List of folk musicians
Encyclopedia
Australia
- Paul KellyPaul Kelly (musician)Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
- Blue King BrownBlue King BrownBlue King Brown are a Melbourne-based, Australian urban roots band. They have released a self-titled EP and a full length album, Stand Up . They released their follow-up Worldwize Part 1 - North & South on 20 August 2010...
- Eric BogleEric BogleEric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...
- Kasey ChambersKasey ChambersKasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of steel guitar player Bill Chambers, and the sister of musician and producer Nash Chambers.-Solo success:...
- Roaring JackRoaring JackRoaring Jack is an Australian Celtic punk/Folk punk band of the 1980s and 1990s. The band formed in 1985 and played their first shows in Sydney in 1986...
- Judy SmallJudy SmallJudy Small is an Australian entertainer, folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known for her feminist, often patriotic, and political songs, usually following a traditional theme, she has produced twelve albums, hundreds of songs and has been described as being among the most popular political...
- The WaifsThe WaifsThe Waifs are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by Josh Cunningham , and sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson...
- Sarah BlaskoSarah BlaskoSarah Elizabeth Blaskow , is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. After fronting Sydney-based band Acquiesce from the mid-1990s, Blasko developed her solo career from 2002. In 2007, she won the 'Best Pop Release' for What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have at the ARIA Music Awards, which...
Indigenous Australians
- Kerrianne CoxKerrianne CoxKerrianne Cox is an Aboriginal singer from Beagle Bay in Western Australia. She has toured widely around Australia and toured USA and South Africa and appeared in the musical Bran Nue Dae in 1996....
- David Hudson
- Archie RoachArchie RoachArchie Roach is an Australian musician. A singer, songwriter and guitarist, he survived a turbulent upbringing to develop into a powerful voice for Indigenous Australians, a storyteller in the tradition of his ancestors, and a nationally popular and respected artist.- Biography :In his own words,...
Ashik
- Ali Ekber ÇiçekAli Ekber ÇiçekAli Ekber Çiçek was born in 1935 in Erzincan, Turkey. His father died in a disastrous earthquake, and his mother suffered financial problems that made it impossible for her to support his education...
- Aşık Mahzuni ŞerifAsik Mahzuni SerifAşık Mahzuni Şerif , also known as Mahsuni Şerif, was a folk musician, ashik, composer, poet, and author from Turkey.Mahzuni Şerif was born in Berçenek village of Afşin, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey in 1940...
- Aşık KhanlarAşık Khanlar- References :...
- Aşık Veysel
- Neşet ErtaşNeset ErtasNeşet Ertaş is a Turkish folk music singer, lyrics writer and a virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as halk şairi, which literally means "folk poet"....
- Aşiq Ələsgər
- JivaniJivani (ashik)Jivani , born Serob Stepani Levonian was an Armenian gusan and poet.-History:Jivani was born in Kartsakh, near Akhalkalaki, Javakheti. He became an orphan when he was 8, his uncle looked after him. He learned music composition and performance on kemanche and violin with the support of master...
- Sayat-NovaSayat-NovaSayat-Nova Sayat-Nova Sayat-Nova (born as Harutyun Sayatyan , was an Armenian poet, musician and ashik who had compositions in a number of languages. His adopted name Sayat Nova meant "Master of Songs" in Persian.- Biography :...
- KaracaoğlanKaracaoglanKaracaoğlan is a 17th century Ottoman folk poet and ashik. His exact dates of birth and death are unknownbut it is widely accepted that he was born around 1606 and died around 1680...
- Kul NesîmîKul NesimiKul Nesîmî, or simply Nesîmî, was an Ottoman Alevi-Bektashi poet, who lived in 17th century in Anatolia.Very little is known about this poet except that certain political events found an expression in his poetry, such as Ottoman conquest of Baghdad in 1640...
- Pir Sultan AbdalPir Sultan AbdalPir Sultan Abdal was a legendary Turkish Alevi poet, whose direct and clear language as well as the richness of his imagination and the beauty of his verses led him to become loved among the Turkish people. Pir Sultan Abdal reflected the social, cultural and religious life of the people; he was a...
Canada
- Susan AglukarkSusan AglukarkSusan Aglukark, OC , is an Inuk musician whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording star in Canada. Her most successful single is "O Siem", which reached #1 on the Canadian country and adult contemporary charts in 1995...
(born 1967) - The BandThe BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
- Kim BarlowKim BarlowKim Barlow is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, based in Whitehorse, Yukon.- Biography :Born in Montreal on March 10, 1969, and raised in rural Nova Scotia, she studied classical guitar at Florida State University before moving to the Yukon....
- Be Good Tanyas
- Heather BishopHeather BishopHeather Bishop, OC is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter primarily known for her work in the field of children's music.- Biography :Bishop has been active in the folk community since the late 1960s. In 1976 she founded Mother of Pearl Records. She recorded her first children's album, Belly Button: A...
