Why a Folk & World Music MP3 Blog?

Since I’ve started to put together my mp3 blog in earnest over the past month or so, I’ve thought about the need to put down some of my thoughts about both why I’m doing it and how I’d like my visitors to treat what’s here.

First, there are lots of mp3 blogs now which cover a myriad of musical genres and styles. In fact, if you look at mp3blogs.org the sheer volume and variety of these blogs boggles the mind. So why another one? Because except for Red Lotus Radio (a great site), I haven’t found an mp3 blog devoted to either folk or world music. Yes, there are some sites that will put up the odd song here and there. But none are dedicated to this field.

I embrace world music because in this day and age it is all too easy to remain satisfied with what we know–our own culture. It is much harder, especially in the current political climate, to engage with what lies beyond. In American society, the foreign is alien. But if you visit other countries in the world you will hear the sounds of other musics and cultures everywhere–in the street, on the radio, on television, etc. Other countries are much more open to what lies beyond their borders. But not us.

Also, mainstream American culture only embraces music, styles and instruments that are already known to the broad populace. But what is new or other is ignored. It’s the same with subtitles in foreign films. No red-blooded American wants to sit and read subtitles in a movie theater when they could be seeing a Hollywood picture in good old American English! Similarly, who wants to hear a hardanger fiddle, a trikitixa, or duduk when an electric guitar will do just as well if not better?

I am dedicated to going off the beaten path of world culture. For me, a sound I haven’t heard before is worth far more than a sound a million others have heard a million times or more. We need new ways of seeing and hearing the world to remind us that we are not the only creatures out there on this earth and in this universe.

I make no pretence to write definitive essays about these songs I like. I’ve tried to do some online research to give you some background about them, but I’m not an ethnomusicologist nor musical scholar. There’s a lot more to be said about these songs than what you’ll find here. Go out and find it and tell me what you’ve found. Also, I freely admit that mistakes could’ve crept into my posts here. If you find any, please let me know and I’ll willingly correct them.

Now, for a few strong requests of my readers. The purpose of this blog is to introduce you to sounds I love which you may not’ve heard before. If you like what you hear, please follow the album cover links I provide for every post and consider buying the record in question. This will help the performers and guarantee that they will be able to produce more great music.

Whatever you do, please do NOT link to the song file here at your own site. This bleeds bandwidth from my server and potentially could cost me money. Instead, I would urge you to purchase the record and upload the songs you like to your own server so that others can hear them.