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Holmfirth Arts and Music Festival, 2008.
Experimental Folk, contemporary blues…
Owen Phillips is a contemporary folk and blues artist based in the Yorkshire town of Holmfirth.
“…[then] the multi-talented Owen Philips took to the stage. A veritable one-man-band, Owen played a guitar, a banjo, a saw and about every other instrument that you can think of. At one point he was playing notes on the underside of a live dog’s tail!….ok, so I made that last one up, but judging by the way Owen had mastered every music making device around, I’m sure that if it could have been done, Owen would have done it (assuming that it didn’t hurt the dog in any way).”
My take on folk
Folk and blues are the foundations of modern music. The building blocks from which great works have been created throughout the 20th Century. And as we enter the 21st, music is still changing. New technologies and styles are being developed all the time, and similarly those deemed to be passé lie fallen by the wayside as the big lumbering beast we call popular music rolls ever onwards. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with them. At least not all of them anyway.
And still we find our roots music endures, as if ingrained into the very soul of the people. Music born out of suffering, starvation, slavery, emancipation, suppression, honour, love, war and pride. The very basic needs and desires of humanity poured out through a form of universal language unparalleled in this world. Lest we forget the suffering of those first African slaves, toiling in the sun to they rhythm of their own, unique Gospel and work chants. Or the political strugglers and freedom fighters who have used the humble folksong as means for the common man to take his voice to a wider audience.
That’s not to say we should stick to our unchanging roots, however. Folk music is, by very definition of the word, music of the people, and as such is constantly changing. And quite rightly so. On occasions I’ve sat sweating in the steely gaze of some trad-folkie in some obscure pub folk club – vilified for not playing traditional tunes as they’re meant to be played, for not keeping the folk tradition alive. Well they can keep their Trad. Folk music should change. That’s not to say we should forget our roots, but we should build on them, and twist them, turn them around until the music is an expression of ourselves, in our time. Your trad-folkies aren’t supporting folk music, they’re killing it. Fixing it in some arbitrary point in history somewhere in the middle of the eighteenth century. But who’s to say folk music then was as it should be? I’ll warrant many players of the time were ostracised for not playing what was contemporarily conventional.
Sure, I’ll play ‘traditional’ tunes. But I’ll also throw them around a bit, take them off somewhere else and see what comes back. I’ll make obscure noises. If they sound good I’ll make them again, and add some more. This is what music is. It’s not written on a bit of paper and played in perfect time with perfect pitch and robotic precision. It’s a living, breathing bit of our soul that is as unique as the moment in history at which it is created.
At least that’s my take on it. And I suppose the songs on here are what that theory must sound like.
In my ears this week
Recent listens:
Here’s a selection of what’s inspiring me at the moment. It’s not a definitive list, or an order to go and buy it and enhance your musical vocabulary. It’s merely intended to give you an insight in to what inspires me to make music.
Having said that, you’ll find that clicking on each album will take you conveniently to the Amazon page where you can buy it, if you wish.
Or you can find it somewhere cheaper than Amazon… or go out and support your local record shop.
Or you can go and get Spotify – which is magic if you haven’t yet discovered its wonder. It’s an internet based streaming music player, with a pretty damn impressive library of albums – all 100% legit and completely free. All they ask is that you put up with the odd advert mixed in with your music. Small price to pay….
Getting in touch
Don’t forget to check back here often for music updates and ramblings. Or to give me a record deal.
