News The Folk Bloke And The Art Of Musical Hybridity

My aim with The Folk Bloke has always been to help introduce the genre of folk music as a catch all term, especially with regard to delving into far-flung areas where you might not expect to find it. Over the past nine weeks I’ve played psychedelic country, glitchy, electronic banjo tunes and Zulu-rooted electric instrumentals, each one a form of folk in some way but not necessarily appearing to be at first glance. As a genre that’s been popularly pigeonholed over time, it has necessarily responded by quietly expanding and interweaving with other genres.

Anja McClosky understands this expansion more than most. Born and raised in Germany, where she was taught accordion by her grandfather, before moving to rural America for high school and the UK for university, she says that, “my music is a great amalgamation of the different cultural impressions I have been lucky enough to experience… I definitely have a hotchpotch collection of memories, traditions and impressions to work with. Growing up in 1980s Germany meant a huge overexposure to Madonna and crew. This was starkly contrasted with bluegrass and country songs in rural Missouri. It is only as a student in the UK and the advances of the internet that I was allowed to discover and explore more avant-garde undertakings.”

It’s this myriad of musical experiences that informs every musician these days. As Anja explains, the internet is as powerful a musical tool as there ever has been, a direct line to any number of new ideas, musical or otherwise. However, for Anja, the main source of her inspiration comes from a more set form. “I think my main influence is actually more of a classical nature, married with everything else I have encountered during my musical career and cultural exploits, which includes more electronic and indie rock projects.”

This constant interaction of seemingly stable forms proves the vibrancy of the folk movement. Artists are now drawing from and utilising elements of genres across the board, creating music that could be identified as much by its classical or electronic elements as its folk ones. I hope to celebrate this hybridity through The Folk Bloke, and it’s artists like Anja McCloskey that make that possible.