By Michael Kornfeld

Sensing a void and eager to help foster a spirit of community, “a place to discuss issues related to living on the contemporary folk scene,” singer-songwriter Erik Balkey launched a new listserv through Yahoo Groups earlier this spring.

To date, more than 160 people have signed up for free memberships in LivingFolk, which Balkey describes as “a community of kindred folk who share a commitment to, and are personally and spiritually invested in, the shaping of an evolving folk scene for today.”

While acknowledging that “it [LivingFolk] kind of fills a vacancy left by an old list called FolkBiz,” Balkey says he has “an aversion to discussions about folk music, or being a folk musician, that include the words ‘career’ or biz’.” In his view, “Living also means that the spirit of the discussion is about the changing, evolving, growing, vital scene — with an eye on the present and future, as well as the past.” Balkey sees LivingFolk as being for people “who connect part of their hearts and souls to the scene and the music.”

LivingFolk participants have been eliciting thoughts and sharing ideas on such topics as the future of Internet radio, busking, the pros and cons of free gigs, Sonicbids & digital submissions, and how to do promotion, among others.

“What I love about a list like LivingFolk is that it instantly puts me in touch with a large group of people who are as passionate about folk music as I am,” says Eve Goldberg, a rootsy Toronto-based singer-songwriter. “Some of us are trying to make our living as performers, some host radio shows, some are fans, some write for publications, some help present concerts, some are agents or managers, and so on,” she notes. “We are all from different parts of Canada and the United States, so we are dealing with different challenges and opportunities in our local folk scenes.” Goldberg thinks “it’s this diversity of experience and involvement that makes a list like LivingFolk such a rich resource and support” for a musician like her. “There’s always more to learn, and it’s great to be able to tap into the collective wisdom of a group like this to make sense of what I’m doing in the folk world,” she adds.

“I’m fairly selective these days about what groups and lists I subscribe to,” says Jim Colbert, “but LivingFolk has been one of the most rewarding resources I’ve encountered: a geographically-scattered collective all more or less falling under that loosely defined blanket called ‘folkies,’ often like-minded… but never so much as to prevent lively discussion and counterpoint… bottom line, people who are there for one primary reason – the love of the music.”

While others may have more narrowly defined reasons for joining the group, Colbert says he’s there as a fledgling singer-songwriter, folk DJ (WPSU-FM), runner of open mics and advocate for singer-songwriters in central Pennsylvania, vice president of a presenting organization, art director and teaching artist. “The wonderful part is: I’ve been able to share and learn in every one of those categories,” he continues. “I’ve felt challenged, inspired, even sometimes annoyed by some of the discussion… and that’s all a very good thing.”

Participation in the LivingFolk listserv is open to people engaged in any aspect of today’s folk music scene. To join, visit yahoogroups.com, search for “LivingFolk,” click on it and then sign-up on the upper right side of your computer screen. You’ll have the option of either receiving every note that is posted to the list or daily digests. You also can opt just to visit the site and peruse the postings at leisure without filling your e-mail box.