State Of The Filk

[filkertom]

In the Pegasus ballot thread below, alverant asked me:

You've been in filk a while, how do you think the filk songs changed in the past 10 years? How about the filk culture?

Where do you see things going in the future? Do you think more people will perform? Will there be more big names?

I think the most blatant change of the past ten years in filk songs is that they sound less "folky" than they used to. Not exactly mainstream, but way more diverse in style, much more experimental. I chalk this up to the influence of people like Barry & Sally Childs-Helton, Ookla the Mok, and (if I may toot my own horn a bit) me, not to mention the incursion of the dementia artists. e.g., my peeps in The FuMP, neo-folkies like the Brobdingnagian Bards (who would be hardcore folk except for, say, doing "Freebird" on an autoharp) and the Bedlam Bards (same thing, except almost all they sing are Firefly songs), and the alt-folk-rock stuff being cranked out by the wonderful Seanan McGuire and Vixy & Tony and Lady Mondegreen and Brooke Lunderville and and and. I could name a bunch more names; easiest way to see it in action is to come to OVFF and hear what it sounds like. All the traditional folk stuff is there, still respected and still loved -- at least I love it -- but there's also more of an edge, an energy, every year, and it carries over to filk rooms at other cons.

A secondary change, spurred on by those same people, is that there are more and more professional-level musicians in the filk rooms. We've always worried about our chops, we've always practiced, but we're getting more and more people who really challenge themselves to be as musically tight and artistically creative as they can be. And it shows. I cannot speak for other cons -- yet -- but going to OVFF or FKO is like going to a mini folk festival. You will hear a lot of fantastic music, you will hear some promising newcomers, and you will hear a lot of enthusiastic support for the music and musicians. Just slightly more bizarre subject matter, is all.

The culture has become even more closely-knit than it was when I first got into it back in 1985. At the beginning of Homecoming: MarCon 2005, I call the audience "My people... my tribe... my family." I meant it then, and I mean it even more now. Audiences are audiences, but the filk community has become almost literally a big extended family, and I count nearly all of my closest friends among them. (And the rest of my closest friends are filk fans who just don't go to cons like they used to.)

Of course more people will perform. Can't stop the signal, and all that. More to the point, we are discovered by more people every day. Fanfic and fan art are very well-known outlets of expression, but people always seem surprised and delighted that there's fan music as well.

And of course there will be more "big names". We're getting musicians, singers, songwriters, every bit as good as the mainstream. Back in the day -- and it wasn't all that long ago -- you had to work pretty hard to "be discovered", launch yourself in the coffeehouse circuit, drudge through whatever. Now there are many more conventions that offer music; now there's the internet. People like Seanan, Lemon Demon, and many others can and do hawk themselves in multiple media every day. I maintain this page, my main page, a MySpace page, a Podsafe Network page, the iTom blog, and CD Baby pages (which, thanks to digital distribution, leads to over two dozen other outlets, including Amazon and iTunes). Heck, three months ago no one had heard of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. (That one does have the advantage of a stellar cast and the Whedonverse behind it, but still.) There are lots of ways to find filk, and the more people who find us, the more big names we will have. To mutilate Mr. Warhol, we might all be big names someday.

From here, the future of filk looks pretty darn bright.

Your thoughts?

Comments

[janeg.livejournal.com]

"but going to OVFF or FKO is like going to a mini folk festival. You will hear a lot of fantastic music, you will hear some promising newcomers, and you will hear a lot of enthusiastic support for the music and musicians. Just slightly more bizarre subject matter, is all."

Thank you for the compliment to FKO! Actually, I find it more like a bluegrass festival than a folk one, given the way audience and performers are almost interchangeable. Most folk festivals still have that insurmountable gap, though I guess if you camp overnight, you can bridge it. I am not a camper.

I really love the increasing diversity of filk music. Naturally, it means I feel a little old sometimes listening to some of the newest forms, but better that than trad folk, every time, all the time. I particularly like the increased influence of jazz music, from filkers like Mary Crowell, and think jazz is a logical influence for filk given the creativity of jazz. But it's harder to sing!

