Who are the people who invented folk music and keep playing it, and what actually makes folk music folk music today? What values does the tradition of folk music embody?
Filmmaker and musician Peider A. Defilla takes us behind the scenes of folk music in the ARD-alpha series “Volksmusik bäckstage”. He visits musicians and music groups in their rehearsal rooms and asks them questions about their understanding of folk music, about their interests, about tradition and progress.
The answers are as varied as the musicians themselves and the repertoire they play. Under the term folk music today is musically much more possible than in the past. But what is good folk music?
Volksmusik bäckstage, (with ä) shows that folk music is part of our present, even though it draws on an almost infinite number of diverse traditions from all continents, which are much more present in our globalized world than they used to be. This fact inspires many musicians to new departures. They are spontaneous, direct, witty, communicative and refreshing. Be open to all possibilities, that’s the motto. Unconventional instrumentation, offbeat instrumentations and a lot of improvisation, that’s the stuff good folk music is made of today.