing going on with electric guitar sounds because, well, he's rock and roll."<br />
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So how did you get into this line of work?<br />
<br />
"I went to the Royal College of Music for a year and studied music at Oxford. Then I spent many years doing lots of strange things, which is probably par for the course. My big break was meeting a girl called Molly Nyman, who is the daughter of a composer called Michael Nyman. In 2004 he was offered a film called <i>Hard Candy</i> to score and he couldn't take the work, so he offered it to his daughter. Molly wasn't comfortable doing it on her own, so she asked me to help. I'd done some music for TV and documentaries by that stage, so I had a little experience."<br />
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Escott is also, it turns out, a cellist in band beloved of <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/daylight-music-and-ben-eshmade-podcaster.html" target="_blank"><b>Ben Eshmade at Daylight Music</b></a>, called the North Sea Radio Orchestra and the next film he's working on is called <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/04/amanda-knox-face-of-an-angel-michael-winterbottom" target="_blank">Face of an Angel</a> </b>for Michael Winterbottom.</div>
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* New Worlds is on Channel 4 on Tuesdays at 9pm and available <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/new-worlds/4od" target="_blank"><b>here on catch up</b></a>.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-1599190318516179272014-03-28T08:15:00.003-07:002014-04-11T03:09:15.422-07:00BBC bigwig Bob Shennan argues that secrecy shields the BBC from corruption<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">So where have I got to, seeking the names of the judges of the BBC Radio 2 folk awards? A quick recap... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Back in 2011, wondering why so many folkies seemed to find the folk awards so hard to like - though not me at the time - I asked who ran the awards? Specifically, I asked </span></span><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/bbc-folk-awards-raising-blood-pressure.html" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">who the judges were</span></b> </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">and it turned out that</span><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/smooth-operations-and-bbc-compliance-on.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span></a></span><b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/smooth-operations-and-bbc-compliance-on.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">their names were a secret</span></a></b>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Partly because my undergraduate degree was in politics (at Leeds) and a large part of that four-year course was spent on democratic theory, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was not the way an organisation funded by public money in a parliamentary democracy was supposed to conduct itself. Moreover, someone helpfully sent me a link to the page on the BBC's website where it makes <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-interactivity-awards" target="_blank"><b>a commitment to transparency for its award ceremonies</b></a>.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">So I <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/bbc-folk-awards-and-freedom-of.html" target="_blank"><b>put in a Freedom of Information request</b></a>. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/freedom-of-information-request-for.html" target="_blank"><b>That was a waste of time</b></a>.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">The Information Commissioner denied my request because <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/freedom-of-information-act-redefines.html" target="_blank">anything the BBC does, including an awards ceremony, is "journalism"</a> </b>as far as he is rather lazily concerned. I found this particularly irritating as I've been a journalist at UK national newspapers for over 15 years and the Information Commissioner had basically picked a large publicly funded but essentially inanimate body over me as the more significant "journalist" in this situation. That mechanism is broken and everyone involved in it should be ashamed of themselves.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">In October 2012 <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/change-at-bbc-radio-two-folk-awards.html" target="_blank"><b>something that looked like a breakthrough</b></a> happened. I got a call from a BBC employee called Fergus Dudley, who I can say from experience only answers his phone calls and emails when his bosses tell him to, saying that the BBC Radio 2 folk awards would be flinging open the windows and allowing a little light in to proceedings. A little of the voting would be done by the public that year and there would be <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yrkrj/features/folk-awards-rules" target="_blank"><b>a special panel of people</b></a> who would choose the winners of a couple of the awards, whose names would be known. He also hinted that there might very possibly be bigger changes on the horizon.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">But that turned out to be untrue. Like a previous attempt to co-opt me by inviting me to join the 190-strong judging panel - all of whom are financially involved in the UK folk industry, it has emerged since 2011 - it was a ruse, spun in the hope that I would shut up. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">That's not really me though.