Welcome to the Acoustic Music Archive
How do I listen to a Song?
My New Album - Footprints
My new album, Footprints, is now available for download from the iTunes store.
You can listen to some samples below:
And you can also download the mp3s from Amazon.
Folk Song Resources
You can listen to a song and view its chords and lyrics by clicking on a song title on the Lyrics, Chords and Recordings page.You can use all of the resources on this site to learn music completely free, but donations will help me financially (if you want to record one of the songs I have written, contact me for permission).
You can also visit my personal site at www.peterwebster.org.uk, where you can find out about my other musical projects.
What's New?
songs recently added to the
site:
Footprints
- added 1st November 2011
Felicity
- added 30th October 2011
Without You
- added 22nd May 2011
Watch the Stars
- added 12th May 2011
There's Something
(You Can Do)
- added 20th April 2011
Jack Hall
- added 22nd October 2010
I Don't Need You Darlin'
- added 17th July 2009
Cotton Mill Girls
- added 4th November 2008
The Black Velvet Band
- added 28th October 2008
Shenandoah
- added 3rd October 2008
Corrina Corrina
- added 22nd August 2008
The Highwayman
- added 20th August 2008
Lover's Lament
- added 18th August 2008
House of the
Rising Sun
- added 29th Apr 2008
All My Trials
- added 20th Mar 2008
Haul Away Joe
- added 8th Mar 2008
Adieu Sweet
Lovely Nancy - added 22nd Jan 2008
Old Dan Tucker
- added 11th Jan 2008
The Wild Rover
- added 29th Dec 2007
The Lily of the
West - added 29th Dec 2007
I'll Tell Me Ma
- added 21st Dec 2007
Sloop John B -
added 7th Dec 2007
Whiskey in the Jar
- added 23rd Nov 2007 The
Rose of Allendale - added 21 Oct 2007
What is Folk Music Anyway?
Try typing ‘What is folk music?’ into Google and you’ll get a variety of responses. Most of these focus on the fact that it is traditional music that has been passed down aurally through the generations, and you could add to this that it is usually, though not always, played on acoustic instruments. When I was growing up, folk music was seen as the preserve of men with woolly jumpers who sang with a nasal twang, one finger embedded in an ear as if they were trying to rid themselves of ear-wax. It was deeply, deeply uncool. I got into it in the mid-1990s when one of my friends recommended an album called ‘Penguin Eggs’, by Nic Jones. I remember thinking that the title was rather un-promising. But in fact ‘Penguin Eggs’ is a wonderful collection of music, and remains amongst one of my favourite CDs. I recommend it to anybody as an introduction to the genre.
So, once you get past the woolly-jumpered image, what do you find? Well, firstly, folk music has stood the test of time. Many of the songs have survived for centuries, and people still love them today (how many of the current top forty will still be around in a couple of hundred years, I wonder?). Secondly, the songs are still evolving. Because they have been passed down aurally, lyrics and melodies change as they move from person to person and place to place. One of the beauties of performing folk music is that you can play a part in this ongoing evolution: quite naturally you will find yourself choosing to sing your favourite version of a song, but then introducing a line or two that you like from another version. Lastly – and from my perspective this is one of the best things – folk music, at least at the grass routes level, doesn’t give a damn about image. Hence the woolly jumpers. It doesn’t matter what you look like or how old or young you are. Provided you can make a nice sound, you can play folk music. Coming from the world of Pop that is pathologically obsessed with image, this has come as quite a relief. But the real clincher is just the songs themselves: when you delve into folk, what you find is a series of fantastic stories, beautiful melodies and expert playing.
Some Words from John TI got a couple of emails from John Timpany commenting on the 'What is Folk Music Anyway' Section. And very interesting they were too, so here they are in full:
"You have an error on your site.
The word is orally rather than aurally.
It's passed down through the generations by mouth, not by ear.
As regards traditional music, this idea of an oral tradition only came about via the collectors of the time.
In fact the music was not always passed down this way, for example broadsheets.
Before the collectors (and early radio) arrived, folk music was simply the music of the day, much as pop, rock, rap etc. is today
but the only way people could learn these songs and tunes at the time was by watching and listening to others.
The idea of 'oral tradition' nearly killed the progression of folk music, but fortunately the inherent need to write outlived the
lame beliefs of the pseudo intellectuals.
All traditional music, songs and tunes, were at some point, composed by (i.e. written by) someone. They didn't just appear from nowhere,
so the conception of an oral tradition is incorrect even at the very birth of a folk song.
Subsequently, this means that all the songs and tunes of today (including yours) may eventually become folk music at some point in the distant future.
Kind regards - John T"
"Hi Pete,
The 'finger in the ear' came about via Ewan McColl (married to Peggy Seeger who was the sister of Pete Seeger). McColl was trained in drama, and the technique of hearing your words
more clearly is to put your hand close to your cheek to channel the sound back to the ear.
There is no value in putting your finger in your ear when singing, but putting your hand to the side of the face
helps keep in tune and beat when you have a noisy audience in particular, but mostly it helps you focus on your sound.
It's only been around as a technique since McColls time of about the late 50's. Prior to McColl no-one did it.
You picked one of the greats to listen to first; Nic Jones, but unfortunately Nic had a car accident a while back and has had a tough time getting back to playing.
Nic plays in a different guitar tuning (as many of us do) and his tuning is now common among players, detuning to DADGAD I think.
And as you say, folk music is constantly evolving and one of McColls own songs "The Shoals of Herring" was later interpreted as "The Shores of Erin".
Folk music today is far more encompassing than it was back in the 'revival' of the 60's & 70's, where there was a stringent divide between 'so called' traditional and contemporary.
Now it's all considered folk to a greater extent, and in clubs mostly, anything is acceptable.
Good luck with your music.
John T"
You can find John over at www.johntimpany.co.uk, where you'll also find a very good version of John Barelycorn.
A bit About me Basically, I’m a music fan. I also play and sing a bit around my local area (which is Bedfordshire, in the UK). And I sometimes write songs. Many of the recordings that you will hear on this site are of me. You can find out a bit more about me here. You can also visit my personal site at www.peterwebster.org.uk, where you can find out about my other musical projects.
Peter Webster.
