overlap

As far as I can see the two genres are pretty closely connected, to the point of the join being invisible in some cases. Before I got sidetracked by Pepsi Tate's death, I was about to post about seeing over two consecutive nights what the poster called 'English Folk Veterans' The Oysterband, and Kentucky bluegrass and country legend (and some time Long Ryder) Sid Griffin. The joy of modern media means I can share a pic of John Jones, whose distinctive voice makes the Oysterband stand out from some distance, and Sid doing Gene Clark's I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better. With their thirtieth anniversary just around the corner, the Oysters have still got an awful lot to say for themselves, and they say it well. Sid may live in England these days, but there's still no mistaking the Kentucky in his voice, and in both these cases there's much to be said for their keeping in touch with exactly where they come from, even if they express it slightly differently. And maybe that's really the only difference between what is country and what is folk, where it comes from.

Labels: gigs, Oysterband, Sid Griffin