Don’t know if this thread exists and I didn’t look. There’s a lot of great folk music coming out these days in the US. This is an appreciation for all of that, and ESPECIALLY the non-American is accepted as well!
I guess what defines folk? Of course it’s not what we know now as conventional country? Non-electronic? But electronic guitar is ok? It’s an interesting thing to define.
We can call it whatever we want but elements include:
Acoustic Guitar
Banjos
Fiddles
Accordian
Harmonica
Twang
Twingity Twangity twang
Mouth harp
pianos and organs
Hick shit
Interestingly enough, synths are also accepted.
Whatever, we all know what it means. Are you listening to it? Give us your most po-dunk swamp-ass deep-country shit, I want it, Feed it to me.
I’ve been listening to Amigo the Devil a lot these days. I love their lyrics. Idk maybe it’s a bad example and fight me on it! Here’s one thing:
The distance from the man that I am to the man I want to be
The time it takes to realize that time is the distance I need
But I was born impatient and I was born unkind
But I refuse to believe I have to be the same person I was born when I die
Change is alright
Change is alright
I’m not proud of all the choices I’ve made for a lot of my life
Following the shadow when I damn well know that behind me is the light
But I’ve lied to my mother
I’ve made people feel like hell
But I refuse to believe I have to keep being cruel because I’m a coward myself
Time isn’t patience
No, patience takes time
Excuses will only do good if you’re waiting around to die
Everyone is born with self worth
How easily it turns to doubt
It takes letting go of what we know we can’t live without
But the blood in the water
Is the blood of my brother
We both learned it didn’t mean a thing in the end if one was thicker than the other
And I’ve tried having faith
But I’ll rot like a dove
Cause I’ve always been scared of loving someone just a little bit more than I’m loved
You’re sorta right about that. I dont know who Lumineers or Mumford and Sons are, but I just googled both and the two songs that came up Ive heard many times in the background of my life.
I used to listen to a lot of drone folk and absolute weirdo versions of the genre, but I notice that whenever I find something really solid and normal with either country or folk influences, it’s some obscure '70s shit.
Seems like a good challenge though, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack for me.
Great subject @Fidelium and a sign we are all getting older (growing up?)
I like to say “There’s only two kinds of Music… Country and Western.” Well… that made sense up to the '70s but since then there has been a thing growing that blended “Folk” and “Bluegrass” with “Country & Western” and a bit of the '70s spirit of expressive/experimental Rock. All that morphed into “Americana” and there are many European Artists that followed the sprit of this sound.
For a great trip down Memory Lane of the progression of this style check out Garrison Keillor and “A Prairie Home Companion”
That show introduced me to bands like
and
And many more.
Also, let’s not forget the Grateful Dead who where basically a Rock Band but crossed over into the various roots of Americana and created fertile ground for many artists that followed.
I discovered Cosmo Sheldrake about 2 years ago. The music is very unique and not folk, but it does have a lot of folk-like elements. A lot of it is in 3/4 which is a waltz and a waltz is traditionally folk from Austria. His more recent work is more electronic. So there is a crossover there. There is a heavy focus on incorporating animals such as birds and whale song into the melody structure. The wiki on him says:
Much of Sheldrake’s work is concerned with >improvisation, nonsense, and the sonorous >environment.
It’s refreshing to see that music so different has nearly 1 Million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Perhaps not what you’re looking for but If you’re into listening to something that’s different but also musically interesting and holds a certain complexity to it, then have a go.
