On Saturday, I got to be a part of 98.7 WFMT’s Folk Stage program. I owe that honor to my talented friend & fellow artist Jenny Bienemann; she brought a group of us songwriters together to write tunes based on her poetry.
As if it wasn’t nerve-racking enough to play a new song live on the radio, I had an additional fear echoing in my mind.
What if they find out I’m not a folk musician?
Don’t get me wrong: I love folk music. I worked at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music for years, and I know all the songs of Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotton, Kingston Trio, etc. But the tunes I’ve been writing lately fall far more into the soul genre than anything else.
But that voice of doubt was loud. I developed it as a kid who always felt like she didn’t belong anywhere, and it never went away. It got unbearably loud on Saturday night, and I was nervous right up until sound check, when I suddenly realized:
Nobody here is playing traditional folk music.
Reader, this week held a great lesson for me. No one fits neatly anywhere. We’re all just walking venn diagrams, a little bit of this and that. No sense wondering whether we fit into the places we are. If we enjoy those spaces, we’re meant to be there.
Let’s enjoy more and think less this week. I leave you with this picture of Jenny Bienemann, Naomi Ashley, Anne Heaton, and me. Just 4 semi-folk musicians. See you next Monday. -Em
