Hell yes.
 

finally! i want to know everyones folk tastes. so put down your 3 favourite folk artists and explain why their so damn great.

mine.
Devandra Banhart: this man is god. hobo turned singer songwriter though to me hes more of a storyteller. all his songs have that quality of enlightenment. you feel as if you've done something useful after listening to his music.
Willy Mason: son of hippie parents and it shows. his lyrics have real meaning and social relevance.
Okkervil River: great band. so experimental and expansive on such a tight budget. will robison sheff is a great songwriter with great vocal ability.
your turn.

i really enjoy willy mason too! i don't know that much about folk but there was this one artist that i enjoyed.he was kinda like a protestor during the vietnam war. he made all these really cool songs like one about math and school, i heard him during my history class, but i forgot who he was...any clues, if you can? sorry if it's a burden but he was hilaríous and i think he used to write on a black board sometimes for visual stimuli. hope that helps...

Cat Stevens?

I really like Paul Simon, Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie

I think Paul Simon is amazing all around for his play style and his writings but mostly with garfunkle, his need for crazy excess seemed to take away from him writings.

Im a huge fan of Tom Waits, and while not all he did is folk, I think when he does folk you can really process his writing style and in my opinion that makes the song better. Of course stupid people tend to be turned off by his voice, which makes him permenantly cool since the pop crowd will never adhere to his CD's.

As for a new artist I really like Langhorn Slim's Electric Love Letter, I don't know if its available for illegal DL but it was on iTunes. Check out the track "Cut it down" which is live but it shows you how well he works a crowd, if you can get through the 7+ mins, you'll know just how well that is.

Also, as a PS, im really into Kathleen Edwards.

martha wainwright is another amazing folk artist with a heavenly voice. check out BMFA. does like to swear a lot though..

"poetry is no place for a heart thats a whore"

What a kick ass opening line. This is pretty good, she has good lyrics, you can tell she's studied the greats. I bet if you read this aloud without music accompaning it, it would sound pretty good still.

Very very true.

I like Richie havens a lot, Old achool Tom Waits quite a bit, Joni Mitchell is my babymama, and me & Joan Baez tight like spandex, ya' herd?

What CD's? I didn't think Closing time was so great, but certainly Blue Valentine, Heart of Saturday Night, and Mule Variations, which isn't old school but is folk.

I like Closing Time. Its a lot different than what he's known for, but there's some good songs. Small Change, Heart of Saturday Night, Heart Attack and Vine, Swordfishtrombones, and Frank's Wild Years are my favorite old scool albums. Definitely not all folk, but still tasty.

Bone Machine is probably my favorite tom waits album.
Earth Died Screaming being my favorite track on it.
Murder in the Red Barn, I dont wanna grow up, Ocean doesnt want me are good tracks from that album as well.

something very interesting for you here. a folk version of the beasties classic "fight for your right (to party)" by andrew paul woodworth.
listen

That was either the coolest thing I ever heard or just plain wrong.

very cool. nothing wrong with it at all!.

wow, certainly wasnt expecting to hear that. Nice.

My three favourites would probably be Tom Waits, Cara Dillon, and Amanda Rogers, with honourable mentions to Nick Drake, Van Morrison and Badly Drawn Boy (which I'd call folk for the masses).

Dave

I think this thread deserves another Bumping for the new guys and it also doubles as a good thread to find out about folk if you aren't into it.

Also, as much as their electric, we shouldn't forget the greatest two things to come out of the 70's Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. Probably noted more for their electric work, their acoustic albums are amazing.

I love me some devendra banhart :D mayn, i really cant get enough of his music!
and then I'd have to say Bob Dylan.. Neil Young.. Bruce Springstein.. Ryan Adams.. Ray Lamontagne.. Tracy Chapman.. Sufjan Stevens.. Xavier Rudd.. well, those are my favorites really.
I consider all those folk, some of you may not tho.. haha Im terrible at categorizing music =P

im in love with devendra banharts music...he really does it for me
iron & wine is another great folk type arstist...same with sufjan stevens

i consider iron & wine kinda indie.. but i can see why u would classify it as folk.. i posted a thread about them cuz i love them too.

to me, iron and wine is more of a singer-songwriter type fellow, but his music just kind of has a folk tinge in my opinion


lets just say he is indie folk



:beer:

haha indie-folk it is


:)

elliott smith
bob dylan
tim buckley