if folk music is supposed to represent the struggle of working-class Americans how come Passim doesn't serve food that these folks would actually like[?]
Why would a place like Passim want to cater to the demoralized expectations of white proles? Seems like Wal-Mart, Golden Corral (the all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant chain), "hot new country" radio, and NASCAR already do a fine job of that.
I love the "i'm not a classist" classist stereotypes (burger eating obese...) that never quite bear up under close scrutiny. And the "it's not really protest if people agree with you" ignoring the fact that, outside of Passim (ok, outside of Cambridge) these views are often a lot less popular.
Never mind. It's just stupid "i'm more populist than you" from someone who clearly never wants to have much contact with actual people.
Come on guys, his post is so tongue-in-cheek.
I disagree. He's clearly contrasting the "real populism" of Arlo Guthrie (who I've also seen in concert, though never at a venue smaller than, say, Wolf Trap) and himself with the faux populism of the "cambridge folkie liberal." I think he's quite serious about this. Sorry you don't see it that way, but I've seen a awful lot of the "I'm more 'people' than you" stuff (heck, it pretty much decided this election) and I'm just sick to death of it, particularly when it takes a perfectly good folk hangout, an already endangered species, and clubs it, so to speak.
"if folk music is supposed to represent the struggle of working-class Americans how come Passim doesn't serve food that these folks would actually like"
I've burbled in Phil's blog, butnot on this statement. The premise is faulty. Bob Dylan says that folk music is about death & vegetables, and he has a point. For sure hardly any folk music represents the struggle of working-class Americans, unless that Johnny Paycheck song qualifies. (Which it probably does.)
I mean, even authentic Appalachian howling is mostly about lost love or turnips rather than the virtues of syndicalism..