Big Blog #1: Indie Folk

Folk Basics: Definitions, Dissemination, and Use

Traditional folk music, the genre that indie folk eventually grew from, has been around as long as music itself. It’s believed that it may have arisen from humans imitating sounds from nature and cave life. At the time of its origin, and for many centuries after, folk music was based in local communities and was passed down orally from generation to generation, primarily within families or other small groups. Traditional folk is a genre that was created informally, rather than through official academic or religious institutions. This music was likely performed by the local musician(s) in any given community, as a form of entertainment and storytelling. This music was then transported to new regions by migrant workers and changed over time with subsequent retellings. With time, new versions of the same song would sprout within different communities and regions. The way that new music was originally composed isn’t documented or well known, but many believe that songs would originally be created by one composer, then learned and eventually changed by others in the community. 

American folk music specifically is first noted in the 18th century. Most of the origins of traditional American folk are believed to be international, with settlers from England, Scotland, and Ireland influencing northern Appalachian folk. Southern folk music likely grew from chants and rhythms utilized by enslaved Africans. Basically what is viewed as traditional American folk music is an umbrella term for music produced by a wide variety of ethnic groups and communities. However, there are some similarities within the folk music of America. Much of it originates in rural communities and is functional, or associated with other activities. In some cases, it's used in relation to events in the human life cycle. In others, American folk music follows calendrical events that are relevant to the community, such as agricultural seasons. This varied utilization of folk music results in many different genres based on use. For example, there are love songs, work songs, songs meant to accompany certain games/events, lullabies, and educational songs for children (such as the alphabet and riddles). Some of the most common in western societies are ballads and epics. Further since folk maintained a distance from religious use and popularity among elites, many of them share secular and earthy themes, despite regional differences. 

Traditional folk music was primarily performed by amateurs, with participation by the entire community. However, some specialists (such as instrumentalists and narrative singers) had important roles in the folk communities. It was performed in a wide variety of places, ranging from workplaces to family gatherings. A fundamental characteristic of traditional American folk is that it has been employed during times when American communities have needed it most. It provides an outlet that given segments of the population can understand and relate to. This is often most relatable to oppressed groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities, and especially the working classes. Early American folk traditionally spoke on the current events of the time and showed the perspective of the various and diverse groups inhabiting America. Much traditional folk music can be identified through the inclusion of political agendas. The subjects ranged from work and satire to civil rights and war. It has provided a source of community and a form of expression in which anyone was welcome to participate. 

Although the use has remained steady over time, folk music traditions have evolved throughout the centuries, as well as displaying regional differences. For example, the work songs of enslaved Africans provided an outlet that used call and response along with traditional African rhythms. This traditional music eventually evolved into gospel and blues. The folk music of British and Irish immigrants involved ballads, or storytelling songs, that formed the music of the Appalachian mountains, while the population of Louisiana by the French helped shape Cajun and zydeco music. In the western United States, miners and railroad workers, along with cowboys, performed work songs that sometimes included Spanish and Mexican aspects. 

18th/19th Century Folk

Eighteenth-century American folk was based in the working class, as they composed music that provided commentary on current events, such as crime. These were usually composed by anonymous urban poets and continued the tradition of being passed down orally. The primary source of dissemination for this music was urban coffee houses and bars, but also local villages. However, by the mid 19th century, American folk music had begun to fade out in villages to the point where it was only well known by older individuals. But, simultaneously, knowledge of folk music was growing in urban society. Urban folklorists were transcribing songs from live performances as a way to collect and publish this music for those in urban areas. This eventually led to the inclusion of traditional American folk music in classical concerts, which in turn led traditional folk music culture and amateur folk artists to incorporate choral arrangements into their music. Traditional folk was further changed by the rise of larger cities and industrial societies. 

20th Century Folk

The 20th century is when folk music really gained popularity outside of amateur performers and small local communities. Distinctions between folk and popular music became blurred during the 20th century and folk music’s foundation in rural areas decreased as it was taken up by various social and political movements. In the 1930s, with the occurrence of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, the messages of folk music (relating to economic hardships and work problems) became relatable even to what had once been the upper echelons of society. The 1930s and ‘40s ushered in what would become known as the “First Folk Revival”. Folk dominated the ‘30s, with President Franklin Roosevelt hosting folk concerts at the White House and sponsoring festivals. One of the most popular at the time was Sarah Gertrude Knott’s National Folk Festival. The folk revival was viewed as a way to promote democracy, cultural pluralism, and the destruction of cultural/racial discrimination. Artists such as Woody Guthrie composed folk music that promoted ethnic and economic equality and inclusion. Post-WWII, artists like Pete Seeger composed songs targeted toward liberal advocacy and social movements such as anti-segregation. Although the messages were new, based on the social and political climate of the time, they were similar to traditional folk music in style (such as the use of acoustic instruments) and continued to emphasize rights for the working class. This music continued to be performed in church and private settings but also became incorporated in worker strikes and union halls. Folk maintained its popularity through the ‘50s with performers like Guthrie, Bill Monroe, and Earl Scruggs maintaining a constant creation of songs. The movement gained even more acclaim than before with major events such as the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement resulting in a multitude of new music. Folk music’s primary change in the first part of the 20th century came through recording studios and mass media, as songs were spread more rapidly and professional performers took up a part in producing it. 

