Talk:British folk rock

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the British folk rock article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1

Music/Music genres task force

British folk rock is within the scope of the Music genres task force of the Music project, a user driven attempt to clean up and standardize music genre articles on Wikipedia. Please visit the task force guidelines page for ideas on how to structure a genre article and help us assess and improve genre articles to good article status.Music/Music genres task forceWikipedia:WikiProject Music/Music genres task forceTemplate:WikiProject Music/Music genres task forcemusic genre articles

Roots music: British folk rock Top‑importance

	Music portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Roots music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles relating to roots, folk and traditional folk music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Roots musicWikipedia:WikiProject Roots musicTemplate:WikiProject Roots musicRoots music articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the British folk rock task force (assessed as Top-importance).

Regional and national music: British folk rock Top‑importance

	British folk rock is within the scope of the WikiProject Regional and national music, an attempt at building a resource on the music of all the peoples and places of the world. Please visit the project's listing to see the article's assessment and to help us improve the article as we push to 1.0.Regional and national musicWikipedia:WikiProject Regional and national musicTemplate:WikiProject Regional and national musicRegional and national music articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by British folk rock task force (assessed as Top-importance).

One source[edit]

Being curious about this term "electric folk" which is one I'm not familiar with, I looked it up. What I found (other than mirrors of this Wikipedia article) was Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music by Britta Sweers. On coming back to Wikipedia I note that the bulk of the cites in this article are to the same book. The term Electric folk on Wikipedia was original a redirect to Folk rock, which I can understand, but in 2007, it started to develop into an article on electric folk with this edit. It's not entirely clear in this article the actual difference between "folk rock" and "electric folk", given that the understanding is that both terms relate to folk music being played on amplified or electric instruments. The argument put forward in this article appears to be that "folk rock" is what Americans play, while "electric folk" is what the British play. Though the artists discussed in this article are usually referred to as "British folk rock": [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], etc.

I am wondering if this term "electric folk" is a personal choice by the writer Britta Sweers to define what is commonly known as "British folk rock". Should we change the name of this article? SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 18:37, 26 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Jennifer Cutting also uses the term "electric folk" in a talk she gave in 1993 in which she argues that there is a distinction between "folk rock" and "electric folk": [13]. SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 09:51, 27 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I am thinking that there may be room in either this or the main Folk rock article to include reference to the theory that folk rock incorporates both electrified folk music ("electric folk"), and music which blends both folk and rock ("folk rock"). It appears from the arguments used that the distinctions are very fine - Cutting herself says its a distinction that the players themselves make rather than the listeners or critics, and that bands themselves will wander from "electric folk" to "folk rock" during a recording or concert. It does seem, by her own admission, a fringe theory, but one that I think we can make room for. SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 10:00, 27 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Change name to British folk rock[edit]

Given the above evidence, it appears that the name of this article should be British folk rock. Are there any reasons why this move should not take place? SilkTork ^{✔Tea time} 18:40, 26 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Genre articles always present a quandary. Sometimes they are essentially about a term and then about what is included in the term. Other times they are more about a topic that innately exists in the stereotypical/classic Wikipedia sense. I don't think that "electric folk" substantially exists as a term/entity. And the contents of the article are indeed "British folk rock", and a topic that I think has good scope for an article and is article-worthy. In short, good move! North8000 (talk) 01:05, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I think there is room in this article to expand upon and explain the thinking behind the term "electric folk", which seems to be a modern term which wishes to allow musicians outside of Britain to play British folk rock, without having to use the term "British", because they may be Canadian or American, and wish to play traditional Canadian or American folk music. SilkTork (talk) 12:05, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]