- Oscar BrandOscar BrandOscar Brand is a folk singer, songwriter, and author. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs...
(born 1920) - Bruce CockburnBruce CockburnBruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
- Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
(born 1934) - The CottarsThe CottarsThe Cottars are a Canadian Celtic musical group originating from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia- Conception to Feast :From 2000 to March 2006 The Cottars were composed of: Ciarán and Fiona MacGillivray of Albert Bridge, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and The MacKenzies of Cape Breton. In 2006, big...
- Crash VegasCrash VegasCrash Vegas was a Canadian folk rock band which formed in 1988, and achieved moderate success in the early 1990s.-Biography:The band was formed by Michelle McAdorey and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo in 1988. Jocelyne Lanois joined the band as bassist and shortly after Ambrose Pottie as drummer...
- Bonnie DobsonBonnie DobsonBonnie Dobson is a Canadian folk music songwriter, singer, and guitarist, most known in the 1960s for composing the songs "I'm Your Woman" and "Morning Dew"...
(born 1940) - Luke DoucetLuke DoucetLuke Doucet is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He writes and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal....
- The DuhksThe DuhksThe Duhks is a band from Winnipeg, Canada.The members play a blend of Canadian soul, gospel, North American folk, Brazilian samba, old time country string band, zydeco, and Irish dance music. Hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, their music draws heavily on all of the North American musical traditions,...
- Fred EaglesmithFred EaglesmithFrederick John Elgersma , known by the stage name Fred Eaglesmith, is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter, one of nine children raised by a farming family in rural Southern Ontario. As a teenager Eaglesmith hopped a freight train out to Western Canada, and began writing songs and...
- Kathleen EdwardsKathleen EdwardsKathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2003 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates".- Personal life :...
(born 1978) - Stephen FearingStephen FearingStephen Fearing is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter.Fearing was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in Dublin, Ireland. He returned to Canada in 1981 and began pursuing a career in music. In addition to his solo career, Fearing was one of the founding members of Blackie and the Rodeo...
- FerronFerronFerron, born Debby Foisy on , is a Canadian folk singer/songwriter and poet. In addition to being one of Canada's most famous folk musicians, she is one of the most influential writers and performers of women's music, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco, Mary Gauthier...
- Jeremy FisherJeremy FisherJeremy Fisher is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Fisher is based in Montreal, Quebec and was previously based on Vancouver Island, B.C. and in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A....
- Flying Bulgar Klezmer BandFlying Bulgar Klezmer BandThe Flying Bulgars is a Canadian folk music band, who play original music rooted in the folk and celebration music of Jews originating in Eastern Europe. The band's music adds elements of rock, jazz and salsa....
- David FranceyDavid FranceyDavid Francey is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Born in 1954 in Ayrshire, Scotland, Francey immigrated to Canada with his family at age 12. After spending much of his life doing labour such as carpentry, he began a career in folk music, quickly making a name for himself on the folk festival...
(born 1954) - Great Big SeaGreat Big SeaGreat Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
- Great Lake SwimmersGreat Lake SwimmersGreat Lake Swimmers is a Canadian band built around the melodic folk rock songs of singer-songwriter Tony Dekker. Originally from Wainfleet, Ontario, the band is currently based in Toronto....
- Norm HackingNorm HackingNorm Hacking was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter.- Early life :Hacking spent his first six years living in a house that used to be his grandparents, in the Gerrard Street and Victoria Park Avenue area of Scarborough, Ontario. When he was six his family "moved out to 'Scarberia'," he would...
- Sarah HarmerSarah HarmerSarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...
(born 1970) - Hart-RougeHart-RougeHart-Rouge are a Canadian folk music group, consisting of siblings Paul Campagne, Michelle Campagne and Suzanne Campagne.The three previously recorded and performed with several other family members as Folle Avoine, and formed Hart-Rouge with another sibling, Annette Campagne, when that band ended...
- Wade HemsworthWade HemsworthAlbert Wade Hemsworth was a Canadian folk singer and songwriter. Although he was not a prolific composer, having written only about 20 songs during his entire career, several of his songs — most notably "The Wild Goose", "The Black Fly Song" and "The Log Driver's Waltz" — are among the most...
- The Hidden CamerasThe Hidden CamerasThe Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music"...
- Veda HilleVeda HilleVeda Hille is a Canadian singer-songwriter.- Biography :Veda Hille was born in 1968 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She started playing piano when she was 6 at her own insistence. Her family moved around a lot, from the city to the country and back again...
(born 1968) - Ian & Sylvia
- Reid JamiesonReid JamiesonReid Jamieson is a Canadian singer songwriter born October 20, 1973 in Toronto, Ontario.-About:Reid Jamieson is a Canadian singer songwriter, Canadian Musician born and raised in Toronto Ontario and currently living in Vancouver British Columbia. Reid is a regular member of the CBC's Vinyl...
