![\"Lizzie](\"http:\/\/urban-plains.com\/2016\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Copy-of-HEADER-1124x749.jpg\")
Lizzie Crowe and Eric Coleman of Iowa-based filk band Cheshire Moon often sing about topics like twisted fairy tales, libraries and Snow White. Photo courtesy of Amanda Jayne and Raeanne Dewey.<\/p><\/div>\n
Lizzie Crowe and Eric Coleman\u2019s music thrives and survives on inspiration and collaboration<\/span><\/h5>\nWords by Sydney Schulte<\/span><\/i><\/p>\nLizzie Crowe always considered herself a poet and a musician. But a performer? Not until Eric Coleman persuaded her to join him on stage during a \u00a0performance. <\/span><\/p>\nIt was at the 2010 <\/span>Capricon<\/span><\/a>, a Chicago sci-fi convention. Coleman, a poet and musician himself, wanted a new voice for a project he was starting\u2014something different than the hard rock sound of his last band. And after hearing Crowe sing at <\/span>Windycon<\/span><\/a>, another Illinoisan sci-fi con, he knew she was the one. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI just heard this voice,\u201d he said. \u201cThis amazing voice, and there\u2019s the singer for the band.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\nIt took several months of convincing, though, to make anything happen. He finally got Crowe on stage at Capricon. The duo played two songs. Crowe was nervous the whole time. \u201cI was shaking like a leaf in the wind,\u201d she said, mimicking her trembling performance. \u201cThe vibrato was effective. Not on purpose, but it was effective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nShe might have been even more nervous if she had known what was to come of the whole thing\u2014namely, a husband and a new band, <\/span>Cheshire Moon<\/span><\/a>. Even more nerve-racking, Coleman and Crowe decided their new group wouldn\u2019t play something \u00a0mainstream like punk or country. The couple wanted to honor their fantasy and sci-fi roots. They would focus solely on filk, a genre few have ever heard of. <\/span><\/p>\nWhat the filk?<\/h6>\n
Yes, filk. It\u2019s not a typo, although the name does stem from <\/span>a misspelling of \u201cfolk\u201d<\/span><\/a> at a 1950s sci-fi convention. Filk started off at early sci-fi conventions with fans gathering together and singing badly at the tops of their lungs in hotels while \u201cnormal\u201d guests (tried) to sleep.<\/span><\/p>\nFrom there, conventions grew in number\u2014and in specificity. Sci-fi conventions branched off into comic cons and anime festivals. And eventually, filk fests. Erica Neely is the <\/span>Ohio Valley Filk Fest<\/span><\/a>\u2019s Pegasus Evangelista\u2014administrator of the Pegasus Awards. (A Pegasus is to filkers as a Tony is to a musical.) \u201cI tend to think of it [filk] as music of the science-fiction fandom,\u201d she said. \u201cFrequently it has science-fiction or fantasy themes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nCrowe and Coleman, who now live in Ames, Iowa, classify their music as a filk subgenre called mythpunk\u2014twisted retellings of fairy tales, often in a modern setting. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cPeople do tend to separate the sort of silly songs and the serious, or the funny and the serious,\u201d Neely said. \u201cBut beyond that, I don\u2019t tend to see a lot of classification.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nWhile Neely doesn\u2019t see it, there are plenty of <\/span>debates about what filk is<\/span><\/a> within the community. Some filkers say it\u2019s serious music, while others argue it\u2019s a parody. Some claim filk needs to be inspired by sci-fi and fantasy, plucking influences from the likes of <\/span>Lord of the Rings, Star Wars<\/a><\/span><\/i> or <\/span>Harry Potter<\/span><\/i>. (Wizard rock was a big thing in filk a few years ago.) Others would say any song with sci-fi and fantasy themes is filk. (So that would make \u201cThe Purple People Eater\u201d and pretty much anything David Bowie recorded as Ziggy Stardust filk, right?) Oh, and don\u2019t forget the sub-debate on whether the music and lyrics should be totally original or should use pre-existing music loaded with new lyrics like \u201cWeird Al\u201d Yankovic\u2019s \u201c<\/span>The Saga Begins<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Yeah, it\u2019s complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n[Filk] is one of the most inclusive and openly inviting\u2014arms spread inviting\u2014groups that I\u2019ve ever been a part of.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n– Lizzie Crowe<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nDespite all of the debates about what filk is, the genre is open to different performance styles. Filk first started out with a folksy sound, but it\u2019s also been influenced by rock, jazz and blues. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve even seen some rap lately,\u201d Neely said.<\/span><\/p>\nCheshire Moon turns to the Brothers Grimm, Homer and <\/span>Harry Potter<\/span><\/i> for inspiration. \u201cI have always been a giant fairy tale junkie, so that\u2019s how so many of those stories end up being subjects of our music,\u201d Crowe said.<\/span><\/p>\nTake Cheshire Moon\u2019s song \u201c<\/span>Snow White, Red Road<\/span><\/a>.