Woody Guthrie wrote many songs and said many things. The folk hero has been memorialized in his beloved songs and anthems like “This Land is Your Land” and “I Ain’t Got No Home In This World Anymore,” but Guthrie is immortalized in his writings about what folk music is. Guthrie famously said, “a folk song is what’s wrong and how to fix it. Or it could be who’s hungry and where their mouth is. Or who’s out of work and where the job is. Or who’s broke and where the money is. Or who’s carrying a gun and where the peace is.”
While Guthrie’s stories have lived beyond his years, the essence of folk music has been lost by many in the haze of for-profit industrial music. Folk music may be viewed as inferior in the age of industrial music, but it has not lost its voice.
The ongoing archive of folk music and independent songwriters known as Gems on VHS has been a revitalizing force in modern folk music. The folks at Gems on VHS find songwriters and musicians and record them in delicate, intimate settings and connect them to an international audience while bypassing the music industry all together. While it would not be possible to review all of the writers and musicians featured on Gems on VHS, here are a few that are well worth your time.
The Hill Country Devil, whose real name is Hayden Karchmer, is the embodiment of the modern folk artist. The simplistic honesty of his writing and the rawness of his musicianship give The Hill Country Devil a sound unknown to Music Row. The Hill Country Devil writes about himself; if he hasn’t lived it, he won’t write about it.
The proud Texan struggled with drug addiction, homelessness, and a life of desperation. His song “Kerr County Dopesick Blues” gives listeners a glimpse of the brutality of drug addiction while “Glory” and “New Kind of Lonely” send whispers screaming “helplessness” through your mind.
The Hill Country Devil writes heavy, desperate songs but he is one of the best songwriters I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. His album “Nicotine and China White” can be found in the archives of Gems on VHS and on music streaming platforms.
Another proud Texas songwriter steeped in the traditions of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark is Casper Allen. Writing about anything from drug addiction, unprecedented life challenges, to the hold technology has on our lives, Casper Allen captivates, devastates, and caresses whoever hears his music. Allen’s song “Carving Creases” is a brilliant example of his lyrical self-awareness and powerful voice. The more delicate “Paper Ships,” a farewell to a friend lost and celebration of a time of personal growth and healing, displays Allen’s gift for storytelling through his ability to give beauty to sorrow. Allen’s music cannot be found on streaming services like Spotify, but he has a number of intimate recordings in the Gems on VHS archive and other DIY music production platforms.
Unlike the neo-folk style of The Hill Country Devil and Casper Allen, Kentuckybased Lost Dog Street Band is a rarity in modern music. The founding members Benjamin Tod and Ashley Mae have transformed from teenagers tearing through the underground Nashville punk scene to creating ingenious music in the styles of American old-time and the newly emerging dark country. Recently joined by Deep Chatham bassist Jeff Loops, Lost Dog Street Bands has a cult-like following throughout the country that keeps them in high demand.
Lost Dog’s primary writer, Benjamin Tod, has lived a life haunted by demons of drug and alcohol addiction, abuse, and close calls with death, and these demons are ever-present in his songs. Lost Dog’s most recent album “Weight of a Trigger” mines the darkest depths of humanity, culminating in an album of woefully poetic songs about death, destruction, addiction, and healing. Tod has also embarked on multiple solo projects resulting in songs of similar topics and unmatched lyrical brilliance.
Folk music is heavy. It’s supposed to be. Woody Guthrie believes that a folksinger’s job is to “comfort the disturbed, and to disturb the comfortable.” The artists found on Gems on VHS are the modern folk singers, and the traveling troubadours who bring comfort to the those who are disturbed and wounded, and bring great disturbance to a music industry that is far too comfortable.