Within fandom, people talk about cons and promoting cons. Outside of fandom, everyone I know thinks of "conventions" as relatively boring professional or industry events. I find it easier to tell non-fen that I am part of running an especially friendly and creative music festival, and that if they like music, science fiction and/or fantasy, they should come.

So that is how I now promote FilKONtario and our house filks whenever I see an opening. I am going to be a "campfire with singing" on Friday night, to be at the retreat to deliver a workshop on Saturday morning. I will take FKO and house filk flyers but I will not use the word "con".

So I agree the future of filk looks bright. I am less convinced the future of filk events looks bright, as we are spread out geographically and high travel prices are hurting us.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

You're quite welcome, and it's thoroughly deserved. And... y'know, I haven't been to a bluegrass festival, so I didn't know about that audience/performer gestalt. Damn sure makes me want to go to one, though.

[drfilk.livejournal.com]

I hear from my spies that bluegrass folks, at least those in my area (Victoria BC) are a lot less accepting of non-trad musical expression. My friend showed up at a bluegrass jam with her clarinet and was told "That's not a bluegrass instrument!". Can't imagine that happening in a filk circle.

[quadrivium.livejournal.com]

*loves clarinet*

[drfilk.livejournal.com]

I wasn't just guessing about the response to a clarinet in a filk circle. A few years ago a highschool-age girl showed up at the open filking at Vcon and played the Star Wars theme on her clarinet. It was very special and very well-received.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Since your involved in FKO, may I ask how many CDs of it are available? I've found some of the best CDs in my collection are from conventions. You get a good variety of singers and topics. The audience adds a nice touch too.

You see to me filk isn't just about the music, it's about the community too. As Tom said: I call the audience "My people... my tribe... my family." A concert is a gathering of friends having fun. I think since filk is niche we recognize that as a genre we're not going to be big like rock or blues so the effort of participating is noted.

On topic, I think I've seen filk sound more professional (for lack of a better word) lately with computer programs like Band in a Box. The Great Lukeski now uses so many electronics in his music that when he performs he just brings a CD and sings along with it. (Personally I don't care for that, I like my concerts to be live.)

Filk has a special quality that anyone who can sing somewhat on-key and knows a few cords on a guitar and be recognized as a filk singer. I don't want to lose that quality.

[janeg.livejournal.com]

USB Studios has a number of FilKONtario and filk CDs available for sale at

Sealskin Jacket, a Pegasus nominee this year for Tragedy, is on Triskaidekafilkia - music from FilKONtario 13. I think that it is the only recording for sale. A short clip does NOT do justice to this song.

I would not be volunteering in filk if it was just about the music. I love the people and the community I have found through filk.

You said: "anyone who can sing somewhat on-key and knows a few cords on a guitar can be recognized as a filk singer." My definition is broader than that!
(www.usbstudios.ca/)

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I already have those CDs (FKO 8-13). I was hoping there were more. I'll by TorCon3 when it's finished. Why is there a 4 year gap between FKO discs 12 and 13? I'm assuming the conventions were 4 years apart. I'm not being critical, I'm just curious.

[pwl1.livejournal.com]

Because sometimes life interferes with things that we really like doing.

[technogeek1.livejournal.com]

Yes, as pwl1 said, we still got our day jobs, etc... USB Studios is still just a hobby for us and the last few years we have been involved in too many other things. We have recordings from TorCon and FKO 14 that I am currently working on and hope to get out this year. Other FKO cd's should follow as soon as I can get to them.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I wasn't trying to be a heel or anything. Believe me, we all know how real life can get in the way of things.

I don't know the whole process of making a CD or the people involved. I appreciate your efforts and I think you did a good job on the existing CDs. I plan on buying your future releases.

How do you decide which songs go on a CD? Do you have to get permission from the singers? All I've done is burn compilation CDs for myself on my home computer and it sounds like what you do is completely different.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

anyone who can sing somewhat on-key and knows a few chords on a guitar can be recognized as a filk singer.

Are you sure about the "chords on a guitar" part? In my experience, that doesn't seem to be a requirement.