- James KeelaghanJames KeelaghanJames Keelaghan is a Juno award-winning Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Born in Calgary, Alberta and now based in Winnipeg, many of his songs, such as "Kiri's Piano", about the internment of Japanese Canadians, and "October 70", about the FLQ crisis, are inspired by events and figures in Canadian...
- Mary Jane LamondMary Jane LamondMary Jane Lamond is a Canadian celtic folk musician who performs traditional Canadian Gaelic folk songs from Cape Breton Island. She was born in 1960 in Kingston, Ontario, graduated from Westmount High School in Montreal and then the Celtic Studies program at St...
- Gordon LightfootGordon LightfootGordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
(born 1938) - Ashley MacIsaacAshley MacIsaacAshley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island.His album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond was released in 1995...
(born 1975) - Buddy MacMasterBuddy MacMasterHugh Alan "Buddy" MacMaster, is one of the most renowned artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.-Early life:...
- Natalie MacMasterNatalie MacMasterNatalie MacMaster, CM is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music....
- Rita MacNeilRita MacNeilRita MacNeil, CM, ONS is a Canadian country and folk singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray the following year, although she has had hits on the country...
(born 1944) - Travis MacRaeTravis MacRaeTravis MacRae is a Canadian singer/songwriter known for his folk music, for his accomplished guitar and harmonica playing, and for his rough, somewhat Southern-styled vocals...
(born 1984) - Kate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigleKate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
- Loreena McKennittLoreena McKennittLoreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM, is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals...
- Murray McLauchlanMurray McLauchlanMurray McLauchlan, CM is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player.-Biography:Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old...
- Lynn MilesLynn MilesLynn Miles is a Canadian singer-songwriter and winner of the 2003 Juno Award.-Early life and education:Miles was born outside Montreal in the town of Sweetsburg, Quebec. Her father was a harmonica player and jazz fan while her mother listened to both opera and country music. Miles learned to...
- Alan MillsAlan Mills (music)Alan Mills, CM, born Albert Miller was a Canadian folksinger, writer, and actor...
(1933–1977) - Trevor MillsTrevor Mills-Discography:* Session Goin' On, 1998* Karaoke Cowboy, 2003* The Kid With the Comic Book, 2004-External links:* *...
- Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
(born 1943) - Jory NashJory NashJory Nash is a folk music-oriented Canadian singer-songwriter and musician.-Albums:* One Way Down * Tangle With the Ghost * Lo-Fi Northern Blues * Spaz Loves Weezie * Folk, Jazz, Blues & Soul...
- Faith NolanFaith NolanFaith Nolan is a Canadian social activist folk and jazz singer-songwriter and guitarist of mixed African, Mi'kmaq and Irish heritage...
- The PaperboysThe PaperboysThe Paperboys are a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver that formed in 1991. The Paperboys blend Celtic folk with bluegrass, Mexican, Eastern European, African, zydeco, soul and country influences...
- Evalyn ParryEvalyn ParryEvalyn Parry is a Canadian Quaker singer/songwriter and actress/playwright who grew up in Toronto, Ontario in the Kensington Market Neighborhood...
- Po' GirlPo' GirlPo' Girl is a Canadian group whose style derives from folk, country and jazz. The style of music they perform is called "urban roots."The band evolved from a series of jam sessions, in 2000, between Trish Klein of The Be Good Tanyas and Allison Russell, then of Fear of Drinking...
- Garnet RogersGarnet RogersGarnet Rogers is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He began his professional career working with his brother, folk musician Stan Rogers, and arranging Stan's music.-Career:...
(born 1951) - Stan RogersStan RogersStanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
(1949–1983) - Buffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-MarieBuffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
- Jonathan SeetJonathan SeetJonathan Seet is a Canadian singer-songwriter.Seet was born in Singapore to a Singaporean father and an Irish mother who emigrated to Canada shortly after he was born. He currently resides in London, England.-Biography:...
- Ron SexsmithRon SexsmithRonald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...
- Rae SpoonRae SpoonRae Spoon is a Canadian transgender folk/indie singer/songwriter from Calgary, Alberta.His breakthrough album, 2008's Superioryouareinferior, was recorded in Calgary and introduced some electronic music elements into his style.-Biography:...
- Lucie Blue TremblayLucie Blue TremblayLucie Blue Tremblay is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter, who performs music with lesbian themes. She writes and performs material in both English and French....
- ValdyValdyPaul Valdemar Horsdal, CM , commonly known as Valdy, is a Canadian folk musician whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single released in mid-1972 on Haida/A&M.He was a member of the London Town Criers during the 1960s and...
