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Today in Labor History April 1, 1929: Textile workers struck at the Loray Mill, in Gastonia, N.C. Textile mills started moving from New England, to the South, in the 1890s, to avoid the unions. This escalated after the 1909 Shirtwaist strike (which preceded the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist fire), the IWW-led Lawrence (1912) and (1913) Patterson strikes, which were led by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Big Bill Haywood and Carlo Tresca. The Gastonia strike was violent and bloody. Dozens of strikers were imprisoned. A pregnant white woman, Ella Mae Wiggins, wrote and performed songs during the strike. She also lived with and organized African American workers, one of the worst crimes a poor white woman could commit in the South. The strike ended soon after goons murdered her. Woody Guthrie called Wiggins the pioneer of the protest ballad and one of the great folk song writers.
Wiley Cash wrote a wonderful novel about Ella Mae Wiggins and the Gastonia strike, “The Last Ballad.” Jess Walter wrote a really great novel about the Spokane free speech fight, featuring Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, called “The Cold Millions.” Other novels about the Gastonia strike include Sherwood Anderson’s, “Beyond Desire,” and Mary Heaton Vorse’s, “Strike!”
Photo a friend sent me of Wolf Shilkret (Schildkraut, ~1866-1925), #Klezmer violinist and father of Victor Records notable Nat Shilkret #violinist#fiddler#MusicHistory
@indivisibleteam Well, I’m an old folkie, so this is my choice - Pete Seeger’s original rendition (although Peter, Paul, and Mary’s was pretty good, too.)
For my new pals on Mastodon, as part of my semi-regular reminder that my main deal is I'm a singer/songwriter, here's probably my most-heard song, the wonderful Be Good Tanyas' recording of my "Light Enough to Travel". This is the song that launched me into full-time making-a-living musician. Thanks again, ladies. #folkmusic#music#singersongwriter#CovidIsNotOver#WearAMaskhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkFySJmEJY
NPR's Tiny Desk concerts began almost 15 years ago as a way of platforming rock and folk musicians. Now, they're a beloved institution and feature unknown and world-famous artists from around the globe, in every genre. Here's the Associated Press's story on how they became cool, the rules, and how they get taped. Tell us in the comments if you have an all-time favorite Tiny Desk concert.
The latest Tiny Desk concert goes back to the series' folk roots, with singer Cinder Well. She was born and raised in California but now lives in Co. Clare, Ireland. Her music is described by NPR as "reflect[ing] the Laurel Canyon's wandering spirit and the droning qualities of Irish folk music."
🇮🇹 Un duo di fiddle (violino folk) e melodeon (fisarmonica irlandese) che non si stanca mai di suonare. Martin e Clarke e Will Allen fanno una musica che è molto più della somma delle sue parti, non vorrete che finisca! Curiosità -> La fisarmonica si diffuse in Irlanda alla fine del XIX secolo e nella sua forma a dieci tasti (conosciuta con il nome di melodeon). Se negli Usa il melodeon riscosse apprezzamenti, il melodeon è ancora suonato nel Connemara. I moderni suonatori di fisarmonica preferiscono i bottoni a due file. Musicisti moderni come Sharon Shannon, Jackie Daly e Martin O’Connor hanno reso la fisarmonica irlandese un mezzo popolare che ben si accorda con la concertina.
🇬🇧 A dazzling duo of fiddle and melodeon. Martin and Clarke and Will Allen make music that's far more than the sum of its parts, you won't want it to stop! Interesting fact -> The accordion became popular in Ireland in the late 19th century and in its ten-key form (known as the melodeon). While the melodeon gained appreciation in the U.S., it is still played in Connemara. Modern accordion players prefer two-row buttons. Modern musicians such as Sharon Shannon, Jackie Daly, and Martin O'Connor have made the Irish accordion a popular medium that matches well with the concertina.
🇮🇹 Per alcuni l'accordion è uno strumento popolare e in quanto tale non considerato all'altezza, ma sentite un po' qua 🫂 è un abbraccio musicale che ti scalda l'animo come un abbraccio.
🇬🇧 For some people the accordion is a popular instrument and as such not considered up to par, but get this 🫂 it is a musical embrace that warms your soul like a hug.
🇮🇹 Heilung, una band di musica folk sperimentale composta da membri provenienti da Danimarca, Norvegia e Germania. La loro musica si basa testi di iscrizioni runiche di popoli germanici dell'età del ferro e dell'età vichinga. La loro musica parla di divinità germaniche, di Jǫtnar e di valchirie.
🇬🇧 Heilung, an experimental folk music band made up of members from Denmark, Norway, and Germany. Their music is based on texts and runic inscriptions from Germanic peoples of the Iron Age, and Viking Age. Their music is usually about Germanic deities, The Jǫtnar, and valkyries.
🇮🇹 Prendono il nome da un romanzo fantasy per bambini, i Doran sono un collettivo freak folk di quattro persone provenienti dalle zone rurali della Virginia, da New York e dal nord-ovest del Pacifico.
🇬🇧 Taking their name from a children’s fantasy novel, Doran is a four-person freak folk collective hailing from rural Virginia, New York, and the Pacific Northwest.
This evening I have mainly been attempting to learn a lovely traditional Irish folk tune called 'Boolavogue' on the fiddle and as a result accidentally learning a great deal about events in Irish history - specifically the rebellion of 1798 - about which up until now I shamefully knew absolutely nothing at all.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT FOLK MUSIC IS FOR (as well as being great tunes and all)
Monday morning. Clocking-in and spinning up some Fairport Convention for this frosty November start.
Funny how not too far from Jefferson Airplane this first record seems.
I'm going to have a running thread of music I buy. A record (ahem) for me really. Because I lack discipline in actually giving music enough time and this might help. If someone else discovers a new artist then great. Mute #KeefsNewTunes if it's unwelcome.
Fascinating. Joan Shelley and Myriam Gendron sing lullabies from the archive of American Folk Song. (Taken from a wider piece of work.) First we hear Joan Shelley sing, then the song as performed by Clarice Garland many decades ago and captured by Mary Elizabeth Barnicle. Then Gendron sings and we hear the version of that song by Ernestine Laban as recorded by John A. Lomax. #folkmusic#folk#KeefsNewTunes