The world of folk, blues and country seems to have gained a new lease on life; nothing like a near-death experience to bring on a hive of activity. With a spring in its step, it has been churning out wonderful albums by young artists such as Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, M Ward and the mercurial Jim James from My Morning Jacket (see sidebar). All these artists have crafted sonically beautiful albums in recent years that bring an independent music methodology to the great heritage of United States folk, country and blues. Americana or alt-country, as it has been dubbed by music publications the world over, appears to be a growing phenomenon. Suddenly these artists are crossing the bridge from bedroom recordings into sell-out stadiums and mainstream success.
And while I am all aboard with these American country-rockers, I was interested to find out that we might just have our very own burgeoning scene. The Nu Folk Festival is the brainchild of promoter manager Adrian King. “It is quite a broad genre and I used the term nu folk because these guys for the most part have an affinity for the old school, whether it be folk, country or blues — that’s what they grew up on and that is their love,” says King. “It started so that a particular group of artists could share a stage and help one another by bringing their fans to see other artists. A lot of Jim Neversink fans are 30-plus with three kids and they don’t get to go see the band all that often. They don’t get exposed to artists like Sinister Minister or Josie Fields all that often. The festival is a nomad, travelling from one live music venue to the other, no fixed abode, bringing its folk-country goodness to you. “Ideally it’s about building a brand and one day taking it to a much larger venue with a longer line-up,” says King.
The explosion in new folk, country and blues artists has been led by musicians and music fans using the Internet to form communities, sharing their tastes and favourite albums. It is becoming easier for bands to build a loyal following and use it as a platform to get media attention and launch careers. Artists such as My Morning Jacket, Bright Eyes and Banhart have become almost mainstream commodities, even though their albums are released on independent labels.
“In the American market artists like Devendra Banhart and Iron & Wine are doing incredibly well and are arguably on the cusp of entering the mainstream,” says Johannesburg-based singer-songwriter Laurie Levine.
King says the Internet has created platforms where independent bands can thrive and the international music community can network. “You are sitting in South Africa and you can download an Iron & Wine track and share your interest in this music; the community has grown internationally. I think the talent has always been there, the alt-country thing has been going for 20 years; I think it is just now the record companies can see a way to make money off of it. There is this trend globally towards quieter music, the lo-fi thing and the folk music boom that is happening in the States at the moment,” says King. “Quiet is the new loud.”
Jim Neversink is a classic tale straight out of the Americana textbook, from lo-fi bedroom recording to bona fide country-rock band. “I find that the word country turns people off, especially in this country; people tend to think country and western means Kenny Rodgers numbers.
Yes, country, but Gram Parsons’s country,” says Neversink’s engineer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Fink. “When people hear nu folk they think folk and soft acoustic instruments, not necessarily making a noise,” says the band’s bassist and violinist, Katherine Hunt. “There is definitely a country element in there, I like working with country, it is malleable so you can fuse it with other genres,” says Jim Neversink, aka Michael Whitehead.
“If I had a gun right now, I wouldn’t even waste a page,” are the opening lines to Whitehead’s new album. “My father committed suicide in 1994 and I have been writing a lot about him and it just so happens that the album starts with Western World [the track in question]. When he died he left every member of the family a suicide note and I kind of thought about that.” Whitehead says he had found it odd that although his cousin, Katherine — the band’s bassist, had chosen the album’s running order, the album actually closed with another song about his father. “I really got affected by this whole suicide thing,” says Whitehead. “I am adopted you know, and both my fathers have committed suicide. There’s a song on the album called Moving In and it sounds very country, almost like a love song, but it’s actually about a suicide pact. I got a hole in the cemetery/I bought her hole/I got mine free/Moving in under the trees,” sings Whitehead.
As you may have guessed, the new album by Jim Neversink is dark — the shady character in a shadowy bar with tales to tell, of people resigned to their dreary, pitiful existence. “I had a nervous breakdown and I was on lithium and I wrote quite a bit,” says Whitehead. He has spent the past two years in Johannesburg piecing together the new album from salvaged eight-track bedroom recordings, with the help of Fink. “Matthew is a gem; I want to wrap him in cotton wool,” says Whitehead.
Fink is an engineer for big Afrikaans rock acts such as Steve Hofmeyr and, of late, a full time member of Jim Never-sink and producer for bands such as City Bowl Misers, Laurie Levine and The Sick Leaves. “I am basically rent boy for hire. I do a lot of the local pop stuff, it’s where the money is unfortunately. A gig is a gig to me, even if it is not my cup of tea musically. I don’t like the term producer, more like psychiatrist! I strive to bring out the worst in people. Michael came to me with some eight-track demos,” says Fink. “I was like, these are great songs! He is an amazing songwriter, when you as a musician or arranger are presented with such a song that you can connect with personally, wow, it’s great. This is the album I am most proud of.”
