It's All About The Tradition

Where would folk music be without tradition?

A good proportion of Saturday mornings MOJO Interview with five members of Bellowhead; John Spiers, John Boden, Benji Kirkpatrick, Paul Sartin and Andy Mellon were around tradition in one form or another. How a group of folkies got on with a group more classically trained, the reaction they got for putting a brass section to traditional songs to where folk music sits in relation to 'world' music. It was interesting, thoughtful and, quite a lot of the time, funny stuff.

We all have our own traditions, from where we eat breakfast to what tee shirts wear and where we pitch our tent. Mine, and I'm sure not exclusively mine, is marking the programme (or 'souvenir' programme as it is now called) with the absolute must see act. Although you know who is playing on what day a few months in advance it is only when you turn to the middle pages that you know exactly when they are on.

The Cambridge Folk Festival programme is a design classic, as much a working document as something to be kept in pristine condition for later display. Its A6 size means that it fits perfectly in the back pocket of your jeans, the stage times are always in the middle, the index always at the back and the artist biographies never seem to be in any hierarchical order. Its glossy pages mean that minor spills are not major disasters and at £3.50 it is not exactly over prices.

After pitching my tent and getting my wristbands sorted putting pen to programme is the first thing I do and the first name I marked with a little asterisk was Justin Townes Earle, then Mary Chapin Carpenter and then James Vincent McMorrow. Over at the Den, Polly and the Billets Doux, Sean Taylor, Maia were similarly marked. So far, so good; there were no clashes. I've seen people take this a step further with multiple marks against certain acts (I assume a three dot act is more important than a one dot act) and lines drawn linking one band to another making the programme look like a critical path analysis in a project plan (perhaps they did a proper plan, the time allocated for drinks and food, perhaps gates were not just what you went through to get on site and perhaps Kate Rusby was a milestone).

As the weekend went on more marks were made. Feufollet were a band both my campsite neighbours wanted to see and I have not see a Cajun band for a while (I missed Mama Rosin last year) so made sure that I saw them. I thought them disappointing, their attempts to add something extra sounded like bad country or bad rock sung in French. Singing in your native tongue should be applauded and will help keep the language alive but I cannot see it forwarding the cause of that particular genre.

Frank Turner was someone that I had heard good things about from different people and he was the highlight of the entire weekend. He has a simple, honest take on folk rock: play it hard, play it loud, mean it, believe it. He made me sing along to words I had not heard before, he looked like he was enjoying himself and he looked like he wanted to be there.

I heard James Vincent McMorrow at the recording of Alison Krauss and Union Station's recording for Radio 2 earlier in the year. He was, sort of, the support act; interviewed by Jo Whiley and playing a couple of tracks from a studio somewhere in the Mermaid Theatre. This meant that although I had heard him, and although we are under the same roof when I did, I had never seen him play. His beguiling voice and songs whether solo or with his band kept the audience spellbound.

It is something of a travesty that I had not seen Justin Townes Earle before. It must be known to everybody now that he is the son of Steve Earle and was named after Townes Van Zandt. I am a huge fan of both and not having seen Justin meant that I felt it wise to keep quiet in certain circles I keep. A friend next to me said that he had his "preppy look" (jacket, shirt, bow tie) you see, some people know that he has different looks! He was as magnificent as I had hoped. His stage craft is nigh on perfect with short introductions to his songs (mostly referencing the stupid things he's done) that bridge the gap between "this next song is called …" and long rambling stories. His voice was raw yet soothing with that southern twang, his picking was sublime and his songs stand comparison to anyone. When his set finished I boldly stated that that was the set of the weekend, but I hadn't heard Frank Turner!

One artist that I could not mark down to see was Matt Woosey I had seen him play a couple of months previously and promised that I would get to see him play again. Matt is one of those performers who signs up for a fifteen minute slot in the club tent so does not know in advance what time he will be playing. I bumped into him after seeing Justin Townes Earle. He was already queuing and said he should be on "tonight, sometime". When I came back from seeing Sean Taylor play, Matt was still queuing. He sat waiting for three and a half hours to play for fifteen minutes. For him and plenty of others, this is what the Cambridge Folk Festival is all about. The club tent keeps the link between the grassroots and the headliners. So at a quarter past nine I passed on one bluesman (Robert Cray) to see another and was glad I did. Hopefully next year Matt will get a slot over in the Den - he deserves it.

John Hawes