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Early last year I wrote <a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/01/bbc-radio-2-folk-awards-bottom-of-the-class/" target="_blank"><b>a piece for the Spectator </b></a> about why having a properly run folk awards is important. It's </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">political: UK plc markets itself internationally as Downton Abbey, The King's Speech and Hugh floppy-haired Grant. But there is more to us than our ruling class.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">There is a folk revival taking place on an unprecedented scale internationally, but the BBC folk awards is still apparently most interested in the one that took place in the 1970s and its definition of folk has not really moved on. Hence the ever-growing number of lifetime achievement awards it gives away.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">But there is an entire industry of singer-songwriters playing traditional instruments, knowing some of the older songs, touring assiduously and yet struggling to make a living because the biggest marketing platform they have is used primarily as a force for promoting those who took part in the last folk revival and those who resemble them, rather than those working in its most recent incarnation. In these days in which television encourages the young to believe that musical success is handed out like sweeties by Simon Cowell and Tom Jones, the UK should instead be treasuring its hardworking, touring musicians who are keeping music live. Aren't the values involved in that important?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmaRxsijCEcz-xBAA4L8diQUtusswI_I495T8PFTeVpHNFFpzFgn40qgfWabzO3x4QF1VWn7f0HhU4maf1ioq6h-9AQkrOQn5J06rXBTJZwj8rc93XDx5oSeZNMOxZeAVV2jwqxZfUOQ/s1600/JohnWhittingdale4601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmaRxsijCEcz-xBAA4L8diQUtusswI_I495T8PFTeVpHNFFpzFgn40qgfWabzO3x4QF1VWn7f0HhU4maf1ioq6h-9AQkrOQn5J06rXBTJZwj8rc93XDx5oSeZNMOxZeAVV2jwqxZfUOQ/s1600/JohnWhittingdale4601.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">So towards the end of 2013 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/letter-to-john-whittingdale-mp-chairman.html" target="_blank">I wrote to John Whittingdale</a> MP</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">, chairman of the government's Culture, Media and Sport committee, asking whether it would be possible to look behind the curtain of secrecy and filch the list of the 190 judges names? Instead he received </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-bbc-briefing-for-john-whittingdale-mp.html" target="_blank">t<b>his waffly briefing</b></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAImLyjW7YFaS5xr0N7rcy2JSt-3MT9Tcpw3-yItbhyphenhyphencbURgzvTHPnsGSAWAzLxpB1h_fD417LoYVpg12EtLkmV7IixOYzzcONqJF7p5MRwgBi0O8G0DG8VH-0aL5uY47M3vNE1uSpKTk/s1600/Ben-Bradshaw-speaks-on-Di-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAImLyjW7YFaS5xr0N7rcy2JSt-3MT9Tcpw3-yItbhyphenhyphencbURgzvTHPnsGSAWAzLxpB1h_fD417LoYVpg12EtLkmV7IixOYzzcONqJF7p5MRwgBi0O8G0DG8VH-0aL5uY47M3vNE1uSpKTk/s1600/Ben-Bradshaw-speaks-on-Di-001.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Then Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter and a member of the CMS committee who was recommended to me as being an "activist", </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/ben-bradshaw-mp-gets-briefing-about.html" target="_blank">had a go</a> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">and received the same briefing as John Whittingdale, from a different person.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">No list of judges was forthcoming. The BBC had closed ranks against its own parliamentary oversight committee.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Ben Bradshaw - apparently unshocked by this - put me in touch with Bob Shennan (above), the head of Radio 2, 6 Music and the BBC Asian Network directly. Mr Shennan responded to my letter to him - in the link above - like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAfxAc-qbadgi5TW_JmaWMXne6UJm2_6f35QN-fPJZ17FrZs-ka4NjP2Ko6rC1jm7Tlxrag-7jWu37Hv9j4OKzmy02w49h9KlEwnGSVakpezw2jGlZQpRheJkUzMkTJADIAJxhz3t4TM/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-03-28+at+12.42.27.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAfxAc-qbadgi5TW_JmaWMXne6UJm2_6f35QN-fPJZ17FrZs-ka4NjP2Ko6rC1jm7Tlxrag-7jWu37Hv9j4OKzmy02w49h9KlEwnGSVakpezw2jGlZQpRheJkUzMkTJADIAJxhz3t4TM/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-03-28+at+12.42.27.png" height="158" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">It's very small lettering there, I know, though you can make it bigger by clicking on it. The first seven paragraphs are a repetition of sections of the waffly briefing paper delivered to the two MPs. The eighth, unrelatedly, says</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">With these things in mind I believe that releasing the names of the judging panel would compromise the impartiality of the voting process."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">This is the nub of the BBC's argument for not releasing the names: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">the names of the folk awards judges are a secret because making the information public would "compromise the impartiality of the voting process".</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I wrote back.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Dear Mr Shennan.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Thanks for the message below. Could you be a bit more specific please about the ways in which "releasing the names of the judging panel would compromise the impartiality of the voting process"?