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Revival: A Folk Music Novel
Revival is a novel that celebrates the passion for folk music and singer-songwriters from the point of view of the people who play the music and support the scene. The author was a regular on A Prairie Home Companion and reviews folk music for the Boston Globe. Catie Curtis says, "The characters are so believable you want to go hear them in concert."
315 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2011
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April 17, 2020
Ever had that feeling when someone walks into a room that you know you need to meet them, learn more about them and help them find their way? What if, while reaching out to them they unintentionally end up helping you to find your way back home? This amazing story, written by someone whose walked in the footsteps of the great folk heroes of Boston tells the story of a washed up, newly sober folk singer who meets his muse and works through the demons of his past life. Nathan has climbed out of the pit of despair to a safe zone where he welcomes singers to an open mike session at a local bar, plays a bit and relishes being in community with fellow seekers. Along comes Kit, an ingenue with a gift for reaching her audience through her words and artful music. Nathan brings her into the fold, helps her to overcome her stage fright and builds her confidence to achieve her dreams. While doing so, Nathan learns a bit about himself and his true calling.
This isn't one of those books where you can see the plot unfolding and you just know what's going to happen; it flows like a river with twists and turns ... deep enough for the reader to stop and ponder how the words reflect periods in their own lives (at least mine).
It is in the quiet that we learn most about ourselves by listening to the silence of our words.
This isn't one of those books where you can see the plot unfolding and you just know what's going to happen; it flows like a river with twists and turns ... deep enough for the reader to stop and ponder how the words reflect periods in their own lives (at least mine).
It is in the quiet that we learn most about ourselves by listening to the silence of our words.
August 25, 2011
Scott Alarik knows what every good novelist knows: readers want something real. And he delivers. The Boston folk music scene has never been so intimate. Alarik, former folk music critic for the Boston Globe, is a singer/songwriter in his own right, and with this debut, a novelist. We get the inside story on what it feels like to write music critiques for a major newspaper in this new century, but we also get a good sense of what it feels like to be a musician, writing songs, jamming late into the night. And Boston comes across so strongly, we can smell the streets and feel the weather.
This story is told in the voice of a musician whose name is stored in the memory of folk aficionados, but who has not written a song nor toured widely for many years. He is handling open mike night and jam sessions at a neighborhood bar near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is remembered for his own songs, but also for his adaptations of old favorites going back through the centuries. He is also remembered, he fears, for the alcohol-induced slackness of the years after his chance to be a big name passed him by. He keeps his life limping along until a shy, young songwriter/musician comes into the bar one season and changes everything.
Alarik doesn’t hold back: he shows us the thrill, the passion, the fear, the dark despair that is every performer’s lot. We hear a musician talking to himself about which music he likes--how and why. We watch a songwriter create songs: we see moments of creation and remember flow. We feel the pain of what it means to be a success—the tour. We learn what kind of person it takes to get to the top, and own the bittersweet regret of looking back on one’s life and wondering “what if.”
A message that comes across strongly in this novel is the solitariness of creation. There is a necessary introspection to the creation of new (or modification of old) art and Alarik’s main character, Nathan, has it in spades. But community is necessary also, and that’s where we come in. We find here a map for creating community, a guide to the people you will meet, and an understanding of the various meanings of success. Alarik’s website gives his tour dates. You’ll want to listen to him after reading this book, I promise you that.
The publisher sent me a copy of this book for review, and is offering one as a giveaway to readers of The Bowed Bookshelf! Leave a comment on my blog by September 10, 2011 and you will be entered to receive your own pre-release copy of Revival: A Folk Music Novel . You’ll find this a fascinating meditation on music, art, and the meaning of mature love.
This story is told in the voice of a musician whose name is stored in the memory of folk aficionados, but who has not written a song nor toured widely for many years. He is handling open mike night and jam sessions at a neighborhood bar near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is remembered for his own songs, but also for his adaptations of old favorites going back through the centuries. He is also remembered, he fears, for the alcohol-induced slackness of the years after his chance to be a big name passed him by. He keeps his life limping along until a shy, young songwriter/musician comes into the bar one season and changes everything.