Folk’s popularity began to wane in the 1970s, inspiring both new and past artists to begin a resurgence through a new type of folk music, ushering in a second revival. With the post-Vietnam-War peace of the 1970s, contemporary folk was formed. This new music consisted of more fixed/stable forms and well-known composters, while also maintaining some aspects of traditional folk music. Inspired by the legacies of past popular folk artists, folk rock began to gain attention. This led to the rise of stars such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, creating a style that could be viewed as contemporary folk. Folk’s presence in pop culture continued to increase. Throughout the 1980s, artists continued to focus on economic inequality and hardship, focusing on Regan and the concept of trickle-down economics. The late 20th century saw an insurgence of indie rock artists into the folk scene, combining some instrumental and poetic aspects of traditional folk with more modern instrumentation and new types of lyrics. This time period was very focused on combining aspects of folk and rock to create a contemporary sound, but it also featured the melding of traditional folk with country music and bluegrass, leading to artists like The Punch Brothers 

21st Century Folk and Indie Folk: Basic Elements

Due to the emergence of such a wide variety of folk artists during the 20th century, in the current century “folk music” no longer refers to just the traditional music of the 18th and 19th centuries. The popularity of contemporary folk has continued, with artists emerging from all around the states. Twenty-first-century reimaginings of folk still rely on beliefs about music in the rural village cultures of 18th/19th century Europe, while also utilizing recording technology to widen its audience.

While modern conceptions do relate to traditional folk music the most recent interpretations of folk differ largely from those of early 20th century America. Artists continue to write about social issues, such as war and economic troubles, but today’s folk has relied largely on indie rock to become a genre that’s often thought of as “indie folk”. This genre maintains some traditional elements, like acoustic instrumentation, but also indie rock elements that emerged in the early 2000s, such as more complex lyrics. This specific subgenre can be traced back most clearly to 1990s folk music that combined aspects of alternative rock and traditional folk.

Although indie folk has maintained the outline of traditional folk in terms of types of instrumentation and lyrics about social issues, these aspects have increased in complexity. While still implementing acoustic instruments, modern indie folk tends to provide a combination of more instruments being played at once, rather than just a single acoustic guitar or banjo. Folk bands also usually rely on at least several singers, whereas traditional folk often included just one primary performer while others were simply participating in a sort of communal form. Much current indie folk also implements elements of bluegrass and other evolving forms of music.

Modern Indie Folk Artists

Instruments

Almost all modern indie folk songs include some sort of chordophone, usually the banjo or a guitar, as well as a membranophone. Idiophones (primarily clapping and shakers) are used sometimes as well, such as in “Work Song” and “In the Woods Somewhere” by Hozier. There’s still occasionally the use of aerophones and larger instruments like the piano but these aren’t as prominent as the others. Most of these songs also prioritize vocals over instrumentals, including points where the vocals are clearly more intense and emphasized than the instruments. This happens near the end of “Rivers and Road” by The Head and the Heart. It’s also the case throughout most of “Work Song”, as the main focus here is the lyrics, and the instruments mostly just provide an underlying beat that’s almost nonexistent at points. And it’s true of “You Missed My Heart” by Phoebe Bridgers, which comes off as a sort of tonal song, with some of the sections sounding more lyrical while others are almost spoken. 

Themes and Lyrics

Many Indie Folk songs today continue to focus on either social issues or love stories. “Sheep” by Mt. Joy talks about the issues of war and violence against minorities in America and “Dirty Paws” by Of Monsters and Men comments on the battle of industrialization versus nature. The lyrics of many other indie folk songs also focus on nature, either personifying it or telling a story that involves it somehow. This is a big theme in The Civil Wars’ “Kingdom Come”, where they talk about the wind “whispering” and the trees “pointing”. It also occurs in “Bloom” by The Paper Kites with the lyric “when the evening pulls the sun down.”