[quadrivium.livejournal.com]

I really love the increasing diversity of filk music. Naturally, it means I feel a little old sometimes listening to some of the newest forms, but better that than trad folk, every time, all the time. I particularly like the increased influence of jazz music, from filkers like Mary Crowell, and think jazz is a logical influence for filk given the creativity of jazz. But it's harder to sing!

Thanks for writing this! I am really glad you like my music. :-)

I've learned so much from getting to jam with filkers who play in all sorts of different styles of music and have different performance practices and tips. And I love them all.

But, jazz is unquestionably my favorite style. *grins*

[kyril.livejournal.com]

DucKon was pretty good this year too. Much better than any of the cons I can remember from years past, though to be fair I wasn't really interested in filk back then so it might not have been quite as night-and-day a difference as it seemed. But out of half a dozen rooms, 1-2 of them having scheduled music at any point in time seemed like a lot...in a nice way.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Duck is a general con, but, like MarCon and especially ConFluence and a number of others it's very filk-friendly. Chalk that one up to janmagic. :)

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I love DucKon. It's close enough for me to come and go as I please. I'm considering going to WindyCon this year too. It depends on my finances at the new job.

[katyhh.livejournal.com]

I do think that the filk community has become more international / internationally interwoven. There's active song exchange, between the Brits and Germans even song translation exchange, at times.
I agree with the community being even more closely knit, but it's gotten more "borderless" at the same time. "World's too big and very small at the same time" and all that.

[sdelmonte]

The future of filk is, by and large, great. Look at the Pegasus nominees, and look at how many are not you and Frank and Kanef and Ookla and so on, how many are relatively new to filk, how many play diverse styles, and so on. You hit all the points that I would hit if analyzing the music.

But when I look at the filk scene in NYC, I get a bit down. We had an amazing Contata this year, full of heart and spirit, but it barely cracked 100. There were a very small number of faces we didn't see at the last Contata three years ago. We have housefilks often, and our efforts to bring newbies to those meet with limited success. The filk circles at Lunacon seem ever smaller. And I find myself wondering "how do we get new people into filk?"

Then again, I worry about the state of NYC fandom overall, where Lunacon is grayer each year. What I really need to ask, knowing that the anime cons are packed and that the people I've met from that crowd are into all the things that the rest of fandom like, might be "how do we get a filk presence at anime cons?" And "how do we create more of a link between fandoms?" The biggest problem with being in a city this huge is that any one fannish interest group will be able to survive on its own without making contact with the others. I suspect that isn't the case in most places.

Still, we do have the housefilks, we do have a small but connected filk community here, and we have the advantage of being a place that everyone seems to visit sooner or later, so we can try to have housefilks around those visits and recharge our batteries of the rest of the world's music.

[amazingadrian.livejournal.com]

Hmm. It wasn't all that long ago when I thought that Weird Al Yankovic was the only comedy musician with any real musical talent. Even though he was doing parody, his songs were still thoughtfully written (or re-written, as the case may be) and he could cover such a diverse range of styles, which is as much a tribute to his band as it is to him. Most of the other guys out there either sang crass, somewhat funny songs like a bunch of drunks with poor backup music or sang well without having much of a musical punch to do their songs justice (which is why I tend not to like singer-songwriter genre songs. One guy with a lonely accoustic very seldomly ever does things for me).

That was back in the 90's.

I think the Internet deserves a bit more credit than you are giving it here. It is now possible for independant artists to get their stuff heard, engineer their own songs, collaborate with other musicians from around the world...Take Second Life for example. One of their published artists has formed a band entirley on the internet. No single member lives in the same town as any of the others...heck, some of them aren't even in the same continent! But we can still hear them live through excellent hi-fi collaboration.

Artists like you and Jonathan Coulton and Lemon Demon can all touch up your songs with digital elements if you can't find real musicians, which is also cool (if done right. See OC Remix).

The Filk or Comedy genre is still only just barely mainstream. It's running healthy now, though the number of artists that actually tour and have huge followings are low enough to count on your fingers. Perhaps that will change in the future, and we'll see some guys rise up out of the con circuit to international tours?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Oh, I give the internet a lot of credit -- truly, it's about half of how I make my living. But its influence on filk is only beginning to be felt. Even that has been startling: the OVFF ballot page, now having excerpts of every nominated song and artist, means that people around the world can hear the cutting edge, find out who's hot, and express their views on What's Going On In Filk. Simply not possible only a few years ago.

