Basic Folk 73 – Isa Burke (Lula Wiles)

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Isa Burke, of Americana/folk trio Lula Wiles, is an opinionated white lady in America and I literally cannot get enough of her. The Maine native rebelled at a young age (under 10!) against her parents’ folky disposition and devoured as much rock and roll as she could find. Eventually, her parents convinced her to attend Maine Fiddle Camp, where they attended as performers and teachers to campers of all ages (babies to grandparents). And what do you know? Isa loved the hell out of fiddle camp and met some important friends while she was there: Eleanor Buckland and Mali Obomsawin, who, years later, came to form the trio Lula Wiles. Camp was also the first place that Isa saw young people taking on the folk tradition in a modern way. This excited her to no end thus began a lifelong affair with traditional music.
Isa talks about the lessons she learned at Maine Fiddle Camp and how they are reflected in her musicality and in her band. It also rooted in her a a love of playing music for the sake of feeling good (vs playing to sell a lot of records). We also get into her lead guitar playing: what made her start, how she approaches her role and what it means to be a female lead guitarist in this patriarchal society. My favorite part of this interview (and maybe any interview, really) are Isa’s candid comments about body image issues. She introduced my to the idea of “body neutrality” and talks about working to cultivate that and the struggle that comes along with trying to figure out how to feel about your body. Like I said, I can’t get enough of her. Love her, would recommend talking to her for an hour.

*** A Note from Isa about this episode:
“I mention the Harry Potter series in this interview, and in light of JK Rowling’s transphobic tweets, I want to make clear that I stand with transgender people and I think Rowling is full of shit. I hope she is eventually able to recognize that the existence and validity of trans identity is not up for debate, and that it is no threat to feminism – rather, an essential part of it. I hate that Rowling has let her bigotry and ignorance contaminate these stories that have been so beloved by so many people.”

Isa performs Big Thief “Forgotten Eyes”

Isa’s band Lula Wiles’ latest LP: