So filk is the folk (and sometimes rock, jazz, blues, or rap) music of science fiction and fantasy. Songs about vampires and werewolves and cursed books and computers and space ships and pirates and pirate busting ghost space ships... There's even a song about Ysabet's fanfic... (Being Canadian you are likely to know the tune :D ) There's a fine line between filk and folk, and a lot of Stan Rogers, Arrogant Worms, and even Great Big Sea can show up at a filk circle.. And much like Great Big Sea, it's not something you go see, it's very much something you _do_... and there's a world-wide (or at least Western world, from Germany to Oz via North America) community that surrounds it. Much like an Irish seisiun, participation is encouraged (though by no means required); unlike a seisiun, we really don't give a damn how good you are just to get into the circle. (We do give awards for excellence, but there are a helluva lot of excellent filkers that have never won.)
Heather Dale is from Toronto, and came to filk the way a lot of folk did, via the SCA. Most of her stuff is Arthurian legend, but some of it is First Nations, some more modern, and she's got a couple steeped in French lore, one about Jeanne d'Arc, and one about the Filles du roi au Québec (oui, je parle un peu le français) (a good friend has become an avid fan of Quebecois music, and le français just sort of rubbed off... :)
Leslie Hudson is also from Toronto; the fierce redhead sings songs about strong women, from anywhere from folk legend to Star Trek...
Filkontario is Toronto's big filk convention.. I'mma guess a couple hundred people.. it's every April, and this year's guests include one of our own in Ysabet's community (though she's newer to Ysabet than she is to filk), oceans_of_dreams. I'm hoping things improve enough that I feel safe crossing the border, because I REALLY want to see her bounce off all the awesome I know will show up.
There are filkers from all walks of life. Folks just getting by, folks making well into six figures, folks with day jobs (Vixy and Tony in the first link), travelling musicians (Heather and Leslie), folks who work out like mad, folks who are in a wheelchair, blind folks... I don't know any deaf folks, but several who are hearing impaired, and I know at least three ASL interpreters who sign-sing... Judi Miller is a special ed teacher by day, but if there's a filk going on within her range, she's probably signing for it, and has, in fact, won one of those awards for precisely that. (Put down the soda before clicking here:) This is Judi at her finest; Tom Smith, one of the funniest guys I know, is throwing a brand new song at her, cold, and not only that, improvising on top of it... Judi holds it together until the final chord. (But only just!) (If you like laughter therapy and don't mind it being about monsters, THIS IS YOUR SONG.)
But yeah. Geeky music, community in spades, some of the finest people ever - indeed, I met my wife at a filk con - I think you could use a dose of that, no?
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Re: Yum
Date: 2018-08-07 02:55 am (UTC)Heather Dale is from Toronto, and came to filk the way a lot of folk did, via the SCA. Most of her stuff is Arthurian legend, but some of it is First Nations, some more modern, and she's got a couple steeped in French lore, one about Jeanne d'Arc, and one about the Filles du roi au Québec (oui, je parle un peu le français) (a good friend has become an avid fan of Quebecois music, and le français just sort of rubbed off... :)
Leslie Hudson is also from Toronto; the fierce redhead sings songs about strong women, from anywhere from folk legend to Star Trek...
Filkontario is Toronto's big filk convention.. I'mma guess a couple hundred people.. it's every April, and this year's guests include one of our own in Ysabet's community (though she's newer to Ysabet than she is to filk),
There are filkers from all walks of life. Folks just getting by, folks making well into six figures, folks with day jobs (Vixy and Tony in the first link), travelling musicians (Heather and Leslie), folks who work out like mad, folks who are in a wheelchair, blind folks... I don't know any deaf folks, but several who are hearing impaired, and I know at least three ASL interpreters who sign-sing... Judi Miller is a special ed teacher by day, but if there's a filk going on within her range, she's probably signing for it, and has, in fact, won one of those awards for precisely that. (Put down the soda before clicking here:) This is Judi at her finest; Tom Smith, one of the funniest guys I know, is throwing a brand new song at her, cold, and not only that, improvising on top of it... Judi holds it together until the final chord. (But only just!) (If you like laughter therapy and don't mind it being about monsters, THIS IS YOUR SONG.)
But yeah. Geeky music, community in spades, some of the finest people ever - indeed, I met my wife at a filk con - I think you could use a dose of that, no?