[musicahumana.livejournal.com]

Having only really experienced filk through the internet (something that I'm hoping to remedy soon), I have to agree that the genre is alive and very well through this medium. I wonder how much of the community aspect of filk has been transferred over to the internet, over housefilks and conventions? This is kind of related to your question--where is filk going? *Everything* seems to be leaning more and more heavily on the internet...we could probably *have* a convention online if we wanted to.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Certainly distribution is going to lean heavily on the 'net... but the live performance, the interaction with the audience, the spontaneity and goofiness and love between the filkers when we get together is what makes it. Where it's going? To more venues. To more cons. To more house concerts. To more MySpace and Facebook and CD Baby pages. To more people, until "filk" is just another flavor of music rather than something Us Fannish Types do.

[musicahumana.livejournal.com]

I'm so voting for that outcome. People in general need to laugh and be silly more. Filk is good.

[raven-ap-morgan.livejournal.com]

The filk market is one that I'd like to tap into as a producer. There's a lot of great talent out there that are either not getting recorded or getting recorded at a sub-par level. I'd like to get some of the unrecorded people recorded and at a level that at least approaches a professional level. I think between that and the marketing/distribution methods that are available now (some of which having been mentioned in this thread) will help promote filk as a genre.

Raven

[poltr1]

If the filk community is a family, then I must be the black sheep of the family. For the past several years, I've been feeling somewhat estranged from the community. There are a number of factors I attribute to this: I'm not a guitarist, I don't get to practice very much, I'm more of an ensemble player than a soloist, I don't get to many housefilks or cons these days, I got burnt out on the host of one of the regular housefilks I used to attend, I don't get to perform very often, my style of music is too eclectic (jazz, fusion, electronica), I'm not a very prolific songwriter, I'm not well versed in the literature since I don't read much SF these days. Call these excuses if you want, but they've contributed to my general malaise and opinion that my presence in the community has been tolerated but not exactly welcomed.

Despite my current state of negativity, I enjoy hanging out with a bunch of talented and creative people, of which the filk community has plenty. I still believe there's room in the community for someone like me, exploring new directions in the genre.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. First and most importantly, don't think you have to CONTRIBUTE CONSTANTLY! and BE RIGHT OUT FRONT ALL THE TIME! to be part of stuff. Just being there is more than you know, I think -- although maybe not, as you're getting something from hanging out as well. And you'd be surprised what, and who, people do notice.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

When I inherited Dave's collection of Filk CD's and tapes, I first listened to the CD's, and was suitably impressed by the diversity of music available. Then I started playing his tapes, which pretty much by definition are older--from the 80's and early 90's as I recall. And was struck by the sameness of it all. Not just folkier, but a big concentration around one narrow sort of folk, like the goal of half the filkers was to create the perfect science-fiction or fantasy British Isles folk balad (this is not necessarily a bad thing--if created an environment where my dulcimer playing fits right in). Now, Jeeze, Tony & Vixy, Mary Crowell, Wild Mercy, Seanan McGuire, nMC, Luke Ski, yourself--I see absolutely no limit on musical genre. It means I can write my songs, such as they are, without even thinking about genre.

So I agree, less folky.

I can't speak to the changes in the community--the only fossil evidence I have of what the community was like before I was involved are stories people tell about their friends and odd characters, and well, friendship is friendship and odd characters are odd characters. However, I will say that the community as represented on LiveJournal has been a big part of why I'm still in filk after my brother dragged me to FKO in 2003. (heck, the absence of internet connections is probably why I didn't stay in filk when Dave dragged me to Confusion twice in the early 90's) Without LJ, I might say a confused "Hi" to a few poeple I see at filk conventions, but there's no way I'd be able to form the connections that have led to the collaborations I've had the pleasure to be involved with. Without LJ, there is no way I'd ever play the music of Erik Satie with a banjola player from Vancouver, or co-write songs with Pegasus winner in Tennessee.

I like what filk has become.

