Compare And Contrast Phillips And Folk Music

Folk music and Utah Phillips

Folk music is a collaborative type of music that is not written or practiced by a single professional. It is a tradition shared among a community. The word folk means common people; it is the people's music. Folk music is very much a bonding exercise similar to other types of music. A major difference that separates folk from other types of music is its focus on the problems of the folks. The everyday problems of the American working and middle class. The music is a unifying force and a powerful tool used by people looking for change in a flawed system.

Folk music is in itself a record of history that can be studied to know more about the struggles of the ordinary people of the time the music was made. It's

very much part of the culture of political advocates and people struggling to get by. It has served as a uniting call for everyone facing similar hardships. In America it was present at every major political turn. It proved to be such a nuisance that various parts of government tried to censor and silence the people practicing the art. By listening to folk music you can understand why people were fighting for change or grasping for hope in dark times.
Utah Phillips
Bruce Phillips was born in Cleveland Ohio in 1935. At a young age, he was influenced by his mother and his father's activism in the labor unions. His parents divorced and In the 1940’s his family moved to salt lake city Utah where he learned to play guitar and how to better write songs. He had access to a lot of creative talent due to his step-father being a manager at the Lyric Theater.
In the brink of the 1950s, Utah Phillips joined the US army as a private just in time for the Korean war. During this time he further cemented his skills as a guitar player and singer. Much more importantly, however, he was exposed to the horrors of warfare. He was deeply moved by the repugnant reality of what people were doing to each other in Korea. This experience would solidify his political views of pacifism. He would later call the war a turning point in his life.
Phillips spent a lot of time in the late 50s riding the rails and bumming his way across the country. He stopped when he ended up in salt lake city. Here he would work at the Joe Hill House of hospitality with a man named Ammon Hennacy. A man who he believes gave his life direction. He also began writing songs for his friend Rosalie Sorrels who would play them and spread his music. In 1968 he ran for senate on a third party ticket. He lost and was accused of splitting the vote in the republican’s favor. Philips’s true rise came about when he left Utah and moved to new york where he played his music at the Caffé Lena.
Over the next few decades, Utah Phillips traveled the country.

Where he performed at folk festivals singing meaningful songs and telling thoughtful stories that ranged in tone from funny or sad. These stories and songs always held a moral or a purpose.

Music & folk involvement

Some of Utah Phillips's music starts with an introduction to a story. Then the story transitions to song and every once and awhile it will break the musical tune to continue the story in a storytelling style and then break back into song. Utah Phillips isn't as well know for his voice as he was for his writing. In many cases, he will sing with another folk singer like Ani DiFranco. He is also a storyteller telling stories of his experiences without the help of musical tune

Phillips never wanted to sing to make a profit. Many studios wanted to record his voice with different talents. He, however, asked them if to refrain from doing it. If they did he put all of his cut of the profit into a trust called the buskers fund. The money basically goes to help people who work independently and can't get life insurance.

Political

activity
Utah Phillips was a very active member of the industrial workers of the world, the international union of mine, and many other unions. He was a strong supporter of unionization. When he ran for senate he became the scapegoat for the democratic party and was targeted by the government. He lost his job and was not able to find another because he was “blacklisted”. He was an anarchist believing that people should create rules for themselves and not for others. He did not trust government with things like the education of children. His political activism focused around the worker's unions as he worked as a union organizer when he was not singing folk.
Conclusion
I like stories of people who have done so many things in their time.

Fictional ones like Forest Gump or very real ones like this. I really enjoyed reading about Utah Phillips. I enjoyed a lot of his music. Hallelujah, I’m A Bum had a few pretty amusing stories in it. I also enjoyed listening to the story “moose turd pie” a funny story of when he was working with the railroad company. I like that Utah didn't have any contradictions in his philosophy he preached and lived by “make a living not a killing”(The Golden Voice of The Great Southwest).

Utah Phillips was influenced from a young age to engage in unions and since then he was very passionate about the power people in unison can be. He sang many songs of people coming together in solidarity. He truly believed in the values his songs taught. Utah Phillips was a staple of any folk music festival and he is missed by the many fans he unified throughout his 40-year

crusade.