“Folk provides a ragged refuge from the polished world of corporate rock and pop," says Miles Evans, who curated the recent Folk Britannia festival. “And yes, it’s very hip again.” Nobody seems able to define this new movement — nu-folk, alt.folk or folktronica, anyone? As Stephen Cracknell of the Memory Band puts it: “Folk is a strange word — like jazz, it’s loaded with preconceptions. For me, a great folk song is about emotion, real lives and expressive music.”
Folk’s DIY spirit has bred a network of intimate monthly clubs, allowing musicians to turn up and perform with nothing more than a laptop and a guitar. “I think folk is about people doing something genuine and heartfelt, rather than it being all finger-in-your-ears and woolly jumpers,” says Mr L, who runs his own acoustic night.
It's this hands-on creativity and can-do cheerfulness that makes folk so appealing. The scene’s two leading annual events — Adem’s Homefires weekender in London and the Green Man gathering at Hay-on-Wye — are both run as a labour of love from bedrooms, and aimed at those who hate the corporate hijacking of music festivals. Perhaps this is what this scene is defined by: a free spirit, a DIY ethic and a complete disregard for the mainstream. And we can all say Om to that.
Strange Folk is released on February 20 on Albion Records