At long last. Mná na hÉireann are standing up and taking their place at TradFest, and it’s not before time. For too long, it seemed as though traditional music existed in a vacuum, untouched by the issues being addressed by other art forms. And yet FairPlé, a grassroots coalition which seeks to achieve gender balance in Irish traditional and folk music, emerged in late 2017, just as the #MeToo movement took off following the revelations of abuse perpetrated in the film industry.
Gender and the role of women in traditional and folk music has now gone mainstream, and is no longer relegated to the periphery. These days, any festival worth its salt is working hard to achieve real gender balance in its programming. And Temple Bar TradFest is at the vanguard of that movement.
This year’s TradFest features a number of woman-led and curated performances and panel discussions led by women. Singer-songwriter Aoife Scott curates a session titled Women of Note, and a panel discussion is scheduled for the day before the official launch of the festival, in the Printworks at Dublin Castle, titled Talking Trad: Beyond the Male. This is an exploration of the experience of women in traditional and folk music and will include singer-songwriter Karan Casey, along with Aoife Scott and piper Emer Mayock.
Things don’t stay alive if they stay the same
— Emma Grove
It was Casey’s observation in 2017 that she was the only woman on the National Concert Hall stage, during a performance by the Armagh Pipers Club, that led to the formation of FairPlé. In the intervening years, Casey played an active role in supporting the gender equality agenda, sometimes at a cost to her own career.
“I suppose I’m conflicted,” says Casey, as she considers the toll that her role as a vocal advocate for gender equality has exacted on her. “I think that this conversation obviously should be ongoing, and it’s one that’s very important to have, but I also feel that there’s been an amount of push-back from a lot of people who didn’t engage, and attempted to derail the conversation, and make us feel bad for saying it at all.”
In 2020, allegations of sexual assault, harassment and coercion in the Irish traditional music scene came to light, through the #MiseFosta movement on social media. As well as shining a light on the reality of some women’s experience on tour, it mirrored many experiences shared by artists across other genres, and also cast a cold eye on the many who resisted addressing these issues directly.
“After the mise fósta accounts came out, there was an incredible conversation on Facebook, which started talking about the use of the word ‘traditional’ as opposed to centring [on] the hurt that women have gone through. So it hasn’t been without its deep challenges, personally and collectively.
“But yes, I’m very happy to see that things are changing and that we’re having a conversation, but it has taken its toll. The information that we are in receipt of is difficult to have. So, while we’ve moved forward by initiating these conversations, we still have an amount of work to do.”
Casey, as an artist, has always told stories through her music, of the lives of women from all walks of life. Her interpretation of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit on her 2001 album The Winds Begin to Sing contemplated the horrors of racism, and reflected an artist curious about our fundamental humanity.
“Creatively, I’ve done 12 albums and I’ve done a lot of songs that speak to women,” she says. “So I thought that everyone would ‘get’ that I am a feminist. I didn’t use that word on stage. I used words like ‘strong woman’. The minute I started using the word feminism, it was like throwing a grenade.
“And it’s the same since I started saying ‘gender balance’, so it’s been challenging but so worth doing. My new album is primarily about women. It’s called Nine Apples of Gold. It’s a deeper, more nuanced conversation about women, and I suppose I have the courage and confidence to say a lot of things that I wouldn’t have said before. Because women of my generation are really silenced. The rules of patriarchy are silence and shame. Make a woman feel ashamed about whatever aspect of herself or her art, and they will manage to silence her.”
This is a paramount issue and it’s particularly difficult in the trad and folk worlds. It’s a tight-knit community and if you’ve spoken up, you’re marked.
— Karan Casey
Casey is adamant that the solution is reliant on everyone stepping up to take some responsibility, as misogyny and harassment are systemic issues that straddle all art forms.
“I think that people just didn’t want to deal with it,” she says, “but a lot more people have come on board. Still, people who are a lot more powerful than myself could be taking a leading role, because we need to get back to our art. It’s up to everybody. This is a paramount issue and it’s particularly difficult in the trad and folk worlds because so much of the work is either self-employed or freelance, so you’re relying on your interpersonal relationships. It’s a tight-knit community and if you’ve spoken up, you’re marked. Still, there really is tremendous support and I think it’s great that TradFest are doing this panel for all those reasons.”
Aoife Scott is a panellist on Beyond the Male, and she welcomes the chance to address issues in more depth too.
“I’m delighted that we’re starting these conversations,” she says, “because it’s all very well to be up on stage, but it’s better to speak about them in depth, because it’s important to highlight them.”
Scott’s experiences of even booking gigs have offered salutary lessons she’d have preferred not to have to grapple with.
“I’m lucky that I have a manager now, who happens to be male,” she says. “In the past, I found myself having to pretend to be a man on emails to book my own gigs. I don’t mind telling people that. That was the only way I could get a response. If I emailed as a woman, the answer wouldn’t come back but it always would when I emailed as a man. The truth is that I would be a broken person without the work that Karan and others are doing.”
For Casey, the future of traditional and folk music lies in embracing diversity in all its forms.
“We want women on the stage, as indeed we want diversity on the stage,” she says. “We want to see the new, shared Ireland that is changing up on that stage. And every generation needs to say what they want and fight for those freedoms.
“Project ourselves 20 years ahead. Take a four-year-old now, a brown-skinned Gráinne from Ennis, playing the fiddle. In 20 years’ time, we want her to be able to go to a session, sing and play whatever she likes, and lead the tunes. When she goes to the loo, she doesn’t have to take her pint with her, in case it’s spiked. And when she walks home, she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder. These are things we can all agree on. I don’t think there’s anyone anywhere who doesn’t want that.”
San Francisco native Emma Grove, as TradFest’s equality, diversity and inclusion researcher, is instrumental in bringing these women together for this panel discussion.
“My role is to create space where it seems there might not be,” she says. “I’m not Irish, I don’t have a trad background and that distance can be a help sometimes. People can be very protective of trad, and for good reason, but because of that it can be really hard to get them to move. You also have to be able to see the ugly underbelly for the tradition to survive. That’s a good thing, because it’s a sign that it’s alive. Things don’t stay alive if they stay the same.”
What to expect at TradFest
This year’s festival extends beyond the geographical confines of Temple Bar, with events taking place in Malahide Castle and Swords Castle as well as the GPO Museum and Collins Barracks. Highlights include Kate Rusby, Martin and Eliza Carty, Matt Molloy and Seán Keane, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Mary Chapin Carpenter, The SíFiddlers and Michelle and Louise Mulcahy. Trad Pride night on Thursday celebrates LGBTQ+ trad and folk artists, with Seolta, Amach is Amach, English folk singer Kit Knight and the Pride Céilí Band.
TradFest 2023 runs from January 25th-29th