Alarik doesn’t hold back: he shows us the thrill, the passion, the fear, the dark despair that is every performer’s lot. We hear a musician talking to himself about which music he likes--how and why. We watch a songwriter create songs: we see moments of creation and remember flow. We feel the pain of what it means to be a success—the tour. We learn what kind of person it takes to get to the top, and own the bittersweet regret of looking back on one’s life and wondering “what if.”
A message that comes across strongly in this novel is the solitariness of creation. There is a necessary introspection to the creation of new (or modification of old) art and Alarik’s main character, Nathan, has it in spades. But community is necessary also, and that’s where we come in. We find here a map for creating community, a guide to the people you will meet, and an understanding of the various meanings of success. Alarik’s website gives his tour dates. You’ll want to listen to him after reading this book, I promise you that.
The publisher sent me a copy of this book for review, and is offering one as a giveaway to readers of The Bowed Bookshelf! Leave a comment on my blog by September 10, 2011 and you will be entered to receive your own pre-release copy of Revival: A Folk Music Novel . You’ll find this a fascinating meditation on music, art, and the meaning of mature love.
November 18, 2011
Of course I loved this book. I love folk music with a passion. In my younger days I sang and played at open mics and coffeehouses. So the book, which follows the careers of two folk musicians and takes place in coffeehouses and open mics, resonated deeply with me. It's chock full of references to folks songs -- old and new -- and I simply loved that. I also loved the way the author wrote about songwriting. It was authentic.
So I literally devoured this book. It was beautifully written and spoke to my soul, because it was all about folk music.
******SPOILER*******
If you don't want to have the ending spoiled don't read any further.
The book also contains a truly wonderful love story filled with the power of love to redeem. It was beautifully crafted...
...until the last 5 pages.
I don't mean to rant. And God knows there are probably more sad love songs in the folk tradition than happy ones. And this book is not commercial fiction or romance. But I'm sorry. The hero decides at the very end of the novel that his work is more important than his love for the heroine. And the love he feels for the heroine is bigger than life itself. And the heroine, who has argued with the hero for the entire book simply accepts that her music career is more important than the man she loves. She leaves him for the big recording contract in LA after the book rails against the music business.
This ending was not merely bittersweet it made no sense. The author seemed to think that it was okay for these characters to outgrow their love for one another. Once love redeems the hero and helps the heroine find the courage of her convictions, the author tells us that they don't need each other any more.
Really? Is love so small that we can outgrow it? Is this the message you find in folk music? Certainly not in the music of my favorite singer-songwriters who are always writing about the transforming power of love. And not in the old love songs that women sang about sailors gone to sea. Or love that lasts beyond the grave.
I know folkies who are married happily. They find a way to balance love and career and recording and touring and even raising families. So the ending of this book wasn't even realistic.
I couldn't help but feel that the author opted for the traditional literary ending because, well, he was afraid to write something that might have a happy ending, because happy endings are considered too commercial. I'm still giving it 5 stars, but the last five pages were a huge disappointment.
So I literally devoured this book. It was beautifully written and spoke to my soul, because it was all about folk music.
******SPOILER*******
If you don't want to have the ending spoiled don't read any further.
The book also contains a truly wonderful love story filled with the power of love to redeem. It was beautifully crafted...
...until the last 5 pages.
I don't mean to rant. And God knows there are probably more sad love songs in the folk tradition than happy ones. And this book is not commercial fiction or romance. But I'm sorry. The hero decides at the very end of the novel that his work is more important than his love for the heroine. And the love he feels for the heroine is bigger than life itself. And the heroine, who has argued with the hero for the entire book simply accepts that her music career is more important than the man she loves. She leaves him for the big recording contract in LA after the book rails against the music business.