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I look forward to receiving your reply.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Best wishes</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Emma Hartley</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">He replied</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Dear Miss Hartley,</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">I guess it is simply a question of lobbying and undue pressure being brought to bear on judges to support certain acts. That would be likely to effect (sic) the impartiality of the voting.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Best</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Bob</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Sent from my iPhone</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> wrote back pointing out that the only way one can meaningfully lobby a music awards' judge is by playing them some music, unless they are corrupt. If the former is the case: what's the problem? Listening to music is what judging is all about. And if they are corrupt, get some new judges. Making the list of names public would help purge any corruption. I also quoted him some <a href="http://fipa.bc.ca/library/Public_Education/foiquotes.htm" target="_blank"><b>Jeremy Bentham and Woodrow Wilson on the subject of corruption and secrecy in public life</b></a>. But he didn't seem to like that very much and the next thing I knew there was an email from Fergus Dudley...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Unless one is cynically assuming at this point that the folk awards are a way of lining the pockets of the judges - could this really be true? - it is almost inconceivable that the BBC would devote this much time and effort to concealing these names: the Freedom of Information act, the Culture, Media and Sport committee and several BBC executives have all given their expensive time to the issue now. What kind of a use is this of public money? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Moreover, this kind of nonsense is an engine for making people cynical about the BBC.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">To conclude, here is a word from Genevieve Tudor, that least cynical of BBC employees and one of the small number of folk awards judges whose <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yrkrj/features/folk-awards-rules" target="_blank"><b>names have been made public</b></a> as a result of the changes two years ago. Genevieve is a BBC presenter of a folk show in Shropshire and surrounding counties and was involved in choosing the Best Original Song and Best Traditional Track winners this year and last. This is me instant chatting her on Facebook.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So I guess that's that argument disposed of... Folk awards judges whose names are public are not subject to undue pressure or lobbying of any kind. This was the reason given for keeping them secret: can I have the names of the folk awards judges now? </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">If anyone at the BBC or Smooth Operations would like to send me the judges' names you can <a href="mailto:emma.hartley@firenet.uk.net" target="_blank"><b>contact me here</b></a>.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Or if any of this strikes you as ridiculous, you can contact Bob Shennan in person at the BBC on <a href="mailto:bob.shennan@bbc.co.uk">bob.shennan@bbc.co.uk</a></span></span></div>
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Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-66702034569365944592014-03-13T10:23:00.001-07:002014-03-14T04:31:51.281-07:00Ben Bradshaw MP gets a briefing about the folk awards from Bob Shennan, head of BBC Radio 2, and invites me to write to him<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Back in December the head of the culture, media and sport select committee, John Whittingdale MP, approached the BBC to inquire about the anonymous judges of the BBC folk awards. <b><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-bbc-briefing-for-john-whittingdale-mp.html" target="_blank">And got a briefing paper</a>.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9qUie5P1zA6ntFbyxbg53jHoncvPv_lGRbCLQ9gHVHbuMvOTlog8Nz0uw839b2EmVXDzBriLAs15ZSQwT4w9V7FG0MsIgCJxPlQjSigpzjET_xJObKs6RPFg5iApqSOL5zkS6ffFJ50/s1600/ben-bradshaw_1399653c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9qUie5P1zA6ntFbyxbg53jHoncvPv_lGRbCLQ9gHVHbuMvOTlog8Nz0uw839b2EmVXDzBriLAs15ZSQwT4w9V7FG0MsIgCJxPlQjSigpzjET_xJObKs6RPFg5iApqSOL5zkS6ffFJ50/s1600/ben-bradshaw_1399653c.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">This month Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter and a fellow member of the culture, media and sport select committee, did the same thing. Whereas Whittingdale got his briefing from Andrew Scadding, head of the BBC's public and corporate affairs, Bradshaw received a briefing from Bob Shennan, controller of Radio 2.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2zcMJ_aLl268jSEonLg9Jf8GVtRK9JT0d-zzU2joTSjVOwf9A58qxU00Z91bfSUC64jChq9VYG-xpWr_sdcgerbXdSVpaOhmdRvyUUWtk9BiNam9aMO-kXLc1WEPjyG6ux16dXLnTzM/s1600/448.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2zcMJ_aLl268jSEonLg9Jf8GVtRK9JT0d-zzU2joTSjVOwf9A58qxU00Z91bfSUC64jChq9VYG-xpWr_sdcgerbXdSVpaOhmdRvyUUWtk9BiNam9aMO-kXLc1WEPjyG6ux16dXLnTzM/s1600/448.jpeg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Here it is... though if you read Mr Whittingdale's, the similarities may strike you more than the differences. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">"The BBC Radio 2 Folk