- The Wailin' JennysThe Wailin' JennysThe Wailin' Jennys are a Juno Award-winning Canadian folk trio from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and New York, and they consist of soprano Ruth Moody, mezzo Nicky Mehta and alto Heather Masse. In previous years, the Jennys have also toured with fiddler and mandolinist Jeremy Penner, who is from Ruth's...
- Loudon Wainwright IIILoudon Wainwright IIILoudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
(American expatriate) - Jesse WinchesterJesse WinchesterJesse Winchester is a musician and songwriter who was born and raised in the southern United States. To avoid the Vietnam War draft he moved to Canada in 1967, which is where and when he began his career as a solo artist. His highest charting recordings were of his own tunes, "Yankee Lady" in 1970...
(American expatriate) - Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
(born 1945) - La BolducLa BolducMary Rose-Anna Travers, was a French Canadian singer and musician. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer/songwriter...
(1894–1941) - La Bottine SourianteLa Bottine SourianteLa Bottine Souriante is a folk band from Quebec specialising in traditional Québécois music, often with a modern twist.Formed in 1976, they have toured extensively through North America and Europe. As well as the traditional accordion, fiddle, guitar, piano and double bass, the band added a...
- Serge FioriSerge FioriSerge Fiori was the lead vocalist and guitarist for Harmonium, an influential progressive rock band from Quebec. After Harmonium broke up he pursued a minor solo career.- Biography :...
- HarmoniumHarmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
- Le Rêve du DiableLe Rêve du DiableLe Rêve du Diable is one of the oldest folkloric music bands in the Canadian province of Quebec. The band was founded by Gervais Lessard and made their first, eponymous album in 1976. They have since then released seven albums, their latest in the spring of 2003.-External links:**...
- Le Vent du NordLe Vent du NordLe Vent du Nord is a folk music group from Quebec, Canada. The band, formed in 2002, performs traditional Québécois music in French...
Finland
- AngelitAngelitAngelit, formerly known as Angelin tytöt , is a Finnish Sámi folk music group formed by sisters Ursula and Tuuni Länsman in 1989. However, the history of the group can be traced back to 1982 when Eino Ukkonen, Ursula and Tuuni Länsman's Finnish teacher, took them along with some classmates to sing...
- Timo AlakotilaTimo AlakotilaTimo Alakotila is a Finnish composer, arranger, and musician born July 15, 1959.Timo Alakotila's range of music styles stretches from Finnish folk music of the pelimanni style over some jazz influences to more or less Finnish style tangos, and with some extensions to classical music...
- FriggFrigg (band)Frigg is a Finnish-Norwegian folk music band. Their music is a combination of Kaustinen and Nord-Trondelag with a bit of Americana and Irish folk music mixed in...
- GjallarhornGjallarhorn (group)Gjallarhorn is a band that performs world music with roots in the folk music of Finland. The quartet was born in 1994; its website has not been updated since 2007...
- IslajaIslajaIslaja or Merja Kokkonen is a singer-songwriter and musician from Helsinki, Finland. Besides her solo career, she is a member of free improv and psych folk bands Avarus, Kemialliset Ystävät, and the trio Hertta Lussu Ässä....
- JPPJPPJPP is a group of Finnish folk musicians, mainly fiddlers, hailing from Kaustinen. The name originally meant Järvelän Pikkupelimannit, the small fiddlers of Järvelä, but today the group only uses the abbreviation JPP...
- Konsta JylhäKonsta JylhäIn Finnish fiddling, Konsta Viljam Jylhä was a folk-virtuoso who made the traditional pelimanni-style folk music a Finnish cultural phenomenon of wider currency, bringing his natural genius and traditional style to a burgeoning nationwide television audience, thus laying the foundation for a rich...
- Arto JärveläArto JärveläArto Järvelä is a Finnish fiddler and composer. Because of the many groups and projects he is involved in, he has been called "the busiest man in Finnish folk music". He is primarily a violinist, but among other instruments of his are nyckelharpa, mandolin and kantele...
- Mauno JärveläMauno JärveläMauno Järvelä is a Finnish fiddler, violinist and music pedagogue. He is the uncle of Arto Järvelä, and both of them are members in the successful folk music group JPP, whose roots are the pelimanni tradition from Kaustinen...
- Sari KaasinenSari KaasinenSari Johanna Kaasinen is a Finnish singer. Together with her sister she began a Finnish folk music band called Värttinä....
- Maria KalaniemiMaria KalaniemiMaria Kalaniemi is a Finnish accordionist. She was originally classically trained, but has become mostly as folk musician having played this music from childhood, besides her classical music studies, and also at the folk music department of the Sibelius Academy.Groups she is or has been involved...
- Sanna Kurki-SuonioSanna Kurki-SuonioSanna Kurki-Suonio is a Finnish singer, kantele player and composer in the contemporary folk / neo-folk music genre. She is probably most well-known for her work with the band Hedningarna, which extended over eight years between 1991 and 1999...