The love stories of indie folk music are often sorrowful in some way. For example, the narrator in “Gale Song” by the Lumineers is reminiscing about how far they are from the person they love. “You Missed My Heart” tells the story of a lost romance that ends in death for everyone involved. Many of the other songs that aren’t love stories also have themes of sorrow, such as “Rosyln” by Bon Iver, which presumably tells the story of a woman who feels trapped and worries that her only option is suicide.

"Work Song" by Hozier implements the common indie folk elements of intense vocals, use of chordophones and idiophones, and the theme of a sorrowful love story.

"Dirty Paws" by Of Monster and Men focuses on social/political themes, as many traditional folk songs did and also makes many references to nature and animals.

"Kingdom Come" by The Civil Wars uses a single chordophone and the rest of the song is supported solely by strong vocals. It also personifies nature like much traditional folk and tells a sorrowful story. 

References  

History 101. (n.d.). The rise and fall of American folk music. https://www.history101.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-american-folk-music/

Masterclass. (2022, February 24). Folk music artists: A brief history of folk music. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/folk-music-guide

Netti, B. (2020, December 3). Folk music. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/folk-music

Popular Timelines. (n.d.). Folk music. https://populartimelines.com/timeline/Folk-music

Ruehl, K. (2018, April 25). The history of American folk music. LiveAbout. https://www.liveabout.com/the-history-of-american-folk-music-1322572

Ruehl, K. (2019, January 31). What is indie folk music? LiveAbout. https://www.liveabout.com/indie-folk-1322459

The Slow Music Movement. (2018, November 25). What is folk music? Thoughts on the history of folk and its various subgenres. The Slow Music Movement Blog. https://www.theslowmusicmovement.org/blog/slow_folk_thoughts_on_the_history_of_folk__its_various_subgenres

Beyond the Classroom: Indigenous American and African Cultures

One thing we saw briefly while watching the “Powwow Experience” video was a depiction of the Native American Eagle Dance. It looked really elaborate and beautiful so I decided I wanted to learn a bit more about it for this blog. Many sources illustrate the importance of eagles, not just in individual tribes, but among Native American culture as a whole. In many tribes, eagles are thought to represent the sun. They’re primary figures in many Native American legends and are widely believed to have supernatural powers, such as the ability to control the weather and carry messages to the gods. Because of this, they’re often admired and worshipped similarly to the way a god would be and are included in many spiritual rituals. Eagle feathers specifically are viewed as the conveyors of prayers to the heavens. These feathers are considered venerable and aren’t meant to touch the ground. They’re also used to make ceremonial objects and are often included in rituals, such as the Eagle Dance. 

The Eagle Dance is often celebrated in spring (based on weather patterns rather than calendrical designations). More specifically, it’s performed when tribes are seeking divine intervention or help from a higher power (for example, to cure illness or ask for rain). The ritual consists of different songs and dances performed consecutively, which convey the eagle’s life cycle, including its birth, how it learns to walk and hunt, and its death. These things are presented through actions like turning, flapping, and swaying. Dancers wear clothes that represent the colors and appearance of eagles. Paint and feathers are applied to the arms, legs, and bodies, along with caps that have feathers and a yellow beak. 

However, the Eagle Dance is performed among many tribes, including the Iroquois, Comanche, Midwestern Calumet, and more. So, naturally, the dance does vary slightly from tribe to tribe. Within the Navajo tribe, it’s used to pray for more eagles, and the Eagle Dancer is honored and presented with a variety of gifts. The Jemez and Tesuque tribes perform the Dance with two people representing the eagles (one man and one woman). However, the Comanche’s Eagle Dance includes only one dancer, who is meant to represent the son of a chieftain who became an eagle after death.

The first video below shows a more traditional representation of the Eagle Dance by the Jemez Pueblo tribe referenced above. As mentioned, it features two dancers representing the eagles. The second video is a slightly more modern take that incorporates some music in English with a mixture of vocables and lyrics in a Native language. Despite the differences, both dances feature the typical feather wings and swaying movements common to the ritual.