Awards celebrate outstanding achievements during the previous year within the
field of folk music. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nominees are
chosen by a voting Panel which is made up of approximately 190 people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Panel is comprised of those persons who
have a professional or semi-professional interest in the folk industry, i.e.
folk festival and folk club organisers, journalists, presenters, record company
personnel, folk music academics, etc.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Folk Music is a small
music sub-genre. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although very few folk
artists are attached to major labels some do have record companies of
reasonable size, such as Proper, who have large budgets and a marketing team.
However, the vast majority of folk artists still run their own small labels and
are genuine cottage industries. There is no doubt that within the folk genre
there is a great professional boost for people who win a folk award, which
although perhaps small compared to a Brit Award or a Mercury win, it is
measurable. If the voting panel were published there would be an incentive for
the major and better off record companies to lobby the panellists to influence
their vote. This would disadvantage many of the smaller, self-releasing
nominees who could not afford the cost of this lobbying. Each year the BBC
Radio 2 Folk Awards throws up new names that would probably not get such an
opportunity if there were to be heavy lobbying from better off artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">In its current form the
Folk Awards does present a genuine level playing field that could be
jeopardised if we change our voting system. The process used is in line with
other major award events such as the Brits and is regularly and rigorously
examined by BBC compliance and Editorial Policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Awards are determined
by two rounds of voting by the wider Panel:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Round One: The Voting Panel are asked to nominate up to 3 artists
in each category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To avoid any possible
conflict of interest, panellists are not permitted to nominate artists with
whom they have a close professional interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Managers, agents, publicists or record company members of staff, are not
allowed to vote for any artist(s) that they represent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Round Two: Each Panellist
can vote for one nomination in each category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Panellists are not permitted to vote for artists with whom they have a
close professional interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These votes
are counted by the BBC & Smooth Operations and the nominee with the most
votes in each category is declared the recipient of the award.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Winners are announced on the night of the
Folk Awards. Spoiled voting papers (e.g. papers where more than one vote has
been cast or where the mark is not clear) will be discounted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the winner with the most votes is
recognised, and no other results are released (i.e. there are no runners up).In
the event of a tie, that is more than one artist receiving the same highest
number of votes, then the award will be made jointly to all the artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The top 5 ‘Best Albums’
nominated in round one are put to a public vote on Radio 2. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Awards ‘Best Original
Song’ and ‘Best Traditional Track’ are awarded by a specialist Panel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Panel comprises of people
with professional or semi-professional interest in the folk industry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Folk Awards Committee
nominates and oversees the panel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Specialist Panel for 2014
are: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Ian Anderson - Editor,
Roots Magazine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Bruce MacGregor -
Presenter, Travelling Folk (BBC Scotland) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Frank Hennessy – Presenter
Celtic Heartbeat (BBC Radio Wales)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Jon Lewis – Producer Radio
2 Folk Show – Smooth Operations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Karine Polwart – Musician,
Song Writer and Previous Award Winner<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Awards for ‘Lifetime
Achievement’, Good Tradition’, Lifetime contribution to songwriting’ and Roots
Award is determined by two rounds of voting by the Committee:-</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The decision is taken at a
meeting scheduled towards the end of the 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Committee have an open discussion of these nominations with a view
to arriving at a consensus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the event
of failure to reach a consensus, the award is decided by way of a vote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smooth Operations will keep records of all
committee meetings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Young Folk Award is
