New Folk, Old Tradition

Day 11 - June 1

Yeah, I skipped posting yesterday. First there was the kids' concert, then a shower for my sweaty self, then the New Folk winners' concert. And then it was packing up for a drive to Austin and back to work for a few days, and finally the drive itself. When I got to the house, there was just time to schlep my few belongings inside and fall into bed.

But I'm glad I made time for the New Folk concert. It was really good this year.

New Folk is one tradition that hasn't changed much since the festival began. It's still a showcase for emerging songwriters. Finalists, selected from a slew of recorded entries, have always performed their competition songs on Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, with six winners chosen to play longer sets at the winners' concert the following week. I remember when there were 40 finalists instead of the current 32, but that was quite a few years ago. Also quite a few years back, the New Folk concerts moved from Main Stage to Threadgill Theater, which has a roof over the audience and the stage and is a much better place to be in the heat of a late-spring afternoon. (Not bad when it's raining, either.)

Judges of this contest have a hard job. I don't always agree with them, but this year they picked two of my favorites. Which is pretty good, considering I only heard 12 to 14 of the finalists. Taken together, this year's winners are an interesting crop. Four men, one woman and a gender-bending female duo; representing both coasts and a few places in between. Some look barely out of high school, some like wise grandparents. Some came across a little shy, even when they'd won; others stepped onto the stage like they owned it. They wrote and sang of all sorts of things: boats, trains, old coins, cluttered closets, whiskey, moonshine, romance, circuses, and being Irish. I will definitely want to get the live CD of this concert when I go back to Kerrville next week.