WESTERCON 63: CONFIRMATION
CONCHORD 23
What is a Filk Convention?
ConChord is southern California’s regular filk music convention. It began in 1983, and has been held almost annually since the late 1980s
[years were skipped when a Worldcon was held in southern California]. ConChord, the second oldest continuing filk convention in the world,
will be celebrating its 23rd event in conjunction with Westercon 63, the second oldest general science fiction convention in the world.
What is filk music? Emerging from a simple typo, it has come to describe the folk music of science fiction fandom: songs about the books and movies
enjoyed by fans, along with aspects of their lives, ranging from cats to computers. Some filk musicians use existing tunes to create song parodies,
while others craft new music in a wide variety of styles. A number of authors have been a part of the filk community over the years.
A wide variety have also been performers or songwriters. The songs of Gordon Dickson, Poul Anderson, Mercedes Lackey, C. J. Cherryh and
others are a part of filk’s heritage.
ConChord’s distinctive features include musical performances, one of which is the infamous Totally Tacky and Tasteless Revue, at which musicians
perform songs they would not normally perform on stage. More normal performances include those by guest musicians, such as this year’s musical
guest of honor, Seanan McGuire, currently a fantasy novelist, but whose first fame at conventions was due to her musical skills.
ConChord also includes workshops, panels and other events related to music, including a songwriting contest and the Kazoo Awards,
a not-very-serious awards ceremony honoring the songwriters of the filk field. Then, people gather for informal song circles and sing all night,
just for the fun of it. You really can do that, you know…
Overall, the event is a weekend-long musical celebration of the creative nature of fans.
VISIT THE ConChord Webpage!