[mplpost] Influences, young folk and toiletries; was: Definitions

[Nick Naffin]

Arnie Naiman wrote:

> It is becoming obvious to me that traditional folk artists are dwindling
as performers at festivals and the directors are completely gearing the
music and performers based on economic and trends. <

    Among Japan's traditionial crafts there is the art of comb-making. A
young apprentice, often no more than ten years of age, would set out on this
path by joining the master's business and family; learning the craft from
the bottom up (as in the old cliche, usually by sweeping the shop), studying
all about wood, forestry, carpentry, cosmetics, hairdressing, etiquette, and
so forth. It was not unusual for a master combmaker to learn his trade for
twenty years before making his first comb to be sold in the shop. A Japanese
comb - completely handcarved from a choice piece of sandalwood or other
fragrant woods of finest, straightest grain, oiled as often as two hundred
times, and stored for a few years to let it rest and breathe - is said to be
a work of art lasting at least a lifetime, having obtained the optimal
balance of material and craft; to always caress, and never ever stress,
pull, or tangle the hair.

A craft that is all but gone today; and no wonder, since only a few
considerably wealthy and highly sophisticated individuals or families would
and could even consider to order and purchase a comb like this - and you
thought Grit Laskin had a long waiting list.

At the convenience store at our corner, a plastic comb costs less than a
buck.



> Where will young people get their inspiration from eventually? - it is
obvious that less and less from traditional forms, and more toward
contemporary and popular forms as the trend continues. <

    You may be right, ragged or not, but it could be argued that traditional
forms were contemporary once, and the popular musics of their day; and as
those days have passed, so popular music has changed. It could also be said
that verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus etc.or AABA structures are still
prevalent in songcraft today, and are for all intents and purposes
traditional forms.

    I don't worry that much about young people, though; just more folk
trying to hustle my gigs...

    Seriously, I share your concern, and like many other thirtysomethings I
think the place is going down, true and real music is dying out, nobody
learns how to really play anymore, and buttonpushers abound. Last Tuesday
night some dude who snuck in the Silver Dollar without paying the cover for
a fine, thought out and genuinely enjoyable performance by Adrian Legg asked
me if I'd like to support a *local* artist. He had compiled a CDR containing
two generic hiphop, trance, or who-knows-what kind of tracks, playing all
the samplers and machines by himself, recording it on a Mac, and knocking
the CDs off in his bedroom. Five bucks.

    When vinyl was still around to be listened to and not scratched,
logistics, procedure, and cost made a superb Darwin-in-action weeding out
the worst.  Now every asshole makes plastic combs.

Nick

___________________________________________



nick naffin

acoustic guitarist

nick@takenotepromotion.com

http://www.interlog.com/~takenote/naffinwright.htm


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