determined by a separate panel of judges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A shortlist of 10 acts is selected from all the entries submitted to the
Young Folk Award competition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These 10
acts are invited to a Performance weekend, which culminates in a performance
concert from which a specialist panel of judges, comprising musicians and
industry personnel, determine a winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Nominated Representatives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The BBC & Smooth
Operations appoint nominated representatives that are responsible for
monitoring the voting. They will ensure that votes are properly collected and
counted and that the process is conducted in line with the rules as well as the
BBC's Editorial Guidelines on Awards. Nominated Representatives are not
permitted to vote either as part of the Voting Panel or The Folk Awards Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smooth Operations keep and store all
nomination and voting papers on behalf of the BBC for 3 years following each
award ceremony.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Nominated Representatives for
2014 are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Louise Whitehead<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>– Project Manager, Smooth
Operations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Fergus Dudley<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>–
Editor, Editorial Standards BBC Radio 2, 6 Music & Asian Network<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Folk Awards Committee
consists of 5 people, 2 are members of the Folk Awards production staff, 2 are
senior members of BBC Radio 2 staff and the 1 is an independent expert. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The Folk Awards Committee
2014 are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">John Leonard<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>– Managing Director,
Smooth Operations (Chair)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Kellie While<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>– Head of
Programmes, Smooth Operations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Mark Simpson<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>– Producer Bob Harris
Show, BBC Radio 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Mark Ellen<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>– Music
specialist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Al Booth<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>– Specialist
Editor BBC Radio 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Voting Panel - Terms and
Conditions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">A copy of the ‘Panel
Declaration Form’ provided must be signed and returned along with the
nominated/voting form, failure to do so will render the nomination/vote
void.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By returning a completed
nomination/voting form, panel members acknowledge that they are still eligible
to be part of the Panel and that they will abide by these rules.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Since its inception in
1999 the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards has become a significant annual cultural
event. It has been responsible for introducing over 400 folk artists from grass
roots level, via the Horizon Award and more significantly via the Young Folk
Award, to main stream audiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">This year alone, two of
the artists nominated for Folk Singer of the Year, Bella Hardy and Lucy Ward
first appeared on Radio 2 as finalists of the Young Folk Award. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Some of our past Horizon
Award winners are now listed amongst the most respected folk artists in the
world. Karine Polwart, who went on to win Folk Singer of the Year is one of
Scotland’s most prominent and respected singer songwriters. Cara Dillon, Julie
Fowlis (now co-presenter of the Folk Awards) Blair Dunlop and Kris Drever of
the band Lau, are all past Horizon Award winners. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">We are very proud that
there is such a quantifiable and measureable positive effect on the careers of
artists such as these in a genre of music that does not often achieve the
mainstream attention it deserves. By looking back over the 15 years of the
Radio 2 Folk Awards we can see how many of our fledgling grass roots artists
have developed into internationally successful performers."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">After receiving the briefing, Ben Bradshaw invited me to address Bob Shennan myself directly, which I have done. Here is the letter.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #073763; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Dear Mr Shennan,</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Ben Bradshaw MP has very kindly offered to pass this message to you on my behalf, in his role as a member of the government's culture, media and sport select committee, as I've been having some trouble wading through the BBC's bureaucracy, in particular the application to yourselves of the Freedom of Information act, which seems in my case to have resulted in the opposite.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">He also forwarded the briefing you sent him about the BBC Radio 2 folk awards and its anonymous judges. He's a busy man, though, and therefore is possibly unaware of its similarity to the briefing sent to John Whittingdale MP - the chair of the CMS committee - by Andrew Scadding, head of the BBC's public and corporate affairs.