December
5th 2012
Posted under Music & The South
How about a happy post for a change?
Garden & Guns, a lively and well-written web site that specializes in Southern culture, has a great feature story on the English folk-rock group Mumford & Sons. I’ve featured this group in one of our Southern Music Break posts, and thoroughly enjoyed the Garden & Guns article. It’s a great introduction to this unique and talented group.
Here’s the takeaway quote, from band member Winston Marshall:
“The South is a lot like Ireland. I have no family, no connections at all. But within a week you meet everyone’s relatives. That never happens in England. Some of my best friends are here [in England], and I’ve never met their families.”
Savrola on 06 Dec 2012 at 2:17 pm #
Post reminds me of Reagan’s claiming Born in the USA as a campaign anthem.
Too bad Southern Nationalism has no musicial outreach, but to have musical outreach, you have to have a culture.
C Bowen (Hawthorne) on 07 Dec 2012 at 1:41 am #
Harrison;
Up New England way, Mumford is a SWPL band. Our local musical act, Dropkick Murphies, are brilliant working class populism/antiwar, and they had to open for Mumford in the local scene.
Mumford sounds like John Mayer or something like that to me.
The points about Celtic music and particularly Southern Celtic Music are spot on. Southern music developed the “morbid killing tune” that was retransmitted back to Ireland (e.g. “Long Black Veil”) and gave them the “melancholy” sound that most people associate with…Irish folk music.
HarrisonBergeron2 on 08 Dec 2012 at 7:12 pm #
C Bowen,
I’ve always been captivated by Irish music. As you correctly observe, the melancholy is integral to the “feel” of it, but so is the joy. I think Celtic music reveals the Celtic soul.
And Southern folk music, as you also note, was deeply influenced by the Celtic music tradition. I think that says much about the blending of joy and sadness that defines country music.
C Bowen (Hawthorne) on 08 Dec 2012 at 11:22 pm #
Harrison;
Where do Southrons place a Dave Mathews? I don’t dislike Dave Matthew’s music, but it does little for me. I have had this discussion elsewhere, but there is very little cross over between the Alt Country crowd (e.g. Son Volt/Uncle Tuepelo, Drive By Truckers crowd) and the Jam Band crowd. A fan of Phish is more likely to like Dave Matthews and never heard of an Alt Country tune.
Just to get the point clear, Southern folk was a version of Celtic music. My point was that this version, when sent back to Ireland became what we call “Irish music”–fiddle and guitar, with dark lyrics–very similar to the Anglo-Celt’s–Yeats, Lewis… (specifically, Anglos who settled in Irelands during the Cromwell period) creating a mythical Ireland in poetry and literature.
To throw some examples out there, I am not sure there is any joy in Southern Celtic folk–its all tragedy, but with some sense of honor or heroism. Neil Young’s “Powderfinger” written for Skynard (or Down by the River), Hendrix “Hey, Joe”, The Band’s “The Night They Put Old Dixie Down”, and Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” all fit the Southern Celtic lyrical tradition, without being Irish music in sound. (Earle being the only one who was at least from Virginia.)
Hence, Mumford–though I should check their whole catalog before ignoring because the sound is there–or a Dave Mathews come up lacking.