How do you get young people to carry forward the most precious parts of whatever culture you’re living in? How do you make what you love relevant to the next generation?
Millions struggle with this daily, and not just parents and teachers. It’s more universal than that. I collided head-on with this question last night when I went to the Winterfolk concert, the 21st annual benefit for Sisters of the Road at the Aladdin Theater here in Portland, Oregon.
Winterfolk was well attended, with good artists, performances and general enthusiasm. On the surface, it’s a successful event. The challenge is that about 80% of the Winterfolk audience are 62 or older, which just as in churches with similar demographics, bodes poorly for the future. An institution has to be engaging the younger generations if it is going to live on. I do see Sisters of the Road doing that; this excellent organization that serves and empowers the poor employs a blend of ages and has lots of vitality.
But the folks on the microphone last night seemed gripped and preoccupied by the death of folk giant Utah Phillips, who had been their close friend for decades, and a mainstay of Winterfolk. While people in the audience like me appreciated Utah and the fact he’s passed, the grief of his intimates was a different animal, and not something in which I could share. I almost felt I was intruding.
What I could have shared in last night were things Utah Phillips stood for, i.e. passion for social justice and social change. But I wasn’t hearing songs about that. With the economy in such a shambles that almost 600,000 people have lost their jobs, and the earth’s atmosphere warming so rapidly it will change civilization as we know it, I heard last night just traditional ballads and songs about personal experiences and emotions. The edge is missing here. The focus was individualistic and on the past, when it needs to be largely group-oriented and on the present and future.
Last night’s headliner performance was from Rosalie Sorrels, at 75 years old the grande dame of American folk music and holder of an exquisitely rich oral tradition of folk songs and stories. By any standards, Rosalie Sorrels is a national treasure. But where is her vision for the future? Her song that she had us sing with her last night, the one I’m still humming, is called “I Remember Loving You.” At the current rate our culture is consuming and disregarding scientists’ call to cut carbon emissions, this is the song our children will be singing in a few years about our once-beautiful, once-livable planet.
Not being native to the area I try to read everything I can to find out about local events. If I would have known about a folk music event, I definitely would have gone. I usually check the events on http://www.yelp.com for Portland metro events.
Rob, thanks for sharing that link. I plan to use it. From the little head-photo I’ve seen of you, you are under 62 — a very important person to hopefully attend next year’s Winterfolk concert
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