1:04 p.m. - 2005-06-16
Road trip? NO!
Well, it appears that Yid Vicious won't be playing the prestigious Showano folk fest this year. After booking us several months ago, their board of trustees apparently decided in the last few days to un-book us via a letter we never received. This sort of thing happens all the time in the rough-and-tumble world of out-of-doors backwoods folk music. The competition is fierce, the banjos and dulcimers dangerously voluminous. Practically every year at this thing there are numerous casualties resulting from the inevitable gang clashes between Scruggs-style banjoists and...the other kinds. All in all, one must concede that the board of trustees' decision was judicious and wise.
Anyway, I'm not totally sure bands like ours belong in events with names like "Folk-Fest" or "Whoopin' and a-Hollerin' -Stock, '05". Sure, klezmer in the old country was largely a rural small-town phenomenon, but we play a more Americanized, urban version of the music, with drums and saxophones and stuff. Meaning we're often the odd men out at ultra-self-consciously traditionalist events like the one in Shawano. Not that we're necessarily made to feel unwelcome, but I've never been able to escape the suspicion that the Folk People who see us would rather we were more old-timey and a little less ourselves.
This is a little saddening to me, as Yid Vicious strives to be an instrument of goodwill and unity. Once I had a roommate who I was told had been a gifted violinist until she suddenly stopped playing, dropped out of school and got some sort of third shift job. I asked her why she had quit playing and she expounded briefly on the harmful politics and divisiveness in the world of classical music, concluding, "After a while I just couldn't handle it. I always thought music should bring people together." At Yid Vicious, we feel the same way.
And so, Gentle Reader, please do bear in mind that Yid Vicious is now totally free the second weekend in August if you're planning an event that you feel would benefit from Yid Vicious' good vibes. If not, consider creating a NEW event, something like "the Unity Festival" or "Bring People Together Days". Or, if you want to just get together and rap, we're up for that, too.
Just as long as there aren't any Scruggs banjo guys around. Those people are a menace.