This ending was not merely bittersweet it made no sense. The author seemed to think that it was okay for these characters to outgrow their love for one another. Once love redeems the hero and helps the heroine find the courage of her convictions, the author tells us that they don't need each other any more.
Really? Is love so small that we can outgrow it? Is this the message you find in folk music? Certainly not in the music of my favorite singer-songwriters who are always writing about the transforming power of love. And not in the old love songs that women sang about sailors gone to sea. Or love that lasts beyond the grave.
I know folkies who are married happily. They find a way to balance love and career and recording and touring and even raising families. So the ending of this book wasn't even realistic.
I couldn't help but feel that the author opted for the traditional literary ending because, well, he was afraid to write something that might have a happy ending, because happy endings are considered too commercial. I'm still giving it 5 stars, but the last five pages were a huge disappointment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2011
At the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in July, between the performances of the folk singers, Scott Alarik read portions of his new novel Revival. It got to be annoying because it sounded like an advertisement and because the prose read over a loudspeaker sounded overly precious. But I bought the book anyhow (a special prerelease edition), because it purported to be about folk music and the FRFF experience, and the book has turned out to be quite good.
Scott Alarik is a columnist on folk music, and he seems to have put his experience into his book, especially anecdotes about folk singers such as Pete Seeger and an inside knowledge of the folk music writing process. The book is almost an exposition of the folk “religion,” that is, the idea that folk music is the creation of ordinary people, arising out of everyone’s experience, instead of a commercially manufactured product sprung on people to make money.
The book is also about the love affair between an old guy and a young woman, and therefore something of an old guy’s fantasy. I seem to have run into this before. It’s also about the creative process, the interaction between the conscious mind and the unconscious manipulations that yield just the right turn of phrase and musical gesture. It is quite convincing in this regard, showing that Alarik has taken his turn at writing and performing folk songs.
There is character development revolving around spiritual and creative renewal, interesting enough to make me think about how to translate it into my own life. There is not an intricate plot, but there is interesting psychological exploration of what it means to be an artist. This book is all about folk music, and even where it has its limitations, it still shows its dedication and love for the folk music way of life.
Scott Alarik is a columnist on folk music, and he seems to have put his experience into his book, especially anecdotes about folk singers such as Pete Seeger and an inside knowledge of the folk music writing process. The book is almost an exposition of the folk “religion,” that is, the idea that folk music is the creation of ordinary people, arising out of everyone’s experience, instead of a commercially manufactured product sprung on people to make money.
The book is also about the love affair between an old guy and a young woman, and therefore something of an old guy’s fantasy. I seem to have run into this before. It’s also about the creative process, the interaction between the conscious mind and the unconscious manipulations that yield just the right turn of phrase and musical gesture. It is quite convincing in this regard, showing that Alarik has taken his turn at writing and performing folk songs.
There is character development revolving around spiritual and creative renewal, interesting enough to make me think about how to translate it into my own life. There is not an intricate plot, but there is interesting psychological exploration of what it means to be an artist. This book is all about folk music, and even where it has its limitations, it still shows its dedication and love for the folk music way of life.
August 2, 2012
A glimpse into the New England songwriter scene, which Scott Alarik knows well as the folk music reviewer for The Boston Globe. The characters of Nathan (the veteran songwriter who almost made it big) and Kit (the rising darling of the Boston scene) ring true, along with those of other personalities who frequent Nathan's open mike in Cambridge.
Insights into folk music are woven into the dialogue, through Nathan and Kit discussing the music they love, and the informal lectures Nathan begins to give at Harvard and Club Passim.
While this might seem a niche novel at first glance, Alarik's gifts of writing and observation take it to a much deeper level. He is masterful at capturing fine nuances in relationships, like self-doubt and the need for solitude. Story lines involving various characters play out over many chapters. Friends and rivals speak their minds, in tones of kindness, jealousy, woundedness, putting people in their places, but most often encouragement.
