Riot-Folk! Collective

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One of several versions of the Riot-Folk! logo. It depicts two radicals forming a heart, one armed with a Guitar, the other with a Banjo. The Circle-A is a symbol Anarchism, While the Circle-E is a symbol of Egalitarianism, or Equality.

In their own words, Riot-Folk! is "an anti-profit mutual aid collective of radical artists and musicians," who "make music to provoke, educate, heal and inspire, supporting movements that challenge all forms of oppression and that work to build a free and just society." Riot Folk operates as a collective and is not a record label in the sense that it releases other people's music and distributes it with the intention of turning a profit. They distribute one another's music, though, and share musical and recording skills, contacts, funds and a website. Their motto is "Making Folk a threat again".

As the name suggests, members of the collective sing folk music, primarily American folk music, and usually with anarchist themes throughout.

Riot Folk started in the fall of 2004. The intent was to create a network of radical folk singers who could share resources, talents and energy, as well as promote one another's music. This network has given them the opportunity to become a resource for other radical projects, and they are constantly organizing benefit shows and sometimes releasing CDs to raise money for various causes and groups. Recently similar collectives have begun to form, such as Disarm! Disarm! and the Wishing Well Collective.

The collective is scattered across the United States, primarily located on the East Coast and in the Bay Area. The artists have toured extensively throughout the U.S. and parts of the United Kingdom.. All music released by anyone in the collective is given away for free on their website, promoting the anarchist ideal of using music as a tool for change, instead of selling it for profit. CDs are also available from the artists, usually on a sliding scale ranging from $5-$15, and fans pay what they can. Thus, those who would not otherwise be able to afford the average price of 10$-15$ may still obtain albums, the difference being made up by those with more money at their disposal. This is an example of anonymous mutual-aid in practice. All albums are distributed with D.I.Y. principles at heart.

The collective operates entirely on donations.

[edit] Members

Ryan Harvey, Evan Greer, and Mark Gunnery performing together in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' celebration rally in March, 2005.

The collective is currently made up of 9 artists. They are as follows:

The most recent member to join the collective is Shannon Murray, though she has performed with other members of the group in the past. Ethan and Kate perform almost exclusively as a duet, though both have released solo work. All of the other artists primarily perform and tour as solo acts, though this is not a rule. Roughly twice a year, all of the members get together for a week or so in order to discuss Collective matters, and play shows/record together. They use consensus decision-making for all decision-making. In 2006, the location of the Collective meeting was San Francisco, California. In April of 2007, they will converge in St. Louis, Missouri.