- LoitumaLoitumaLoituma is a Finnish quartet whose members combine the Finnish vocal tradition with the sounds of the kantele. Loituma were selected Ensemble of the Year at the 1997 Kaustinen Folk Music Festival.-History:...
- Jenny WilhelmsJenny WilhelmsJenny Wilhelms is a Finnish musician. She studied classical and folk music in many Nordic countries. She was the lead singer of the innovative folk band Gjallarhorn from 1994 to its disbandment in 2007...
- Wimme
- VärttinäVärttinäVärttinä is a Finnish folk music band which was started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen back in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then...
France
- Sacha DistelSacha DistelSacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...
- Maxime Le ForestierMaxime Le ForestierMaxime Le Forestier is a French singer.He was born in Paris to an English father and a French mother who had lived in England. He had two older sisters, Anne and Catherine....
- MalicorneMalicorne (band)- The traditional years :Gabriel Yacoub and Marie Yacoub formed Malicorne in 1974, naming it after the French town, Malicorne, famous for its porcelain and faience. Since several of their albums are called simply Malicorne it had become the custom to refer to them by number, even though no number...
- Gus ViseurGus ViseurGus Viseur, born Gustave-Joseph Viseur was a Belgian/French button accordionist.Gus Viseur was a virtuoso in the musette genre, during the swing era in the 1930s. He is the only jazz accordionist who is a member of the famous Hot Club de France, conducted by Charles Delaunay.-Biography:Gus Viseur...
Brittany
- Dan Ar BrazDan Ar BrazDan Ar Braz, born Daniel Le Bras , is a French guitarist and the founder of Héritage des Celtes.- The apprenticeship years :...
- Jean ChocunTri YannTri Yann is a French band from Nantes , who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.The band was founded in 1970 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remain members – hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned , Jean and Yann being...
- Jean-Paul CorbineauTri YannTri Yann is a French band from Nantes , who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.The band was founded in 1970 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remain members – hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned , Jean and Yann being...
- Jean-Louis JossicTri YannTri Yann is a French band from Nantes , who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.The band was founded in 1970 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remain members – hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned , Jean and Yann being...
- Kej
- KornogKornogKornog is a Breton folk music band formed in the 1980s. They are notable in that they have been perhaps the only Breton band to have had a serious touring presence in the United States, so for many in North America, Kornog defines Breton music. The word ‘kornog’ means “west” in the Breton language...
- Alan StivellAlan StivellAlan Stivell is a Breton musician and singer, recording artist and master of the celtic harp who from the early 1970s revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music.- Background: learning Breton music and culture :Alan was born in the Auvergnat town of Riom...
- Tri YannTri YannTri Yann is a French band from Nantes , who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.The band was founded in 1970 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remain members – hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned , Jean and Yann being...
Paleá dhimotiká
Old traditional songs (Παλαιά δημοτικά) from mainland Greece (PeloponnesePeloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
):
- Aristidis MoschosAristidis MoschosAristeidis Moschos was a Greek player and teacher of the santouri.-Biography:Moschos was born in Agrinio in the Aitoloakarnania prefecture. He was the fifth out of ten children. The family was originally from the village of Pentalofos near the town of Agrinio...
(ˈmosxos; sandouri player) - Chronis AidonidisChronis AidonidisChronis Aidonidis is a Greek singer born on December 23, 1928 in Karoti, a village now belonging to Didymoteicho, in Greece. His parents were Christos and Chrysanthi Aidonidis...
- Haris AlexiouHaris AlexiouHaris Alexiou is a Greek singer. She is considered one of the most popular singers in Greece and has been commercially successful since the 1970s. She has worked with important Greek songwriters and composers, has performed at top musical theatres all over the world and has received several awards...
- Rosa Eskenazi
- Marika PapagikaMarika Papagika-Biography:Marika Papagika was a popular Greek singer in the early 20th century and one of the first Greek women singers to be heard on sound recordings....
- Giorgos PapasiderisGiorgos PapasiderisGiorgos Papasideris was a Greek singer, composer and lyricist of Arvanite origin. He was born on Salamis Island. After leaving elementary school, he spent his entire career working professionally in the field of traditional Greek folk music and Arvanite folk music, producing many popular...
- Vassilis TsitsanisVassilis TsitsanisVassilis Tsitsanis was a Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetika. Tsitsanis wrote more than 500 songs and is still remembered as an extraordinary bouzouki...
- Markos VamvakarisMarkos VamvakarisMarkos Vamvakaris , was a rebetiko musician. He is universally referred to by rebetiko writers and fans simply by his first name, Markos...