[hiddenriver.livejournal.com]

As someone who discovered filk in the late 80's/early 90's (pre-Web), then fell out of it due to parenthood and an inability to go to cons and stay up all night for the filking, then rediscovered it several years ago, I have to agree that there have been a LOT of changes - mostly good.

The filking I remember here in the Seattle area was, as you mentioned, mostly folky stuff - lots of Mercedes Lackey, space ballads, and parodies - that sort of thing. There were fewer groups and more individuals singing, and a capella was much more common as fewer people actually played instruments. It was a much wider range of musical ability - you might have someone stand up and sing a parody somewhat in-key, followed by Cecilia Eng and her guitar, and so on.

I "rediscovered" filk thanks to Mal's Song, which prompted me to find out what else was out there. Turns out there's a quite a bit, and the Internet makes it much easier to find. Since then, I've been to several con-based filk circles and sing-alongs, one housefilk, and a filk convention - and I don't even want to think about how much I've spent buying CDs. The first thing that struck me is how much more "professional" it seems now. There are so many talented musicians involved, with so many different styles. There are more group efforts. There's more focus on concerts and performances. It's definitely not your grandfather's filk anymore.

As a filk-fan, I'm delighted by all of this wonderful music that's out there. However, I have to admit that as a non-musician-filker, it's a bit daunting. It takes more courage than I have to follow half a dozen very talented musicians with one of my lame a capella parodies. (A friend and I were discussing this at Conflikt - he felt the same way.) For that reason, I do miss the less-rarified atmosphere of the old filk-circles, but I'm not sorry that my iPod is stuffed with so much great filk that I had to buy one with more storage to keep it all.

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

"It takes more courage than I have to follow half a dozen very talented musicians"

I've been in this for less than five years, but here's something I keep re-discovering: Many, many, many of those talented musicians *want* to hear you. If there's anything good, or fun, or creative at all in what you're doing, they want to hear that. Even if there isn't -- and I know this from the torture I've inflicted on good musicians :) -- lots of them want to hear what you're doing now so they can appreciate future improvements. Beyond talent considerations, there's also a great majority in filk who believe honestly and whole-heartedly in your right to be a participant.

It's actually funny for me to be typing this because I'm the one most likely to meet [insert excellent filkers' names here] and assume that they won't want to listen to me. Nothing makes me happier than the fact that I've been wrong about that over and over and....

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Damn skippy. It's one of the reasons Juanita still goes to as many circles as she can -- she loves hearing the new folks. And every once in awhile you get some real diamonds. One of my favorite moments in filk was at The Infamous Filk Out In The Hall at OVFF a few years ago. Me, Terence Chua (at I think his first OVFF), Rand and Adam, several other good performers, about twenty fans, good little circle going. And this straight-laced young guy comes over with a guitar and asks if he can sit it, and we say sure, whatcha got, and he played a song called "Sticks and Stones" and he had a great voice and excellent lyrics and he played percussion with his guitar while fingerpicking the shit out of that beast, and we all just gaped at him as he danced with his guitar, and when he was done we were all, "Who are you?!?" And that was how we met Joe Giacoio.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

"I do miss the less-rarified atmosphere of the old filk-circles"

I feel actually that the circles in the past 5 or 6 years have been *more* welcoming to people participating. Twenty years ago, it seemed to me that everyone just wanted to hear their "special" singers. Now, I see a lot of encouragement for people of many degrees of skill, and much of that encouragement does come from some amazingly talented folk.

Twenty years ago, I was "shushed" in circles. It nearly stopped me performing altogether. (I think that Tom's staunch encouragement and defense of me bolstered my faltering courage after that.) Now, I am encouraged to use my voice as well as my hands to perform.

[musicahumana.livejournal.com]

Do you think that the move towards a better-prepared performance will eventually threaten the community feel of filk? It doesn't necessarily have to be so, I know, especially if people work hard to keep that aspect of the art alive. But I imagine that it can be daunting, as an amateur, to participate in a bardic circle when there are tons of amazing performances surrounding you. Just a ponderation.

Awesome post, by the way. Thanks!

