Platforming and Advocacy
Communal platforming is vital to the continuation of folk genres and music in general. Small artists, minority artists, independent artists and everyone in between require support and starting points for growing their music. The privilege of an audience grants people the opportunity to spread the messages that drive their music production. For cultural folk artists, platforms grant the ability for continued cultural involvement of future listeners and engagement in cultural practices and all the ways they continue to evolve.
Networking can amount to something as small as providing artist profiles, such as those presented in the Rod Kennedy files. Self promotion and advocacy is a viable manner for artists to share their work and widen their audience. Materials from this collection were taken from a box of artist profiles sent to Rod Kennedy for appeals to perform at one of the several Texas festivals that he produced. Particularly in Texas, Latino or Tejano artists find audiences within their own community. Recognition of small regional artists like this is important for acknowledging the importance of providing platforms. Artists such as the band Los Tres Amigos & Pepe play in localities and small venues, standing as communal beacons for those who get to view their music. No matter the size, an audience leads to remembrance and continuity of cultural practices such as music.
These artist files were some of the smallest among the collection. With the least amount of promotional materials, their audiences were likely small but no less important to the continuation of various genres of latino-led music to be heard in various capacities. Emilio Caceres was a jazz and swing artist who performed in the Southwest. His and Los Tres Amigos and Pepe's inclusion in the archival collection at all implies their importance to widening the diversity of performing musicians in Texas. Caceres' legacy as a Violinst goes beyond the Ragtime Festival advertised on his headshots; his presence in the southwest jazz scene, a genre built upon the musical accomplishments of Black musicians, highlights the lasting impact of latino and other minority muscians within the art form. Diversifying the music community builds deep connections accross all cultures that are rooted in the art of music.
An article from the Autumn 1991 Folk Alliance Newsletter, George Balderose wrote in to update on outcry from musicians from previous editions of the newsletter regarding immigration reforms that target international artists. The response of artists proved to be wide, Balderose noting the amount of people calling and writing their representatives to made their stance known. While just a singular example of advocacy, this item speaks to the power within a community to speak for its disadvantaged members. The folk music community provided a platform for people to share not only their music, but their opinions. By empowering a community to speak out, policy can be changed or made to uplift community members. What the Folk Alliance recognizes is that a community benefits from the diversity of its members. Fostering this culture of acceptance through platforming minoritized artists and cultural music practices inspires change within an already politically rooted genre.