A recent television documentary about Woody Guthrie, Three Chords and the Truth, included an assessment by the music historian, Bob Santelli. Talking about Woody’s development as a performer in the 1930s, Bob commented that at this time in California “Woody Guthrie is a radio star but he’s not playing concerts – there were no concerts to play. He’s not playing places where he’s making a lot of money. Often times he’s on skid row and he’s playing on street corners, a lot of benefits for migrant workers or for people out of work. But the idea that he was a recording artist and someone who had a, quotes, ‘career’ – no!”
Want to make big bucks from bluegrass music? Country Gazette summed it up back in the 1970s in a couple of their album titles: Don’t Give Up Your Day Job and All This, And Money Too! And it’s said that Jerry Garcia discovered the secret of making bluegrass music pay when he put down his banjo and plugged in an electric guitar.
The early years of bluegrass saw the pioneers of our music travelling many thousands of miles a year to play on local radio stations and to small communities around the south. Few received the accolade of performing on the Grand Ole Opry, and the festival scene was non-existent. For most bluegrass musicians life involved working hard at a demanding day job and providing for their family in living conditions which were somewhat basic by modern standards. Music was played in whatever spare time was available.
Folk music down the ages has developed from roots like these. It seems that people need to sing and play instruments for their own personal enjoyment and fulfilment. There is a strong element of communication in this activity, as evidence the ballads telling traditional and historical tales down the centuries, and the dance tunes whose infectious rhythms and melodies have invigorated social gatherings and have got people out onto the dance floor. Money has never been the prime motivator. Many performers of traditional music have remained amateurs, sufficiently rewarded by the satisfaction of performing.
While there have always been fully professional musicians, much music making was, and still is, the province of amateurs, people who simply want to pick and sing. Anyone who plays in a local bluegrass band or in a parking lot session at a festival is following in this tradition. It is indeed folk music with overdrive!
John Baldry
June 2019
