Seth Lakeman, a folk music star that is nominated for a Mercury Prize has been talking about the acoustic of folk music and acoustic musical instruments. For example, Lily Allen’s new single is featuring a banjo solo, which would not have happened in years past but now apparently seems to fit. He has been incredulous about things like this since he became a figurehead for the new folk music movement.
Allen’s single is called “It’s Not Fair”, and it does include a banjo solo. There is no doubt about it at this point that this is because folk music has been enjoying quite a massive renaissance within the past decade, and one of the people sitting at the forefront of this massive musical renaissance is Seth Lakeman.
His most recent album is known as Poor Man’s Heaven, and it recently landed at number 8 in the charts, the pop charts, not the folk charts. He has put traditional folk music up there in the same ranks as some of the hottest pop stars in the industry, which is an extremely remarkable achievement if you consider what it takes to hit the top of the charts these days.
Lakeman says that getting his album to the top of the pop charts was cool, but he attributes it to the fact that folk acoustic music is becoming more excited for the younger crowd.
There are plenty of open mic spots in café bars and student unions where this kind of music is being played, meaning that it is finding its way pretty much everywhere. Lakeman isn’t specifically saying that it is folk music that is seeing the renaissance at this moment so much as the acoustic aspect of the music.
He believes that it is acoustic instruments and acoustic music that have attracted the attention of people for the moment, and people are jumping on the back of folk because folk and acoustic music sort of go hand in hand – But they are all part of the same thing.
Lakeman has had success in this industry. He plays several different instruments including the fiddle, the banjo, the guitar, the mandolin, and the viola, and he earned a nomination for a Mercury Prize based on his second solo album, which was released as Kitty Jay in the year 2005.
His latest and greatest accolade is much more amusing than it is music considering that he failed his A-level as a lad. However, it seems that he is going to receive an honorary doctorate in music from Plymouth University.
There has been an incredible demand for the unique brand of music that Lakeman is offering, which is like a combination of folk and rock. He has not been playing the regular folk circuit but instead has been playing rock venues and topping pop charts.
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