(1905–1972)
Greek Macedonian (Makedhonítika - Μακεδονίτικα) and Thracian (Thrakiótika
Music of Thrace
Music of Thrace is the music of Thrace, a region in Southeastern Europe spread over southern Bulgaria , northeastern Greece , and European Turkey ....
- Θρακιώτικα) songs:
Ireland
- ALTALT (band)ALT was a one-off band, featuring former New Zealand band Split Enz frontman Tim Finn, Northern Irish singer/songwriter Andy White and the frontman of the Irish band Hothouse Flowers, Liam Ó Maonlaí, that recorded and played together in 1995....
(Ireland/New Zealand) - Altan
- Paul BradyPaul BradyPaul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...
- Mary BlackMary BlackMary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
- Luka BloomLuka BloomLuka Bloom is an Irish folk-rock singer-songwriter. He is the younger brother of Irish folk singer Christy Moore.-Early life:...
- The Bothy BandThe Bothy BandThe Bothy Band was an Irish traditional band active during the late 1970s. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the most influential bands playing Irish traditional music...
- Kevin Burke
- Karan CaseyKaran CaseyKaran Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.-Early years:Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she...
- The ChieftainsThe ChieftainsThe Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
- The Clancy BrothersThe Clancy BrothersThe Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
- Liam ClancyLiam ClancyWilliam "Liam" Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest and last surviving member of performing group The Clancy Brothers. The group were regarded as Ireland's first pop stars...
- Clannad
- The CorrsThe CorrsThe Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
- De DanannDe DannanDe Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...
- DervishDervish (band)Dervish are a traditional Irish music group from County Sligo, Ireland. They were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh and Michael Holmes. The band was originally formed to record an album of local music which was later released as “The Boys of Sligo”. They...
- Cara DillonCara DillonCara Dillon is an Irish folk singer. In 2001, she launched her career as a solo artist in the UK with the eponymous Cara Dillon album...
- The DublinersThe DublinersThe Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
- Seamus EganSéamus EganSéamus Egan is an Irish musician.-Early days:Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish émigrés Jack and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland....
- Energy OrchardEnergy OrchardEnergy Orchard were an Irish guitar-based rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s, from Belfast. Fronted by Bap Kennedy , their style drew heavily on the influence of Van Morrison and other R&B, but incorporated traditional elements of Irish folk music...
- Seamus EnnisSéamus EnnisSéamus Ennis was an Irish piper, singer and folk-song collector.- Early years :In 1908 James Ennis, Séamus's father, was in a pawn-shop in London. Ennis bought a bag of small pieces of Uilleann pipes. They were made in the early nineteenth century by Coyne of Thomas Street in Dublin. James worked...
- Brian FinneganBrian FinneganBrian Finnegan is a tin whistle and flute player from Armagh, Northern Ireland.Finnegan first came to public attention with the Irish group Upstairs in a Tent, and then in 1993 he made a solo album "When the Party's Over", which was recorded at Redesdale Studios. From 1995 he played with Flook, ....
- Goats Don't ShaveGoats Don't ShaveGoats Don't Shave were an Irish folk rock band formed in 1990. Formed in Dungloe, County Donegal, the group was fronted by singer-songwriter Pat Gallagher and backed by musicians Jason Philbin , Charlie Logue , Declan Quinn , Gerry Coyle , Sean Doherty and Michael Gallagher .The group released two...
- Lisa HanniganLisa HanniganLisa Margaret Hannigan is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. For several years she was a member of Damien Rice's band before beginning her solo career in 2008. She has been the recipient of various award nominations and critical praise both in Ireland and the USA...
- Martin HayesMartin Hayes (musician)Martin Hayes is a fiddler, born in Maghera in East County Clare, Ireland, and now living in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has been the All Ireland Fiddle Champion six times, and has won a National Entertainment Award, and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2000 award for Instrumentalist of the Year...
- Micho RussellMicho RussellMicho Russell was an Irish musician and author best known for his expert tin whistle performance. He also played the simple-system flute and was a collector of traditional music and folklore.-Biography:...
- The JohnstonsThe JohnstonsThe Johnstons were an Irish close-harmony folk band, originally founded in Slane, County Meath, Ireland, consisting of Adrienne, Lucy and Michael Johnston. They began performing in the early 1960s in Slane....
- Dolores KeaneDolores KeaneDolores Keane is an Irish folk singer and occasional actress. She was a founding member of the successful group De Dannan, and has since embarked on a very successful solo career, establishing herself as one of the most loved interpreters of Irish song.-Background:Keane was born in a small village...
- Frankie KennedyFrankie KennedyFrankie Kennedy was a flute and tin whistle player born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was also the co-founder of the band Altan, formed with his wife Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh...
- LúnasaLúnasa (band)-History:Named after Lughnasadh, an ancient Irish harvest festival, Lúnasa was started when Seán Smyth, Trevor Hutchinson, and Donogh Hennessy briefly toured through Scandinavia in 1996. Upon their return to Ireland, they teamed up with Michael McGoldrick and John McSherry to record a few tracks...