Another thing I was interested in was the origination of the panpipes in the Andes mountains and the fact that they were invented completely distinctly from those in ancient Greece. I found that they’re believed to have likely developed in the Aymara culture of the Lake Titicaca region, specifically Peru. There are three Peruvian cultures that have been identified as the likely earliest users of the panpipes. These include the Nasca culture (1,100 BC - 750 AD), the Paracas (600 BC - 175 BC), and the Moche (100 AD - 800 AD). In the Aymaran language, the panpipes are traditionally referred to as “siku”, while in Quechuan and Spanish they’re called “antara” and “zampoña”, respectively. As the instrument spread from region to region, it began to vary in size and design. In ancient times the panpipes were made out of bone, condor feathers, and clay, but these materials have since been replaced with bamboo. Today, sikus are made from various types of bamboo, each of which has different tonal characteristics. On average, these instruments have about 13 pipes, but the amount can vary to include more or fewer notes. The panpipes are still considered to be key characteristics of many ceremonies today, and the rondador (a set of chorded pipes that produce two tones simultaneously) is the national instrument of Ecuador. The rondador specifically is believed to be a post-Colombian invention because it follows a chromatic scale that was unknown to the Incas.

I went through a few of the covers made by the artists in the channel featured below but decided this was one of the ones I liked most because it features two different sets of panpipes that produce slightly different sounds. It also showed how the panpipes can be played in conjunction with a variety of other instruments, as well as how they can create both extremely breathy and very intense sounds depending on mouth position and movement.

Linguistics is another topic that’s really interesting to me so I was excited to learn more about the way Africa’s tonal languages influence its music. In sub-Saharan Africa, most languages are tonal. In the Bantu language of Shona, meaning varies based on the specific tones used for words. In terms of music, It’s been found that, in general, language has a big role in musical organization, and inflections are important to the development of melodies. Individuals who speak tonal languages have been found to be better at distinguishing the musical notes of various sounds without having any actual musical notes for reference. 

African tonal languages specifically have been understudied throughout history. A 2021 study by Kathryn Franich and Ange B. Lendja Ngnemzué studies traditional folk songs in the Bantu language of Medʉmba, spoken in Cameroon. In terms of phonemes, Medʉmba only presents a tonal distinction between high and low tones. The findings of this study showed that differences in rhythm depended on the voices and the parts of the song being considered. Drummers had more flexibility to deviate from the consistent pulse than the other percussion instruments. As these songs often consist of call and response, it was also shown that the master drummer (caller) had more flexibility during sung portions than those responding to them did. Despite these smaller differences, they found that there were significant connections between song structure and linguistic characteristics during sung portions of the folk songs. Other sources have found that “nonsense syllables” are often used to form patterns in the instrumental rhythms of African music. Speakers of these tonal languages can also communicate over long distances and, historically, this has been done using drums that imitate certain African tonal patterns.

The first video below shows some specific examples. If the concept is a bit challenging to understand in terms of African languages, this presenter provides an example of how tonal differences occur in English as well, with the terms present vs. present. They also showed two different sentences in the western Nigerian language of Yoruba and the way emphasis on certain parts of certain words changed the meaning of the sentences that were made up of what looked like the exact same words. This specific researcher found that correlation between tone and music was stronger in traditional music than in contemporary types.

The tonal language concept is displayed in African languages in the videos below by performers using talking drums, which we already learned a bit about in class. I liked the first video because it provided a lyrical translation in English to go along with the song but the second performance is a bit more exciting in my opinion. It's hard to understand how it follows any sort of tonal language without a translation in any language but I think it shows a fun performance of the talking drum regardless!

References:

Andean Lodges. (2019, October 16). The Andean panpipe: Its origins and enduring music. https://andeanlodges.com/en/the-andean-panpipe-its-origins-and-enduring-music/

Coles, M. (2016, March 11). Eagle Dance display. Center for the Study of World Religions. https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2016/03/11/eagle-dance-display

Farlex. (n.d.). Eagle Dance. The Free Dictionary. https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Eagle+Dance

Franich, K. H., & Lendja Ngnemzué, A. B. (2021). Feeling the beat in an African tone language: Rhythmic mapping between language and music. Frontiers in Communication. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.653747

Kachina House. (2017, January 6). History of the Eagle Dance. https://blog.kachinahouse.com/history-of-the-eagle-dance/#comments

Native Flutes Walking. (n.d.). Panpipes of the Americas. http://www.nativefluteswalking.com/panpipes-andean-american.shtml

wa Mukunu, K. (1996). The impact of African music and language on the music creative process in Americas. Community Development Library. http://www.nzdl.org/cgi-bin/library?e=d-00000-00---off-0cdl--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-0l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11----0-0-&a=d&c=cdl&cl=CL1.62&d=HASHa9cb68fb0a46beb618f7eb.8.3

Woman of the World. (2018, July 30). The most musical languages in the world: What is a tonal language? Asian Absolute. https://asianabsolute.co.uk/blog/2018/07/30/the-most-musical-languages-in-the-world-what-is-a-tonal-language/