What? Folk music on the Internet? Could this modern technology actually bring old-fashioned folk music to your computer? The answer is a most emphatic yes. The amount of material available is astonishing and it is growing at an unbelievable rate.
This section contains a very brief description of some web sites (and a couple of mailing lists) that focus on the kind of music we do. These sites, of course, contain numerous links to other sites which may or may not be of interest to you.
If you do not yet have access to the Internet at home, you may be able to see these pages on a friend's computer, at the local library, or at your school's computer lab.
folknik Web Page
http://www.idiom.com/~poet/harmony/Folknik/Folknik.html
This is the on-line version of the folknik which is the newsletter of the San Francisco Folk Music Club. It publicizes local performers, festivals,camps, and workshops in the San Francisco area.
Folk Book: An Online Acoustic Music Establishment
http://www.folkmusic.org/
This is the closest thing to an encyclopedia of folk music in existence. You can look up biographies, discographies, folk music venues, house concerts, radio and television programs, USENET groups, electronic mailing lists, and much more.
Folk Music Home Page
http://www.jg.org/folk/folkhome.html
Similar to the Folk Book (see above) but also includes lyrics and songs, organizations, instruments, stores, magazines and more.
Digital Tradition Folk Song Database
http://www.mudcat.org/folksearch.html
This database contains the words to more than 6000 folk songs. You can look them up by title, by keyword in the title, by keyword in the entire text, or by subject. Once the song is located, you can hear the tune for about half of them (in follow the bouncing ball fashion) and, if you have Songwrite software, you can print out a lead sheet in the key of your choice. This database is growing at more than 500 songs per year.
Dirty Linen Folk Concert Listings
http://www.futuris.net/linen/
A very extensive (but certainly not exhaustive) listing of folk music happenings all across America. You can look for your favorite artist to see where he/she is playing in the near future or you can pick a state and see a chronological listing of events in that state.
The American Folklife Center
http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/afc.html
The American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress is charged to preserve and present American folklife. It incorporates the Library's Archive of Folk Culture which was founded in 1928 as a repository for American folk music. The Folklife Center maintains a public reading room and reference service, sponsors concerts and events at the Library, and produces both print publications and published recordings from its collections. The Center provides a number of services via the internet which you can access from this page.
Folk Music Web sites
http://www.sover.net/~gillette/sites.html
This site contains a list of about 25 other sites related to folk music. Many of the pages listed here can be reached by linking from this page.
Folk Music Newsgroup
rec.music.folk
This is a discussion group about folk music (in its broadest sense). You must have a news reader in your web browser to view it. There's a lot of traffic on it so, to keep up, you need to read it daily or at least every other day. Maybe you can even contribute your two cents worth.
Musicians Home Pages
http://www.mistweave.com/music/
An alphabetical listing of folk music performers with links to their home pages. You can get biographical information, pictures, concert schedules, album listings and more.
South Bay Folks
http://www.best.com/~metzger/sbf/sbf.html#ba-calendars
A listing of folk music events in the bay area with an emphasis on the San Jose/Santa Cruz area. Editor's note: These URLs were sent to us several months ago; some may no longer be current. Look for children's and others web sites in future issues.