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-bbc-briefing-for-john-whittingdale-mp.html">http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-bbc-briefing-for-john-whittingdale-mp.html</a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">Also, the similarity that your briefing to him bore to <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/smooth-operations-and-bbc-compliance-on.html" target="_blank">remarks made by John Leonard back in 2011</a> on the same subject</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">In fact, the strong similarity that all of these sets of remarks bear to each other is quite surprising and makes me wonder whether they are not, in fact, the same set of remarks recycled?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">The most surprising thing of all about this would be that the first time they were made, they were held up to ridicule in the British national media. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2011/dec/13/radio-2-awards-and-prizes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2011/dec/13/radio-2-awards-and-prizes</span></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/could-it-all-be-a-fiddle-folk-stars-tell-the-bbc-to-reveal-who-judges-awards-6358939.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/could-it-all-be-a-fiddle-folk-stars-tell-the-bbc-to-reveal-who-judges-awards-6358939.html</span></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">It's hard to imagine why any media organisation, especially a taxpayer funded one like the BBC, would batten down the hatches after that rather than considering the merit of the question: you would think that the organisation's instinct would be to do the opposite. In this instance, the question is "Who are the judges of the BBC Radio 2 folk awards"?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">I came at this sideways. I thought it would make an interesting subject for my blog and at first there seemed to be no question of secrecy. I knew a judge, who agreed to do a background interview, Mike Harding, who at the time was the main folk DJ on Radio 2, said the names weren't a secret. But then it turned out they were. And it seemed at the time that they were only because John Leonard - owner of Smooth Operations, who the BBC pays to run the awards for them - said so. <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/smooth-operations-and-bbc-compliance-on.html" target="_blank">Read what he said for yourself</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">I'm sure you're aware that the BBC has guidelines for running award ceremonies.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-interactivity-awards"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-interactivity-awards</span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; color: white;">which include that "c<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">riteria for judging or nominations must be transparent, clear, fair and consistent". </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Knowing who the judges are falls squarely under this guideline. Moreover I ask: what genuine interest does Radio 2 - or the BBC more widely - have in concealing this information?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The only argument that presents itself - and it has done on three separate occasion now, in John Leonard's off-the-cuff remarks, subsequently in the corporate briefing to John Whittingdale MP and now in your briefing for Ben Bradshaw MP - is that making the names public would result in attempts to influence the judges.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Shall we examine this idea for a moment?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Where else in British public life is this argument taken seriously? Is Radio 2 asking us to believe that if we knew who the judges were this would somehow place someone, somewhere at a disadvantage? How?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Surely this is analogous to arguing that if we knew who our MPs were we might try to influence their policies? Or that if we knew how our taxpayers' money were actually spent we might wish it to be done differently every once in while? </span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">The only way one can meaningfully influence the outcome of an honest music judging process is by playing a judge some music. And yet this is exactly what these judges are supposed to be doing: listening to as much music as possible. To suggest otherwise is to suggest that the process is a stitch-up and that the judges should be restricting themselves in some way to a particular group of folk musicians, or music produced by a particular set of music producers. Surely this is not what is intended? Is it? It may be worth considering for a moment that the 190 judges are all somehow involved in the industry and the implications of that.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Conversely, if the fear is that the judges themselves are corruptible - that they could be bribed with a signed Seth Lakeman CD or a free felafel at a festival - then it is the job of the administrators to choose someone honest instead. Obviously with 190 judges at the last count, it is hard to know much about any of them... and surely that is another reason to throw some light on the situation? If Smooth Operations and the BBC do not have the time to keep track of these judges, why not let the rest of us have a go? Or have fewer and change them regularly.