\u201d It tells the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with a twist: Snow White is a witch under the tutelage of the Seven Dwarves. The Seven Dwarves teach her how to use her powers, which she then uses against the Evil Queen to dethrone her. When \u201cmagic is the only love she knows,\u201d there\u2019s no need for a prince.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Lizzie Crowe always considered herself a poet and a musician. But a performer? Not until Eric Coleman persuaded her to join him on stage during a \u00a0performance. <\/span><\/p>\n It was at the 2010 <\/span>Capricon<\/span><\/a>, a Chicago sci-fi convention. Coleman, a poet and musician himself, wanted a new voice for a project he was starting\u2014something different than the hard rock sound of his last band. And after hearing Crowe sing at <\/span>Windycon<\/span><\/a>, another Illinoisan sci-fi con, he knew she was the one. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI just heard this voice,\u201d he said. \u201cThis amazing voice, and there\u2019s the singer for the band.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n It took several months of convincing, though, to make anything happen. He finally got Crowe on stage at Capricon. The duo played two songs. Crowe was nervous the whole time. \u201cI was shaking like a leaf in the wind,\u201d she said, mimicking her trembling performance. \u201cThe vibrato was effective. Not on purpose, but it was effective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She might have been even more nervous if she had known what was to come of the whole thing\u2014namely, a husband and a new band, <\/span>Cheshire Moon<\/span><\/a>. Even more nerve-racking, Coleman and Crowe decided their new group wouldn\u2019t play something \u00a0mainstream like punk or country. The couple wanted to honor their fantasy and sci-fi roots. They would focus solely on filk, a genre few have ever heard of. <\/span><\/p>\n Yes, filk. It\u2019s not a typo, although the name does stem from <\/span>a misspelling of \u201cfolk\u201d<\/span><\/a> at a 1950s sci-fi convention. Filk started off at early sci-fi conventions with fans gathering together and singing badly at the tops of their lungs in hotels while \u201cnormal\u201d guests (tried) to sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n From there, conventions grew in number\u2014and in specificity. Sci-fi conventions branched off into comic cons and anime festivals. And eventually, filk fests. Erica Neely is the <\/span>Ohio Valley Filk Fest<\/span><\/a>\u2019s Pegasus Evangelista\u2014administrator of the Pegasus Awards. (A Pegasus is to filkers as a Tony is to a musical.) \u201cI tend to think of it [filk] as music of the science-fiction fandom,\u201d she said. \u201cFrequently it has science-fiction or fantasy themes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Crowe and Coleman, who now live in Ames, Iowa, classify their music as a filk subgenre called mythpunk\u2014twisted retellings of fairy tales, often in a modern setting. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPeople do tend to separate the sort of silly songs and the serious, or the funny and the serious,\u201d Neely said. \u201cBut beyond that, I don\u2019t tend to see a lot of classification.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While Neely doesn\u2019t see it, there are plenty of <\/span>debates about what filk is<\/span><\/a> within the community. Some filkers say it\u2019s serious music, while others argue it\u2019s a parody. Some claim filk needs to be inspired by sci-fi and fantasy, plucking influences from the likes of <\/span>Lord of the Rings, Star Wars<\/a><\/span><\/i> or <\/span>Harry Potter<\/span><\/i>. (Wizard rock was a big thing in filk a few years ago.) Others would say any song with sci-fi and fantasy themes is filk. (So that would make \u201cThe Purple People Eater\u201d and pretty much anything David Bowie recorded as Ziggy Stardust filk, right?) Oh, and don\u2019t forget the sub-debate on whether the music and lyrics should be totally original or should use pre-existing music loaded with new lyrics like \u201cWeird Al\u201d Yankovic\u2019s \u201c<\/span>The Saga Begins<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Yeah, it\u2019s complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n [Filk] is one of the most inclusive and openly inviting\u2014arms spread inviting\u2014groups that I\u2019ve ever been a part of.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n – Lizzie Crowe<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Despite all of the debates about what filk is, the genre is open to different performance styles. Filk first started out with a folksy sound, but it\u2019s also been influenced by rock, jazz and blues. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve even seen some rap lately,\u201d Neely said.<\/span><\/p>\n Cheshire Moon turns to the Brothers Grimm, Homer and <\/span>Harry Potter<\/span><\/i> for inspiration. \u201cI have always been a giant fairy tale junkie, so that\u2019s how so many of those stories end up being subjects of our music,\u201d Crowe said.<\/span><\/p>\n Take Cheshire Moon\u2019s song \u201c<\/span>Snow White, Red Road<\/span><\/a>.\u201d It tells the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with a twist: Snow White is a witch under the tutelage of the Seven Dwarves. The Seven Dwarves teach her how to use her powers, which she then uses against the Evil Queen to dethrone her. When \u201cmagic is the only love she knows,\u201d there\u2019s no need for a prince.<\/span><\/p>\n\nWhat the filk?<\/h6>\n