An Interview with Jim Eldon - Local Enigma continued By Jane Foster

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With the exception of a few people like Eliza Carthy, there don't seem to be many young folk musicians taking up the mantle. Well, we just have to accept that's the way things are at the moment, says Jim. The music is there whether or not there is a scene. The scene is there looking for something to which it can attach itself. Media exposure of folk music is decreasing too, with local and national radio shows being taken off air. Jim agrees with this. Powerful music will always come through, though, he says.

So what exactly is folk music today? Would Jim describe himself now as a folk musician? Although his instrument, the fiddle, is usually associated with folk music, he has covered songs by the Clash, Eddie Cochran, Meatloaf and Bruce Springsteen. He has also penned some unusual compositions of his own, and collaborated with punk- influenced artists such as Wreckless Eric. Well, I drifted away from what a lot of people on the folk scene have been doing right up to the present day says Jim.

Do you mean you're not traditional then? It depends what you mean by traditional, he says. People decide that something is folk music and they decide on it based on ideas that are proclaimed at the beginning of things. For example, people say that folk music is something that isn't written down, but that isn't true. It has been written down, and it's new, fresh music. But then there becomes a conflict between sticking to the old definition, and seeing things as they actually are.

Jim seems to become somewhat stirred, even irritable at this point. I know all the arguments against the easy definitions that are made about folk music and the attitudes people have to what's going on. I feel myself to be in permanent revolt against other people's declarations of what I am, about what the music I listen to is, about what my tastes are, about what I'm doing is in aid of, and all those things. It all makes sense, but it also leaves people who are making commentary a bit stuck!

I ask Jim about his current projects. What inspires him to write songs nowadays? Does he write about traditional themes? I'm not sure that there are traditional themes, he says. So would he describe his songs as social commentary? Some people would. Well, for example, I have one song, Wife's In Dry Dock, I suppose some people would label it as that. Also, another one, I Am Agency about agency work. But I try to present rather than comment. In fact, I'm probably disagreeing with what I write, as I write it'. Sounds contradictory, but somehow I can relate to this. And I find the most interesting artists are often those who have a difficult, even tortured relationship with their work.

Jim has refused to stick to old traditions and has incorporated New Wave and punk into his work, rather than fight against it. Some would compare this to the anti-folk tradition currently brewing in New York. Artists such as Kimya Dawson and Jeff Lewis, who sing in the old raw style of Woodie Guthrie and early Dylan, but who were also influenced by early punk.

Their songs can range from political comment to quirky observations of the minutiae of everyday life. Definitely not soft focus, sanitised McFolk, as most mainstream coverage of folk music has become, aka the Corrs, Enya...etc. This, I'm afraid is the popular face of folk music at the moment. As Andy (Jim's agent) said to me recently, it seems to be becoming middle class, cosy and shrink-wrapped, a 'niche market' just like opera and classical has become.

Despite enjoying booms at times of political and social upheaval - for example, the Vietnam war in the 60s, anti-Thatcherite feeling in the 80s - folk music seems to be no longer the music of the people.

It is this which prompted a movement to label themselves anti-folk- they are anti - that which popular folk music has become. They're railing against being categorised, says Jim, because then they will be lumbered with their own categorisation. But this liberation only lasts a short time.

So what is Jim working on at the moment? At the moment, and at my gig at the Lamp next week (Wednesday 9th Feb). I'm working with Sheik, a drummer. My set list is made up of very rhythmic songs, selected from my repertoire, that work well with a drummer. Unlike some of my songs, which have irregular rhythms.

I have some rock 'n' roll songs, some old songs, local and traditional songs, and some new fiddle tunes that I've written. Some of the songs are ones that I started writing in the 80's, which I've revived to work with Sheik.

I listened to a CD which Andy the agent sent me and was impressed with some of Jim's choices of covers as well as his own compositions. He demonstrates the versatility of the violin and is not afraid to break new ground. I remember his version of the Clash, Should I stay or Should I go which he performed at Grassroots last year, which worked well on the fiddle, in a stop-start, sing-a-line-play-a-line tradition which I like. This reminds me of other artists such as Roger Wilson, also a fiddler, and harmonica player Rory McLeod.

My favourite track of Jim's so far is Still Around Somewhere, where he is joined by Andy Medforth on tabla. I was truly inspired by this - someone singing with a Yorkshire, nay Hull accent, backed by an array of Eastern sounds? How quirky and cool is that! Well, folk music however you want to define it will always be still around somewhere. But maybe Jim Eldon in his eternal refusal to be pinned down and categorised, is the real embodiment of 'anti folk'. I was certainly glad to have met him. Jim Eldon will be appearing at the Lamp, Norfolk Street, 8.30pm on Wednesday 9th February, with Sheik's Two Man Band. Also appearing are special guests the Stonehardy Collective. Entry is free.

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