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Refusing to name the judges of the folk awards is, by a kind analysis, probably a time saving measure. Everyone involved in the awards' administration would rather not change the process: if it aint broke, don't fix it. And yet this argument is the essence of conservatism.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Folk music is the music of the people, who are not always best served by conservative attitudes. What the industry, its musicians and fans deserve is a transparent set of awards, rewarding the hard work and talent of the folk, roots and acoustic musicians of the British Isles and showcasing them internationally. This would go a long way to counterbalance the manufactured top-down nature of reality music shows like Britain's Got Talent, The Voice and The X Factor, that can lead young people to believe that the only route to success is to be picked from obscurity by a celebrity who will wave a magic wand and change their lives forever. Surely better to send the message that hard work, talent, good songwriting and touring are rewarded? </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Some of this country's best exports are cultural. And yet the image we most often present of ourselves abroad - Downton Abbey, Brideshead, The King's Speech - is a very partial view of British society. I believe it is the job of the BBC to showcase the talents of British artists from all walks of life and that one of the ways this may be achieved is by better administering the BBC Radio 2 folk awards.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This year the date chosen by the BBC Radio 2 folk awards administrators for the ceremony was the same night as the Brits. Surely this, if nothing else, should have sent up a red flag somewhere in the BBC's compliance department that there was something awry with the conduct of these awards? What are the folk awards for, if not reaching an audience of music lovers - music lovers who were largely occupied elsewhere on that evening.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; line-height: 18px;">Naming the judges of the folk awards would go some way towards assuaging doubts that the BBC is serious about its commitment to this kind of music and that it would like the awards to be properly administered. Mr Shennan, I ask you to name the judges. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #073763; line-height: 18px;">Thank you.</span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-3179373902227694742014-03-06T03:32:00.001-08:002014-03-06T03:32:47.054-08:00How Walter Pardon taught Damien Barber an important life skill involving crispsLast Saturday I went home to Norfolk - for I am a Norfolk broad - because a friend had pointed out that there was an interesting looking event in North Walsham, celebrating the centenary of the birth of <b><a href="http://www.edp24.co.uk/what-s-on/festival_to_celebrate_norfolk_folk_singer_walter_pardon_who_was_discovered_at_the_age_of_59_1_3174731?usurv=skip" target="_blank">a man called Walter Pardon</a> (</b>below<b>)</b>. He <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/walter-pardon/id207096581" target="_blank"><b>knew a lot of old songs</b></a> (some of which you can preview on iTunes if you'd like to hear his voice), <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-walter-pardon-1336792.html" target="_blank"><b>he died in 1996</b></a>, Martin Carthy would be there...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8x5Hn_WuKO0gPw3XoPQ0DLF_5PJ3KBtBng7EAw1lOFnqDSkdQQ4wyBL6ZnM6FrrnwJWtN-QimMijQkMvgvQDrSJfseczPav0jxpHHaIn6qNPBwU3UapOnJkFE5IIYCY9RYWrrZEPXle4/s1600/4245590217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8x5Hn_WuKO0gPw3XoPQ0DLF_5PJ3KBtBng7EAw1lOFnqDSkdQQ4wyBL6ZnM6FrrnwJWtN-QimMijQkMvgvQDrSJfseczPav0jxpHHaIn6qNPBwU3UapOnJkFE5IIYCY9RYWrrZEPXle4/s1600/4245590217.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
That's not Martin Carthy. This is.<br />
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Anyway, it turned out that Martin Carthy <i>was</i> there plus there was a bonus in the form of Damien Barber (below), who is from North Walsham and who played and sang a few songs for the sell-out afternoon audience in the cafe before the more formal Tim Laycock and Martin Carthy gig in the evening.<br />
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There were about 200 in The Atrium to hear Damien's vivid explanation of what he remembered about the old boy, who he <a href="http://www.damienandmike.co.uk/about/" target="_blank"><b>sometimes credits in his own biography</b></a>.<br />
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"Yes, it's true," said Barber, standing in the middle of the room, looking very relaxed. "When I was five years old I used to sit at the foot of Walter Pardon in <a href="http://www.theorchardgardens.co.uk/whats-on.php" target="_blank"><b>the Orchard Gardens pub</b></a> up the road here for their folk club evenings. Well, I'd sit and then sometimes I'd go and lie under one of the benches.<br />
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"Walter, though, used to stand with his hands behind his back, which was his version of the proper stance for a floor singer. I do that twice a week now myself because I do Tae Kwon Do and that's how you stand to attention: so I know it makes me a little tight across the chest. I'm not sure whether it also made Walter tight across the chest - he wasn't the kind of man you could ask a question like that. But it has sometimes made me wonder whether as well as being a master folk singer, he was also a master martial artist? I shall leave that one to the biographers...<br />
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"Now, folk clubs in the 1970s weren't like the happy-go-lucky places they are now. They were hard core."<br />