One of the best books I have read in years.
Insights into folk music are woven into the dialogue, through Nathan and Kit discussing the music they love, and the informal lectures Nathan begins to give at Harvard and Club Passim.
While this might seem a niche novel at first glance, Alarik's gifts of writing and observation take it to a much deeper level. He is masterful at capturing fine nuances in relationships, like self-doubt and the need for solitude. Story lines involving various characters play out over many chapters. Friends and rivals speak their minds, in tones of kindness, jealousy, woundedness, putting people in their places, but most often encouragement.
One of the best books I have read in years.
October 20, 2022
I am not sure how I feel about this book. I liked it and hated it😂Have you ever had those mixed feelings? I thought the concept was brilliant. The writing was a little too wordy for me. But the last few chapters were heartwarming. So many familiar places and folk singers mentioned in my stomping ground. Loved reading about it and all the struggles artists go through.
March 19, 2013
During this entire book, I was constantly thinking when is something going to happen. But by the time I got to the end, I realized that it was happening the entire book. I really loved it, although I could do with a little less introspection by the main character.
I lived this scene many years ago when I played what might have passed for folk music, but I have a major quarrel with the author that the community is so embracing and inclusive. I found it to be just as competitive and hard nosed as any other facet of the business. I actually had the chance to meet a lot of the "stars" of the day.... Carly Simon, Tom Rush, Richie Havens, John Denver... Nice enough but no one took any time to help struggling musicians.
One story about Emmy Lou Harris. My three-piece acoustic band was playing a club in Washington DC in 1972 a few blocks from the White House. We had a steady gig, were developing a pretty good following. Emmy Lou blew into town and stole our gig, without an explanation or apology. Funny, we thought just like Ryder thought in this book, that she was sleeping with the club owner. I think it was true, however.
So I recognized so many episodes and situations in the book that the stars kept increasing. Just short of five stars!
I lived this scene many years ago when I played what might have passed for folk music, but I have a major quarrel with the author that the community is so embracing and inclusive. I found it to be just as competitive and hard nosed as any other facet of the business. I actually had the chance to meet a lot of the "stars" of the day.... Carly Simon, Tom Rush, Richie Havens, John Denver... Nice enough but no one took any time to help struggling musicians.
One story about Emmy Lou Harris. My three-piece acoustic band was playing a club in Washington DC in 1972 a few blocks from the White House. We had a steady gig, were developing a pretty good following. Emmy Lou blew into town and stole our gig, without an explanation or apology. Funny, we thought just like Ryder thought in this book, that she was sleeping with the club owner. I think it was true, however.
So I recognized so many episodes and situations in the book that the stars kept increasing. Just short of five stars!
June 22, 2013
Oh, now I completely loved this... but when you combine books and folk music, teach me something, and add a light hopeful romance... if it's well written (and this is), for me you probably can't go wrong.
Obviously I can't speak to the inner workings of the folk music scene, but Alarik certainly drew me in and made me feel like I was a part of the in's and out's of what really goes on. The scene when Nathan and Kit are in the studio recording Kit's first CD is just priceless, as is her exasperation with him when he doesn't know how to store email addresses or do a group mailing. The arc of their relationship from mentoring to so much more struck me as realistic and well done. I particularly enjoyed Nathan's growth from his reflections on his past depression all the way through new confidence to teach classes. His was a great character.
The ending? Well, I won't give spoilers, so I will just say that I might have done it differently, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book as a whole. This one stays on the bookshelf.
Obviously I can't speak to the inner workings of the folk music scene, but Alarik certainly drew me in and made me feel like I was a part of the in's and out's of what really goes on. The scene when Nathan and Kit are in the studio recording Kit's first CD is just priceless, as is her exasperation with him when he doesn't know how to store email addresses or do a group mailing. The arc of their relationship from mentoring to so much more struck me as realistic and well done. I particularly enjoyed Nathan's growth from his reflections on his past depression all the way through new confidence to teach classes. His was a great character.