- Sinéad LohanSinéad LohanSinéad Lohan is an Irish singer and songwriter of folk music and folk-inspired popular music.A native of Cork, Lohan first came to prominence thanks to the inclusion of her song "Sailing By" on the second installment of the hugely successful "A Woman's Heart" collection.She has released two albums,...
- Tommy MakemTommy MakemThomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...
- Michael McGoldrickMichael McGoldrickMichael McGoldrick is a flute and tin whistle player. He also plays the Uilleann pipes and low whistle. He is well known for his ability to skate switch and regular with the same level of ability.-Bands:...
- Christy MooreChristy MooreChristopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
- Máire Ní ChathasaighMáire Ní ChathasaighMáire Ní Chathasaigh is an Irish harpist and singer. She began playing at only eleven years old, inspired by her family, many of whom are noted musicians from West Cork. She drew heavily on traditional styles, but also created new techniques of ornamentation...
- Muireann Nic AmhlaoibhMuireann Nic AmhlaoibhMuireann Nic Amhlaoibh is a musician and singer from County Kerry, Ireland. She is the lead singer from the traditional music group Danú. Her name is pronounced MWI-ren Nick OWL-eve.-Biography:...
- Maura O'ConnellMaura O'ConnellMaura O'Connell is an Irish singer and actress. She is known for her contemporary interpretations of Irish folk songs, strongly influenced by American country music.-Background:...
- Sinéad O'ConnorSinéad O'ConnorSinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
- Sally OldfieldSally OldfieldSally Oldfield is a singer-songwriter, and the sister of the composers Mike Oldfield and Terry Oldfield.-Early life:...
- PlanxtyPlanxtyPlanxty is an Irish folk music band formed in the 1970s, consisting initially of Christy Moore , Dónal Lunny , Andy Irvine , and Liam O'Flynn...
- The PoguesThe PoguesThe Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
- Fionn ReganFionn ReganFionn Regan is an Irish singer-songwriter and artist from Bray, County Wicklow, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his Mercury-nominated debut album, The End of History...
- Damien RiceDamien RiceDamien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....
- Sharon ShannonSharon ShannonSharon Shannon is an Irish musician. She is best known for her work with the accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 album Sharon Shannon is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released there...
- Davy SpillaneDavy SpillaneDavy Spillane is a songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.early yearsDavy was born in Dublin in 1959 . At the age of 12 he started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him and inspired him with his love of all music genres...
- Patrick StreetPatrick StreetPatrick Street is an Irish folk group.The band was formed in Dublin in 1986 with Kevin Burke on fiddle, Jackie Daly on button accordion, Andy Irvine on bouzouki and vocals, and Arty McGlynn on guitar...
- The WaterboysThe WaterboysThe Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
(Ireland/Scotland) - The Wolfe TonesWolfe TonesThe Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band who incorporate elements of Irish traditional music in their songs. They are named after the Irish rebel and patriot Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double entendre that a wolf tone is a spurious sound...
- Andy WhiteAndy White (drummer)Andrew "Andy" White is a Scottish drummer, best known for replacing Ringo Starr on drums on The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do". White featured on the American 7" single release of the song, which also appeared on the band's debut British album, Please Please Me. He also played drums on the...
(born 1930)
New Zealand
- Martin CurtisMartin CurtisMartin Curtis is a leading New Zealand folksinger and songwriter. Born in Great Britain on February 7, 1944, he came to New Zealand in 1964. In 1976, he and his wife Kay went to Wanaka in Central Otago in the South Island to manage a youth hostel in the town for two weeks. They loved the place, and...
- Flight of the ConchordsFlight of the ConchordsFlight of the Conchords are a New Zealand-based comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an American television series, which premiered in 2007 on HBO, also called Flight of the Conchords.They were named...
- Luke HurleyLuke HurleyLuke Hurley is an independent New Zealand guitarist and singer-songwriter, who works mostly outside the confines of the music industry. He was born in Kenya, and later moved with his family to Gore in Southland, New Zealand when aged 12...
- Martha Louise
- Bob McNeillBob McNeillBob J. McNeill, born October 22, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association from 1960 to 1962. Bobby McNeill was born near 2nd & Allegheny in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. As a Senior at North Catholic High,...
- Chris PriestleyChris Priestley- Biography and career :Chris Priestley was born in Hull, and has lived in Wales and Gibraltar. As a nine-year-old, he won a prize in a story-writing competition. Between 1976 and 1980, he studied at Manchester Polytechnic. Since 1983, he published his illustrations in The Times, The Independent,...
- Bic RungaBic RungaBriolette Kah Bic Runga MNZM is a New Zealand pop recording artist whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ charts. She has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists in recent history...