Its a Filk not a Bardic Circle

[loriruadh.livejournal.com]

Musicahumana, not every filksing follows a "bardic circle" format, please don't make the assumption that this holds true at every con. In the Midwest*, "chaos" was/can be the default, and it can be more intimidating than bardic.

Note: As a old Midwestern fan, I will admit to an outright loathing of the "bardic" format. But I was soured on it by encountering bardic circles where it took 2 hours wait to get a turn...

*In earlier filking, certain regions adopted certain styles -- East Coast was Singalong, West Coast was Bardic, and Midwest was "chaos." All have strengths and weaknesses, and all can create some lovely events when the stars are right.

Re: Its a Filk not a Bardic Circle

[musicahumana.livejournal.com]

*grin* Yes, you're right. I used the bardic circle as a default, but I hear that there are lots of ways of running these things.

Do we need to burn any certain incenses or wear specific herbs to get the stars right? I want to be prepared....

Re: Its a Filk not a Bardic Circle

[loriruadh.livejournal.com]

(Big Grin)

Nah, no incense -- though some find their favorite potion helps...

In answer to your original question -- even though I don't sing much at a filk, I still practice, especially if the song I want to perform is one I haven't done before.

I have an unfair advantage -- even though I don't play an instrument, I hear the accompanying tune in my mind. The disadvantage -- an earworm can last for hours and hours.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you for the kind words. I don't think that more professional performances will do anything besides make filk better. I'm not one for intense practice myself, although I will re-take a vocal a gazillion times if I need to, and then I'll listen to the final mix and groan and... but I digress. ;)

Seriously, just in the past few years we've gained some incredible performers -- several named above, several more besides. Those of us who want to perform, tend to want to do our best, especially for our friends. And I know first-hand how daunting it can be to get up in front of people when you don't feel you know your stuff, or when you think it's only okay, or whatever. I started out with funny songs specifically because I figured if I could make people laugh, they wouldn't kill me outright for being a talentless shmuck. Three and a half years later were my first GOH-ship and my first concert at OVFF.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

The filk community has changed a great deal in the OMG 30 years I've been involved. When it started, it was a bunch of people who were SF fans first, who got together because they wanted to be with other smart people who read the stuff, and just happened to have some interest in music as well. Then a funny thing happened. Some folks who were interested in music first, professional folk musicians, started to wander by, and some of them liked what they saw. A small publishing industry got started, which meant that there were more recordings to allow people to become interested in filk without first coming to an SF con, and we started having cons just for filk. Today, I would say that most of the people in the filk community come for the music, not for the SF connection. The strange and wonderful thing is that in spite of that change in the way people come to the party, and the way the music at the party has changed, it still feels like the same community -- full of people who are smarter, more interesting, and more caring than the usual from the mundane world.

Musicianship has increased enormously. When I started, a tricky arrangement meant one that had 4 chords, and an expert guitar player was one who could actually play Bm as a barre chord. I started enjoying filk circles as a listener and joining in on the choruses when I was 14, and bought a guitar just before I turned 17 because actually playing in the circle seemed achievable. I sucked, but you guys let me hang around for a long time, and eventually I got better. If I were 16 today, I think I'd be too intimidated to try -- but as long as I was willing to try, you'd still be willing to let me.

[dbcooper.livejournal.com]

When I first got into filk back at Necronomicon 1989 (Thanks, Ann Morris!), it was this strange and insular thing where men with beards and women in long skirts, many with stringed instruments (and kazoos), sat in a circle and sang stuff I'd never heard of. Now there are fewer people with beards, though we're all getting grey hair, and some of us still bring stringed instruments (and kazoos), but now I've heard of a lot more of the music...and I'm writing stuff that other people have never heard of.

I'm not sure filk will ever be mainstream to whoever considers themselves mainstream, but I like where it's going. I have no real problem with "traditional" folk's influence on filk, but I'm a blues/jazz/funk man myself (which is odd for a Swedish/German/Russian guy in Florida), and I'm glad there seems to be room for that too.

Besides, the pap they're playing on terrestrial radio isn't mainstream to me. Filk and comedy music are.

[lukeski.livejournal.com]

Timmy: I like songs about nipples sung by guys with mullets. Can the filk world help me in that respect Mr. Smith?