Word: folk
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Cambridge’s stake in folk music lore reaches all the way back to 1888, when the American Folklore Society was founded in Harvard Yard by Francis James Child, ballad collector and Harvard professor. His storied ballad collection, the result of a years-long literary search collaboration with folk song collectors in other countries, was a resource that singers such as Joan Baez, Tom Rush, and Eric Von Schmidt would later return to as a source of folk tradition...
...1950s and ’60s, however, the scope and the character of folk music and culture began to change in Cambridge. Fueled social movements including women’s rights, civil rights, and eventually anti-war protests, folk music emerged as a key outlet for young people looking for a distinctive way to express themselves...
...also just a, ‘Wow, you don’t hear this kind of music around Cambridge. You don’t hear people talking about coal mining or tenant farming,’” said Millie Rahn, Folklorist and Archivist at the New England Folk Music Archives. “People really made this emotional and human connection to these people and their stories...
...heart of the Cambridge folk scene sat Club 47, known these days as Club Passim. Thomas W. Rush ’63, Harvard alum and notable folk musician who came out of the Cambridge revival of the 60s, called it the “flagship of the fleet.” Club 47 boasted an impressive list of past performers including, among others, Joan Baez, Jackie Washington, the Charles River Valley Boys, the Jug Band, and Jim Kweskin. Many of these premier folk musicians played gigs at Club 47 during the year and then congregated at the Newport Folk Festival...
...These musicians made Club 47 their home,” said Betsy Siggins, Founder and Executive Director of the New England Folk Music Archives and former Director of Club Passim. A tight-knit community of musicians, music-lovers, and songwriters alike formed around Club 47 and the surrounding area, brought together by a shared love for music and passions about social issues...