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nity is power! Whether it’s in mass demonstra- tions against govern- ment policies or small campaigns to get things done, looking at the bigger picture and putting aside rivalries for the common good is a very sound principle. Famously it worked in 1987 with the co- operation that ‘invented’ world music. Now is surely the time for people in folk, roots and world music – and probably other non-mainstream genres like jazz, blues, and country too – to come together and seek common solutions to shared problems.
We have far more in common with each other than we do with the mainstream music business. The combined live audiences for these musics will rival or exceed those of some which hog the lion’s share of broadcast time or in some cases entire radio stations, and yet each individually is almost entirely squeezed off the airwaves. Over 30% of London’s population is from ‘ethnic minorities’ and yet the one BBC local radio show which showcases their music is about to be axed. The combined circulations of the various ‘specialist’ magazines exceeds that of individual mainstream news stand music mags like the NME or The Word, but the total column inches given over to all of our specialities in the national press is negligible compared with that given to the music those titles cover. Our constituents are overwhelmingy still far more loyal to physical rather than digital, yet lemming- like mainstream music business models are designed to marginalise this. And so it goes – but unity is power!
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What else would I like to see happen in 2011? That’s apart from successfully finding a buy-to-rent investor for the house that hosts the fRoots office (see page 82) so that I can get back to concentrating on music!
I’d like lots of festival organisers to give a good listen
to last issue’s Looking For A New England 2: The Other Tra- ditions CD before finalising their 2011 bills. The concert we put on recently at Cecil Sharp House with six of the artists featured on it was sensational. Yet initial bookings I’ve seen for 2011 events so far are disappointingly ‘more of the same’. Wake up to this fantastic music right here in our communities and as well as giving it to your audiences to enjoy, send out a clear message to the right-wing: this is 21st century England. Wearing FAF badges is not enough!
VIEW OUR DIGITAL EDITION! there’s a full sample issue to explore online
On the other hand, to keep everything in balance, I’d be so pleased if the people doing a great job teaching UK traditional music to students could get around to giving renewed attention to southern English styles. There are many wonderful young bands basing their music on tradi- tions from the northern borders to Wales, but where are the new young 21st century equivalents of Oak or the early Old Swan Band to come from if the legacies of southern English country musicians – from East Anglia to the South West – are being neglected in those centres of learning?
And with that, I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year (government permitting)!
Ian Anderson
Photo: Judith Burrows
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