Carrying and Passing The Torch

I'm a big believer in carrying and passing the torch, especially when it comes to music. What I mean is simply this...let's take folk music for example. I guess musicologists can essentially argue, and with good reason, that Woody Guthrie was our first real troubador, touring the country singing about political issues, life, labor movement, etc. He was our first folk singer, but certainly not the only one. And when a young Robert Zimmerman a.k.a. Bob Dylan, came from Minnesota to New York, to visit Woody as he lay dying on his death bed, it was a sort of passing of the torch. Woody listened to Bob's songs and gave him the thumbs up...that's all Bob Dylan needed. Woody Guthrie was our country's musical voice. So was Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Dave Van Ronk, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Eric Andersen, Fred Neil, Peter Paul & Mary, and shitload more. These are just a few names who launched the folk movement in Greenwich Village, NYC. Places like Folk City, Cafe Wha?, The Bitter End, etc., launched many a career. And over the years, albeit a much smaller audience, there are still folk artist, who I guess these days like to be described as singer/songwriters, who carry the torch. Recently a compilation was released called The Village. This intrigued me. It is basically a small collection of songs from the folk movement done by contemporary artists. It is an excellent collection, but there are so many great songs missing, that a collection like this should be done in volumes of releases. However, it proves one point...that somewhere in this country, there are still believers in what folk music had to say. People still feel the same pressures of life today, maybe more so, then years back. And don't get me started on the politics of today. The point is, that music carries forth what many of us think and feel. It is a way of expressing our frustrations, and if it doesn't cure the problem, it just might bring it to people's attention. Some may argue that many genres of music touch upon the themes of society and they would be correct. But folk music was the original train that crossed the nation. Today, acts are still around that shaped folk music, and newer performers like Rod Macdonald and Joe Jencks, among others, carry the torch forward. They even re-record old classics, like Joe Hill, a song many of you may remember that Joan Baez did at Woodstock. Although that song was written in the 1920's, it still has legs...and Joe Jencks just recorded it on his new album. We cannot go back and relive the glory days of Greenwich Village and the energy that was in the air at the time. However, we can still support the great troubadors of today, as well as yesteryear, by seeing them live, buying their cd's, downloading their songs, etc. I have felt that we as a country lost our voice. We have stood by watching the atrocities in Iraq, as if it was another day's news. During the was in Vietnam, we didn't stand by silently...we protested in Washington, D.C. and folk singers rallied at sit-ins and protests all across the country. There was an energy...there was a commitment to right the wrong...there was a time when we had a voice...let's not forget it. If there is something out there that is wrong, voice your opinions. Do your part and carry the torch in your special way...support our singer/songwriters...they have things to say and they should be heard.