Other than madrigals (see other thread), there hasn't been any h/a music at any faire I've ever attended.
The Celtic groups are the closest but the music and instrumentation they use don't really date back before the 18th century, some of it not that far. The guitar, for example, was at most an odd curiosity in the British Isles prior to about 1750. The flat-backed mandolin first appeared around 1890. The concertina appeared in 1830.
The typical instruments of the day were the recorder, flute, lute, theorbo, harpsichord, and viols of various sizes. They're rarely heard at festivals.
Thank you for bringing this up! At MNRF, you're very, very lucky if you can find a group playing h/a music. "The Laughing Hearts Pub Band" (formerly "My Lady's Cutlass") is the sole exception I know of. Otherwise you'll hear Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles (the entertainment director herself is guilty of this) to the Muppets (dont' get me started) to bluegrass. There's some Jethro Tull you can arguably sneak in, but honestly, "Locomotive Breath"?? Give me a break!
Owain Phyfe plays period music. So it depends what faires you attend. He used to play at Bristol and at Jubilee College, near Peoria, IL but hasn't been there for several years. He is wonderful, and Steve and I miss him. There is a harpist at Bristol who does play h/a music, and beautifully, too.
My husband is British, and when we first started going to faire, and even now sometimes, he will start singing along. And I look at him and ask "How do you know that?" because it's not something I've ever heard. And he replies every time that it is an old folk song, and he learned it in Music in school when he was a kid.
So, even though we might not think the music is h/a, a lot of it is from long ago England.
Yeah, but "The Rainbow Connection" (done in the various Muppet voices), "Landslide", "Let It Be", and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" get right up my left nostril and kicks a fit when I hear them at so-called Ren fests.
Free Bird? lol ;D
OK, but someone we both know inspired the Ren version of that song! ;) :D
Some of the instruments don't lend themselves to the fest environment, which might be part of it. Harpsichords are fairly portable but they aren't loud enough to be heard in an open air stage.
But maybe the real problem is that people don't like that kind of music. The conventional wisdom is that Renaissance music is the earliest music that people who haven't had a good deal of exposure and training to early music can enjoy, but it's still a stretch for people who expect Fairport Convention.
At least an acoustic version of many a Fairport song can more closely be called an h/a piece, as they adapted quite a few and just added electric instruments. And even some Jethro Tull songs (not "Locomotive Breath") can be done as long as there are no modern mentions in them (and I think that Wine & Alchemy and their previous incarnation of E Muzeki does/did a great job at covering "Kashmir," and now, "Matty Groves.)"
I do find it terribly hard to hear bluegrass at faire, though and out-and-out country is even worse. Owain Phyfe/Cantiga/New World Renaissance Band definitely do more period music and Empty Hats does a nice job with some traditional and also some original pieces. At MD, we were treated to the wonderful group, Cercamon.