A hootenanny is a party involving music in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is particularly associated with

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

Etymology

Placeholder

Hootenanny is an

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, C ...

colloquialism Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...

that was used in the early twentieth century U.S. as a

placeholder name Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in the context in wh ...

to refer to things whose names were forgotten or unknown. In this usage it was synonymous with '' thingamajig'' or '' whatchamacallit'', as in: "Hand me that hootenanny."

Party

''Hootenanny'' was also an old country word for "party". It can refer to a

party with an

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

, at which different performers are welcome to get up and play in front of an audience.

Folk music use

According to

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

he first heard the word ''hootenanny'' in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

in the summer of 1941 while touring the area with Woody Guthrie. It was used by Hugh DeLacy's

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

political club to describe their monthly music fund raisers. After some debate the club voted in ''hootenanny'', which narrowly beat out ''wingding''. Seeger,

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...

and other members of the

Almanac Singers The Almanac Singers was an American New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943, founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. The group specialized in topical songs, mostly songs advocating an anti- ...

later used the word in New York City to describe their weekly rent parties, which featured many notable folksingers of the time. In a 1962 interview in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'',

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

made the analogy that a hootenanny is to folk singing what a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

is to jazz.

Events

During the early 1960s at the height of the

American folk music revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-B ...

, the club Gerdes Folk City at 11 West 4th Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

started the folk music hootenanny tradition every Monday night, that featured an open mic and welcomed performers known and unknown, young and old.

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The Ot ...

at 147 Bleecker Street continued the folk music hootenanny tradition every Tuesday night. A weekly hootenanny has been held during the summers at Allegany State Park most years since 1972. The Hootenanny is an annual one-day

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

music festival held at the Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine, California, which also incorporates a vintage car show. For years there have been online hootenannies. The most long-standing example is Small Talk At The Wall, which originated in 1999.

Recordings

* ''Hootenanny with the Highwaymen'' is a 1963 album by folk band The Highwaymen * " Surfin' Hootenanny" is a surf pop/rock song written by

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960 ...

(tune) and Al Casey, and performed by Al Casey with The K-C-Ettes (aka

The Blossoms The Blossoms are an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording ...

). It opens Casey's 1963 album ''Surfin' Hootenanny'' (issued as LP record by Sundazed Music Inc.). The song re-appeared in 1996 (in remastered version) on the '' Cowabunga! Set 2: Big Waves (1963)'' compilation. ''Cowabunga! Set 2: Big Waves (1963)'' is a second disc from

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

' '' Cowabunga! The Surf Box'' 4-CD set compilation that contains most famous songs from the four-decade long history of

surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...

. * The Glencoves had a hit single with their release "Hootenanny", which peaked at No. 38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1963. *

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

released an album titled ''

Shootenanny! ''Shootenanny!'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Eels, released in 2003 by record label DreamWorks. Background While lead singer Mark Oliver "E" Everett was working on the double disc ''Blinking Lights and Other Revelations'' ...

'' in 2003. The album's title is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsThe Replacements released their second album in 1983, titled '' Hootenanny'' on Twin/Tone Records. * The band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

had a "Hootenanny" tour in 2008 which allowed fans to play songs with the band. * The New Zealand rock band HLAH released a single entitled "Hootenanny" (which also appears on their 1996 album '' Double Your Strength, Improve Your Health, & Lengthen Your Life'' on the Wildside Records label) in 1997. * A song called "We Are Having a Hootenanny" appears on

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel '' Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as fr ...

's 2010 album ''

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: * Classical Realism *Literary realism, a mov ...

''. * The album '' The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior'' by Rieflin, Gunn and Fripp contains a track titled "Hootenanny At The Pink Pussycat Cafe". * Reggae legends

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

recorded a song called "Hoot Nanny Hoot", sung by

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963 ...

, available on Tosh's CD ''The Toughest''. * Swedish 1960s folk band Hootenanny Singers included

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals '' Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...

, who later was a member of

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

. * Belgian band Too Much and the White Nots released an album called ''Hootenanny'' in 2011. * In 1964 George Jones and

Melba Montgomery Melba Joyce Montgomery (born October 14, 1938) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for a series of duet recordings made with George Jones, Gene Pitney and Charlie Louvin. She is also a solo artist, having reaching the ...

released a country/bluegrass album titled ''Bluegrass Hootenanny''. * Sheb Woolley had a hit in Australia with "Hootenanny Hoot" in 1963. * Paul and Paula, who had a big hit with "Hey Paula" in 1963, also released a single later in that year called "Holiday Hootenanny".

Television

Several different television shows are named ''hootenanny'' and styled after it, including: * '' Hootenanny'', an early 1960s musical variety show broadcast on ABC in the

. In 2007 a set of three DVDs called ''The Best of Hootenanny'' was issued, culled from the series. It contains clips of performances by

The Chad Mitchell Trio The Chad Mitchell Trio, later known as The Mitchell Trio, were an American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed traditional folk songs and some of John Denver's early compositions. They were particularly notable for per ...

, The Limeliters and The New Christy Minstrels, and even

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

as a stand-up comedian. * In 1963 and 1964, a

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

show ''The Hoot'nanny Show'', recorded in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, was broadcast. Two albums with the same title were released, with contributions from Archie Fisher, Barney McKenna (before he joined

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-yea ...

), and

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

. * In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, '' Jools' Annual Hootenanny'', a special New Year's Eve edition of '' Later... with Jools Holland'' featuring a wide selection of musicians, has been broadcast every year since 1993.

Other uses

* ''

Framus Framus is a German string instrument manufacturing company, that existed from 1946 until going bankrupt in 1975. The Framus brand was revived in 1995 as part of Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG, in Markneukirchen, Germany. The company's cus ...

Hootenanny'', a 1960s-era

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

References

External links

''The Best of Hootenanny'' review
''The Pseudobook Review. {{Appalachian people Appalachian culture Colloquial terms Social events