Fink is defiant in my attempts to get him to label the band or their music. He says they are all so different musically and bring a lot to the table, whether it is The Band, The Byrds, Elvis or Roy Orbison from Whitehead or The Clash and Sonic Youth from Fink. “He got me listening to Gram Parsons and I got him listening to The White Stripes. We give and take a lot,” says Fink. “I bring whatever and Katherine is bringing this and Warrick that. And then we all swap medication and it’s great,” chimes in Katherine.
As for the Nu Folk Festival: best to leave the last words to Fink. “It’s a great concept, although, to this day, I am still bewildered about what nu folk is. When I brought this up with Adrian, he said it is the new folk, like the new people, because I am very anti-being pigeonholed!”
The second Nu Folk Festival will be held on Sunday April 23 at Back 2 Basix in Westdene, Johannesburg
The front-runners
Devendra Banhart
Recommended listening: Cripple Crow
Born in Texas, at the age of two Banhart moved to Caracas, Venezuela, with his mother where he lived until the age of 17. After dropping out of the San Francisco Art Institute, disillusioned with the constraints of academic art, he began travelling and recording his songs on a borrowed four-track and a friend’s answering machine. Before he had turned 21, Banhart was brought to the attention of Michael Gira who released his first three albums on his Young God record label. Banhart’s music is folk in form, with simple guitar melodies and minimal backing instrumentation. His naturalistic, dreamlike lyrics transport the listener into a world of crabs, sparrows and little children.
Bright Eyes
Recommended listening: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Having recorded his first collection of songs when he was 13, Conor Oberst’s career has been plagued by tags such as “rock’s boy genius” or “the new Dylan”. Having established his name with numerous releases on his independent label in Omaha, Oberst started 2005 with a bang, releasing two albums on the same day. The first, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, is a country-tinged rock album featuring vocal performances by Emmylou Harris and My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. The second, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, is an edgier collection of songs featuring members of indie-rockers The Faint and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
My Morning Jacket
Recommended listening: It Still Moves and Z
Hailing from Louisville, Kentucky, My Morning Jacket (MMJ) are one of the most exciting new bands to hit the scene. MMJ have recorded four albums that incorporate influences from blues and country to soul and jazz. Having lost two of their members in 2005, MMJ returned with a new album and new direction. Forsaking the barn studio used on previous albums, they recorded their fourth album, Z, in New York, with producer John Leckie concocting an album of really sad mysterious dance music, according to singer Jim James. — Lloyd Gedye
The nu folk crew
Josie Field
Josie Field was taught to play guitar by her uncle when she was 15 and began writing her own songs. Growing up on folk musicians such as Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, Field has created a sound all of her own. Her beautiful raw voice perfectly reflects her dark musings on personal experiences and relationships. “I think I am often a little cynical in writing,” says Field. She is currently recording her new album at Dark Star Studios in Newtown. “It’s exactly the kind of recording I’ve always wanted to be involved in,” says Field. As for the international folk/country revival, she believes it was bound to happen as a reaction to overproduced electronic popular music. “It just proves that audiences want to hear real people, with crappy guitars, write real honest songs. I enjoy artists that have a need to express their sometimes dark views on themselves and society in a truthful way.”
Sinister Minister
Sinister Minister is fairly new on the Johannesburg music scene, only forming in late 2005. “Folk music has historically been fringe music, but Simon and Garfunkel were folk and their music was timeless. I am looking forward to a decade of really living music, rather than the catastrophe that was the Nineties,” says Julian, the band’s bassist. “To move forward you need a little history to point you in a direction; if you live in America, Americana is cool, but the idea of folk (be it country, blues, jazz, African, Mexican, Hawaiian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Gypsy, Indian … you get the picture) mixed with rock and an improvisational spirit is cool!” says Richard, the lap-steel player. The band single out Bob Brozman and local acts Carlo Mombelli, Marcus Wyatt, Tananas and Felix Leband as influences.
Laurie Levine
Singer/songwriter Laurie Levine began writing music regularly at the age of 17 and is currently completing her debut album, Unspoken, under the watchful eye of Matthew Fink. ” Many of my songs probe and question that which is sometimes dangerously perceived as ‘natural’ by society,” says Levine. She began playing classic folk songs but moved on to more contemporary folk like the Indigo Girls. “The folk revival in America is refreshing,” says Levine. “It is indicative of a fast-changing industry where artists have more independence and platforms to promote themselves, and consumers are starting to dictate their needs.” She hopes for a similar boom in South Africa, so that her and folk artists like her do not have to struggle in small niche markets. — Lloyd Gedye