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Someone near me turned to their neighbour and made a barely audible shushing noise, as a reminder.<br />
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"So a packet of crisps in the hand of a five-year-old was a dreadful thing."<br />
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There was a little tittering and no small amount of head-tilting, presumably in order to imagine Damien as a five-year-old lying under a bench with a giant, deadly packet of crisps.<br />
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"So at an early age I learned how to suck a packet of crisps. I could make a packet of crisps last for an hour," he remembered, perhaps a little mistily.<br />
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Transferable skills, you see: that's where it's at. Here's Damien singing with Mike Wilson.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span><br />
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<br />Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375921471695097062.post-70662214193526026152014-02-24T03:53:00.000-08:002014-05-15T15:13:41.040-07:00Tim Plester, Game of Thrones and the Shirley Collins movieSome of you will remember Tim Plester's beautiful morris-dancing memoir <a href="http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/way-of-morris-morris-on-big-time.html" target="_blank"><b>Way of the Morris</b></a>, which came out in 2011. If you haven't seen it yet,<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Morris-DVD-Tim-Plester/dp/B0051NTSYK" target="_blank"><b> there's still time...</b> </a><br />
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Well, Tim and his habitual collaborator, Rob Curry, of Fifth Column Films, are making a new folk-themed movie, this one about the life of Shirley Collins, with her co-operation. Details are sparse at the moment. But Rob tells me a couple of things, which are that the trip she took to the deep south with Alan Lomax in 1959 will be central to the narrative, as will "the women chewed up and spat out by the men of the folk rock scene". There are a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shirleycollinsmovie" target="_blank"><b>Facebook page</b></a> and a <a href="https://twitter.com/ShirleyCMovie" target="_blank"><b>Twitter account</b> </a>you can follow if you'd like.<br />
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Sounds like a lot of people will be very interested in that, which is just as well as there may be a crowd-funding offer along shortly.<br />
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Also, they filmed Shirley Collins' first gig in 30 years, which took place at Union Chapel the other week.<br />
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I was meandering around the idea of writing about this when lightning struck over the weekend: glued to a DVD boxset of Game of Thrones, season three, a familiar face appeared on screen.<br />
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Nice pic. For it was Tim Plester, who has several strings to his bow, bearing out the adage that every character actor known to British casting directors will have an opportunity to appear in Game of Thrones before it's done. He was playing someone called Black Walder and hanging out in a rather unsavoury castle whose strategic importance moved several of the central characters to organise a wedding there.<br />
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The Red Wedding.<br />
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If you haven't seen season three of Game of Thrones and intend to, I urge to look away now.<br />
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I pinged off a message on Facebook congratulating Tim on his immortality, by virtue of being in one of the series currently on screen that will surely outlive its actors. And then I was shaken to my very bones, to the sound of <b><a href="http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/The_Rains_of_Castamere" target="_blank">The Rains of Castamere</a></b> (got to love a show with its own self-referential folk music). <br />
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For Tim's is the second last face on screen at the end of season three, episode nine. Catelyn Stark's is the last and she is spouting blood from her throat, having been, well... See for yourself.<br />
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Why Tim, why?<br />
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"What can I say? I sometimes get a little stabby at weddings x" came the reply.<br />
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* I'd like to congratulate Tim and his partner on the recent arrival of a baby girl, which has put the brakes on pre-production of the Shirley Collins film from Tim's end. <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">* If you'd like to receive posts from this blog directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you could *like*</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Hartleys-Glamour-Cave/219403471410849" target="_blank"><b>its Facebook page</b></a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">and then use the drop-down menu to indicate that it's one of your "interests". This will enhance the possibility that you'll get them. You could also follow me on Twitter at</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/emma1hartley" target="_blank">@emma1hartley</a></b></span></span></span>Emma Hartleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489967749197628311noreply@blogger.com1