Will Folk For Food Contemporizes Folk, Supports Women's Issues

Folk rock artists Lis Harvey and Sarah Pinsker will overturn past conceptions of the folk genre and garner support for women's issues with their Will Folk for Food tour, which comes to the Carrboro ArtsCenter on March 9.

Will Folk for Food, coined by the 24-year-old friends, is a series of shows co-sponsored by companies headed by women -- including Erlendahle Records and SpinEpiphany Design -- that ties women's rights together with a noncommercial indie sound.

"These days you either see the Top 40 shows or the Lilith Fair, which became so large that it was unapproachable," said Ami Vilhoarer, vice president of Erlendahle Records and Harvey's manager.

"Will Folk for Food is a conscious step away from mainstream music."

The particular genre of music that Harvey and Pinsker play has been termed "folk rock." Harvey says the term results from confusion about targeting an audience.

"If we called it folk, we'd get 56-year-olds who are expecting Woody Guthrie," Harvey said. "But if we called it rock, we'd get 17-year-old boys who are expecting Third Eye Blind."

Part of the conflict about a target audience springs from the evolving ideas about and the different interpretations of the word "folk" over time. Traditional folk music, much like its cousin, bluegrass, is mainly acoustic. The two types of music have gone hand in hand for years, and the folk revival of the '60s promoted bluegrass and folk alike.

Although sometimes labeled a sort of "hillbilly" music, folk has undergone a great deal of transition and has dramatically departed from its traditional roots to become what Harvey terms "contemporary folk" music.

"There's really been a cease of meaning of the word 'folk,'" Harvey said. "Now it's something that appeals to both young and older people. Some people might disagree with me, but those people are living in the past, man."

Therefore, Harvey, who described her style as a sort of sharp, biting folk, and Pinsker, who called herself wilder and more like rock, combined their efforts to yield folk rock. Their folk- and rock-inspired sounds are more electric than acoustic and define the idea of a contemporary folk genre in a modern music industry.

Along with interpreting the meaning of contemporary folk, Will Folk for Food also tries to reinvent feminism.

"I like those T-shirts that say, 'Feminism is the radical notion that women are people,'" Pinsker said. "I believe that there are a lot of misconceptions about feminism."

Pinsker and Harvey set out to change interpretations of feminism through their words and their music.

"We want to offer to young women the face of modern feminism, which is very diverse and not about man-hating -- it's a feminist thing and not a woman thing," Harvey said. "And you can be a feminist and not be a deadbeat."

In addition to presenting these diverse feminist views, Harvey and Pinsker will be folking for food and supporting women's issues at 8 p.m. March 9 at the ArtsCenter.

"We're all about diversity and trying to provide an outlet for things that might not have an outlet," said Ron Royster, music and booking director for the ArtsCenter. "We're the canvas, and we let people paint on it."

The show will be a partial benefit for the Durham Crisis Response Center's domestic and sexual violence services. For the food element of Will Folk for Food, audience members are encouraged to bring food and other supplies such as unused toiletries for donation to the shelter.

Janeen Gingrich, director of shelter services, said she is excited about the show and that it will greatly benefit the center, which serves both Durham and Orange counties.

"In Orange/Durham county we're the only shelter for survivors of domestic violence," she said.

For more information about the Will Folk For Food tour or about what donations are needed at the Durham Crisis Response Center, call 403-9425.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be

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