"...a duo that is both a technical marvel and tastefully perfect"
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Bio / Awards
  • Buy Our Music
  • Press
  • Contact Us
  • Photos & Video
  • Album Notes & Lyrics
  • Radio
  • Workshops
  • Lessons
  • Session Work
  • Links
  • 3Muses

Music of the People, by the People, and for the People

10/28/2013

0 Comments

 
I was chatting with a folk musician friend of mine about the difficulty of finding a tagline to describe our genera of music. I said “people don’t always conjure up the image I want no matter what term I use.” She said she had
recently begun saying she sings “old and new songs about all of us” Which struck me as a very nice way of putting it.

Here at Otter Creek, we work hard in two main directions, mining the traditional music of our country, (and hence a great number of other countries from whence many of this nation’s inhabitants hail) and the creation of new songs. You could call us folk musicians, but when we bust out with something Celtic, old-timey, bluegrassy, klezmerish, or singer-songwritery (or just confusingly genre-bending such as the “chamber influenced acoustic tweeny punkpop” song we just wrote, or the “apocalyptic heavy metal death folk” setting we came up with for a favorite Robert Frost poem) we don’t want anyone to feel betrayed or confused. We’ve tried calling ourselves “Rocky Mountain roots music,” and that’s about as close a description as we’ve been able to find.

I kept my friend’s description of her music in mind and one evening found myself saying that we play “music of the people, by the people, and for the people…” and I realized that was about as true as it gets. We’re dedicated to keeping alive many of the great songs that rose up from the common folk of our nation, and we’re dedicated to writing terrific new songs about our surroundings and the journey we share through life with all of you.

So I’ve found a new way to describe what we’re doing. I hereby declare that Otter Creek is first and foremost dedicated to the proposition that music of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth. We’ll do our part to keep people humming and tapping their toes to “Shady Grove” and “Sally Goodin'.” We’ll keep on playing old songs that draw a tear or leave us with a sigh, like “Fare Thee Well, or Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times” We’ll rollick with an old Scottish tune turned into “Jefferson and Liberty” (Thomas Jefferson’s presidential campaign song) or cavort with “Farewell to Ireland” (while inserting a little American funk) and we’ll keep on writing songs about the people we meet on our own journey.

That, for me, is what folk music is about. It resonates deep in our souls, and hopefully, if we’re doing our job right. It will move you as well.
Picture
Otter Creek and Friends leading a sing-along of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" Photo Courtesy of Jim Robertson
About the Author:
Peter  Danzig
performs with his wife Mary in their 
Folk/Old-time/Celtic/Blues/ Klezmer/Classical/Americana/ Acoustic-rock duo Otter Creek. 

We are looking for a new tagline to describe their music so post your suggestions here!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Otter Creek

    Archives

    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    June 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    Album
    Announcement
    Arranging
    Ashokan Farewell
    Bagpipes
    Banjo
    Benefit Concert
    Bluegrass
    Blues
    Brigham City Fine Arts
    Bronwen Beecher
    Candle
    Car Trouble
    Castle Dale
    Cd Release
    Celtic Music
    Championship Practicing Techniques
    Climate Justice
    Conservation
    Dads
    David Otterstrom
    Doc Watson
    Driving In The Snow
    Earl Scruggs
    Emery County
    Environment
    Farewell To Ireland
    Fayer
    Fiddle
    Fiddling Around
    Folk
    Fundraiser
    Genera
    Genera-bending
    GoldenGateToPlymouthRock
    Golden Gate To Plymouth Rock Tour
    Grieving
    Hard Times
    Hi Diddle Di
    High Lonesome Sound
    Hobo
    Hobos
    Hucc
    Imaginary Practice™
    Kansas
    Kate Macleod
    Letting Go
    Long Necked Banjo
    Loss
    Low Lonesome Sound
    MacNichol Guitars And Mandolins
    Mary Danzig
    Meadow Green
    Mourning
    Music In The City
    National Banjo Championship
    National Mandolin Championship
    Nine Hundred Miles
    Obituary
    Odetta
    Old Joe Clark
    Otter Creek
    Otter Creek 3.0
    Ottermobile
    Peter Danzig
    Pete Seeger
    Petroglyph
    Photo Shoot
    Pictograph
    Practicing Techniques
    Practicing Tips
    Presales
    Raising Kids
    Resonator Guitar
    RIP
    Rosalie Sorrells
    San Rafael Swell
    Shiver Into Spark
    Sister San Rafael
    Sister Wives
    SLCC
    Tagline
    Take The Climb
    The Fiddle Preacher
    The Three Muses
    This Land Was Made For You And Me
    Tim Dechristopher
    Tour Van
    Trains
    Travel On
    Tyler Clementi
    Utah
    Utah Desert
    Utah Slim
    Utah State Instrument Championships
    Viola
    Walnut Valley Festival
    Wendy Lowder
    When It Goes
    Winfield
    Woody Guthrie
    Yard Concert

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.