Seattle Is A No-Folk Town

We're one of the most educated and literate cities in the country, and we don't exactly have a shortage of tree-hugging hippy liberals, either. On top of that, we've got one of the most booming music scenes around, and it's been going on for over a decade now. So why is it that we seem to be missing out on the new folk music revival that's infecting left-leaning, bio-diesel driving bibliophiles in equally as savvy cities like Boston, Portland, and Austin?

We have a few ideas:

1. There are no folksingers in Seattle. Okay this isn't entirely true. After all, Folklife featured some 6,000 performers this year; and despite the fact that many of them were from out of town, there were no shortage of local yokels wandering Seattle Center with their Martin guitars this Memorial Day Weekend.

There's even a folk song society here, with weekly song circles and everything, not to mention monthly concerts at the Phinney Ridge Community Center. But given all this, the protest singers manage to remain like a secret sect, existing only in their small, private residential communities (aka Ballard).

2. There are no folk clubs in Seattle. Okay this isn't entirely true, either. There is, after all, the Tractor Tavern, but it really pays far more attention to out-of-towners than it does to the slew of local talent that's hiding away deep behind the plants and under the couch cushions at Mr. Spot’s Chaihouse.

There are a few clubs like the Rendezvous and TOST Lounge (well, not anymore - TOST is going DJ-only in July) that will allow folksingers to grace their stages from time to time. But the sound system sucks and no self-respecting serious folk lyricist really feels great about playing there. One would venture to say they only play there because they have to get their songs heard somehow, we guess.

3. Nobody in Seattle cares about folk music. We're not sure that's entirely true, either, but we’re still waiting for proof to the contrary. After all, Seattleites do turn out in droves to worship at the feet of Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), and they loves them some KT Tunstall. So why is it that we really don't care about our local folkies?

Oh yeah, because they're hiding away somewhere deep in the heart of Ballard.