The ending? Well, I won't give spoilers, so I will just say that I might have done it differently, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book as a whole. This one stays on the bookshelf.
April 16, 2012
I got to about page 74, then read the last 6 pages to see if it was worth it. No, it was not. I just didn't get what was going on here - Boston is hardly my concept of folk music, and I grew up in the era, thank you very much. This is more of a self-congratulatory story about a person who was on the way to make it, messed up, and was too self-absorbed to try and fix it. Then he makes a big deal about how he's there to make other players successful while he sits in the background, training all the worthy. Made me puke. The last straw was when he makes a statement that was a total ripoff of a line from a Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", without giving credit. ("And I have many promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep") Ironic, since there is such careful attention to giving credit to the lyrics used as story props.
October 8, 2012
"Revival" is an entertaining fictional novel about the Folk music culture, based on the author's extensive experience as a writer about folk music for the "Boston Globe" and as a singer-songwriter. Although I am not a connoisseur of modern folk music, my father sang many old favorites and I have long admired Pete Seeger's work (what's not to like?). I was therefore primed to appreciate Scott's insight and found it interesting to learn about his characters' creative lives and the passions that drive them. I especially enjoyed reading about Cambridge, where I grew up and studied.
October 15, 2011
Interesting book about the folk music biz. I thought the writing could have been a lot better, but the story was pretty good. I most enjoyed the descriptions of the songwriting process and the folk music scene, as well as the bits about the history of folk music. The love story was okay, but I thought that was where the writing was the weakest. Lots of name-dropping of real people and real places that folk music fans will enjoy.
July 16, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Perhaps because I've been volunteering in a local music venue, this story particularly appealed to me. I learned a good deal about the folk music community and the work of singer-songwriters as I read this.
The love story between an up-and-coming musician and a veteran songwriter was also well told. While I would not have picked the ending Alarik provided, I understand why he wrote it that way.
Perhaps because I've been volunteering in a local music venue, this story particularly appealed to me. I learned a good deal about the folk music community and the work of singer-songwriters as I read this.
The love story between an up-and-coming musician and a veteran songwriter was also well told. While I would not have picked the ending Alarik provided, I understand why he wrote it that way.
February 26, 2012
The evocation of the culture of folk musicians, their exploits and their followers, is excellent. So are the many carefully considered illuminations about how a folk song evolves and related topics as offered by the protagonist. Because these were so fine, I am raising my rating to 3 stars even though I found the story of the main characters' relationship awkward, predictable, and not much fun to read about.
June 2, 2012
Bittersweet May - December romance bvetween one who was supposed to be the next big thing and a young woman who will be. While the love story is the canvas the book is really a paen to folk history and Cambridge Mass. If you're a folkie you'll enjoy this work. If not it's just a so-so romance and redemption tale.
October 7, 2012
There's a lot to like about this book. I really wanted to give it 4 stars, but there was just something missing. I feel like if say more about that I'll give too much away. What was not missing was a genuine love of, and knowledge of, folk music. It made me want to run out to a local coffeehouse and listen.
November 6, 2012
I'm not finished this book quite yet, but that's because I don't want it to end. I love everything about it: the characters, the setting, the details about a folk musician's life, the writing. I'm anxious to see how the book ends (even though I don't want it to be over). I love finding new and wonderful books! The library rocks!
January 4, 2013
Great read from an author who has been part of the Boston [and east coast] folk scene for decades. Captures the folk sensibility of artists trying to break in and of those who were there and left or dropped out. Thanks Scott!!!
January 10, 2013
an honest book about the folk scene in Boston. A romance really, but one that is carefully placed in the real folk world.
June 1, 2013
Good. Worth reading - very enjoyable. Strongly disliked the ending, which is probably what the author wanted.
October 28, 2015
As a folk musician, I really appreciated this story. Boston area folkies will, too.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews