When I think of folk-punk, though, I tend to think of a fairly large tent. The two big names, I’m informed are Against Me! and the Pogues, though I have to admit that I mentally categorize them separately from the genre that they are emblematic of: the former just seems to me to be straight punk, while the latter is in the (admittedly quite closely-aligned) realm of Celtic Punk. These are musicians as comfortable with Byker Hill as with Minor Threat et al.
I shower regularly, and sometimes I listen to folk punk when I’m in the shower.įor those who are unfamiliar, the basic idea of folk-punk is best summarized as a fusion of Celtic and English folk music and punk rock, usually with acoustic instrumentation – acoustic guitar, yes, but many also implement mandolin, violin, accordion, and washboard.
I’ve already spoken to my punk bona fides, but adding “folk” to it often brings to mind crusties for people – the hybrid-form of punk and hippie that is stereotyped as traveling by boxcar and sanctimoniously looking down on those who dwell in houses or brush their teeth regularly. I realize that this commentary may make any further aesthetic comments I make seem less authoritative for some people, but I have a soft spot for folk-punk. I honestly don’t even remember what they were called. We left before we could hear the band that played after. A tragic outcome, honestly: I want to share their music with more people. Edgar and I went to hear a band called Blackbird Raum (n.b.: this link is Spotify subsequent band listings will be youtube or bandcamp) play, and we were one of approximately four people who had come to see them – sadly, offhand comments from the succeeding band, to their fans, made it doubtful that the band we had come to see would ever return to Kansas City. This was in late summer/early fall of 2015. One of the best shows I ever went to was at a bar called “The Blarney Stone”, which has a checkered reputation, and involved no amplification whatsoever.