TEN YEARS AHEAD OF WOODSTOCK, and fifteen years
before Bob Dylan “went electric,” the Vancouver
Folk Song Society was created by a group of friends and
acquaintances, bound together by their interest in politics and
activism, as well as their love of singing and sharing traditional
songs and music.
It
began in a house, where a dozen friends decided to get together
on a regular basis to sing folk songs. The emphasis would be on
participation and not on performance, although performance would still
make up part of it. They booked a room at the YMCA at 10th and Alma,
and invited more friends, who invited more friends. For years, the
group was affectionately known as the Alma Y Folk Circle, attracting
all ages of singers. It changed venues a few times, calling the ANZA
Club home for many years, and settled on its current home at the
Friends (Quaker) Meeting house at 70th and Osler in 1991.
The VFSS grew up during a
broader revival of folk music, and their songs reached back to the
traditional ballad collections of Canada, the U.S.A., Ireland, England,
and Scotland, as well as embracing folk songs from Germany, France, and
other countries. They accompanied themselves or one another with
banjos, guitars, Appalachian dulcimers, bodhrans, flutes, fiddles, and
the warm sound of harmonizing voices. And most importantly, they
encouraged beginners, and shared songs, musical expertise, and
knowledge.
As well as hosting musical
evenings, VFSS members have roused participants into song at countless peace rallies and political events.
By adapting traditional lyrics to the political issues of the day and
singing them to old and familiar tunes, they created a binding force
between activists and the historical root of contemporary issues.
In 1979, VFSS founding member
Phil Thomas's collection, Songs of
the Pacific Northwest was published, giving us our own stories
to sing alongside the old ballads from across the ocean. A second
edition was recently released, edited by Jon Bartlett, the society’s
archivist, and includes additional historical details
and photographs to anchor the songs at points in our local history.
The
Shanty Crew was an offshoot of the VFSS for 20 years. They
performed the lively call-and-response sailor's working songs at the
Maritime Museum, welcomed crowds at Richmond Tall Ships Festival, and
performed at Vancouver's Cityfest and Seattle's Folklife Festival.
Before going into hiatus in 2004, The Crew recorded a CD called “Blow
the Man Down: Tall Ships in the Fraser,” complete with detailed
historical notes on our local maritime history.
Summer
and winter retreats, beginning in the mid-1970s, gave more
opportunities to learn songs, sing together, and share extended time
with musical friends. This tradition continues each winter in White
Rock at Camp Alexandra, where friends from across the Pacific
Northwest, gather for workshops and presentations, as well as
late-night informal jams and circles.
The society has even more to
show for its fifty years: from its heart, singers and musicians have
developed and grown—some
into professional music careers. Their enthusiasm and ability has
spread to create and nurture other
local musical events and organizations, including the Pacific
Bluegrass and Heritage Society, the Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop, the
Jericho Folk Club, Music on Main, and the Princeton Traditional Music
Festival, now in its third year.
Alongside of these achievements,
the core purpose of the society remains the same: sharing of folk music. Twice-monthly
meetings bring people together for open stage nights, song circles, and
evenings with a special feature guest. After fifty years, some of the
learning techniques have changed, as “old” (and new) folkies look up
lyrics and conduct research and debates on-line, practise with mp3
files, track down songs on Youtube and check the society's next event
on its website, www.folksongsociety.org. But it's all for learning and
improving what we bring to share at the next musical gathering—in
person.
—Donna
Jean MacKinnon and Allison Campbell