- ShinerShiner (band)-History:The group formed in 1992, and quickly found wide exposure, releasing a vinyl EP in 1993 and touring with acts such as Sunny Day Real Estate, Chore, Jawbox, Season to Risk, The Jesus Lizard, and Girls Against Boys. The group released their first LP, Splay in 1996, and a second album, Lula...
- Mahinarangi TockerMahinarangi TockerMahinārangi Tocker, MNZM was a singer-songwriter from New Zealand.She wrote more than 600 songs in a 25-year career. Her vocal style has been compared to that of Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman...
- Marcus TurnerMarcus TurnerMarcus Turner is one of New Zealand's best-known folk musicians and songwriters, who has performed in most New Zealand folk festivals, as well as festivals in Australia, and in venues in other places overseas...
Norway
- FriggFrigg (band)Frigg is a Finnish-Norwegian folk music band. Their music is a combination of Kaustinen and Nord-Trondelag with a bit of Americana and Irish folk music mixed in...
- MyllargutenMyllargutenTargjei Augundsson , better known as Myllarguten , is arguably the most acknowledged Norwegian folk musician to this day, and by far the most legendary.-Childhood:...
- Annbjørg LienAnnbjørg LienAnnbjørg Lien is a Norwegian musician. She plays the hardingfele , violin, and nyckelharpa....
- Chateau Neuf SpelemannslagChateau Neuf SpelemannslagChateau Neuf Spelemannslag is a Norwegian folk music band that is experimenting with different musical styles. The band was formed in 1994 at the University of Oslo, and consists of some nineteen odd instrumental players and vocalists...
South Africa
- Ladysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black MambazoLadysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards...
- Mahotella QueensMahotella QueensThe Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
- Miriam MakebaMiriam MakebaMiriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
- PlushPlush (band)For the artist Liam Hayes and Plush, please see Liam Hayes. This article concerns itself with the South African band Plush.-Members:Rory Eliot is lead singer and rhythm guitarist. He was born in Durban in 1980. He began singing at age 8, got his first guitar at 15 and then combined music and words...
Spain
- La MusgañaLa MusgañaLa Musgaña is a Spanish folk music ensemble, founded in 1986 by Enrique Almendros, Jose Marti Climent and Rafa Martin. The band incorporates various instruments such as the dulcimer, fiddle, hurdy gurdy, bagpipes, flutes, guitar and bass, and performs traditional music from the Iberian peninsula,...
- Llan de CubelLlan de CubelLlan de Cubel are a Celtic folk band from Asturias which specializes in researching, playing and recording Asturian folk music.Formed in 1984, the seven member group has been part of an overall revival and revitalization of Asturian traditional music...
- HeviaHeviaJosé Ángel Hevia Velasco, known professionally as Hevia , is a Spaniard bagpiper – specifically, an Asturian gaita player. He commonly performs with his sister, Maria José, on drums...
- Luar Na LubreLuar na Lubre-Etymology:Luar is Galician for moonlight; lubre is a magical forest in which the Celtic druids cast their spells.-Biography:During its career, this musical group has spread Galician music and culture. The band became famous worldwide after Mike Oldfield took interest in their music...
- Jorge Pardo
- Carlos NuñezCarlos NúñezCarlos Núñez is a Galician musician who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe.-Life and career:Nuñez was born in 1971 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. He began playing the bagpipes when he was eight years old. In his early teens, he was invited to play with the Festival Orchestra of the...
- Radio TarifaRadio TarifaRadio Tarifa was a Spanish World music ensemble combining Flamenco, Arab-Andalusian music, Arabian music, Moorish music and also influences of the Mediterranean, of the Middle Ages and of the Caribbean. The name of the ensemble comes from an imaginary radio station in Tarifa, a small town in the...
- Narciso YepesNarciso YepesNarciso Yepes was a Spanish guitarist.-Biography:Yepes was born into a family of humble origin in Lorca, Region of Murcia. His father gave him his first guitar when he was four years old. He took his first lessons from Jesus Guevara, in Lorca...
Sweden
- FrifotFrifotFrifot is a Swedish folk music trio which was formed in 1987. Its members are Lena Willemark, Per Gudmundson and Ale Möller. When it was first formed, the group called themselves Möller, Willemark & Gudmundson; the name Frifot, literally footloose, comes from the lyrics of one of the songs they play...
- GarmarnaGarmarnaGarmarna is a Swedish folk rock band. Their songs are mainly old Scandinavian ballads.- Biography :Garmarna was founded in 1990. Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Gotte Ringqvist and Rickard Westman were inspired by old Swedish music, which they had heard in a theatre. They began searching for old tunes and...
- Per GudmundsonPer GudmundsonPer Gudmundson is a Swedish folk musician. He plays the fiddle and has also been instrumental in the revival of the Swedish bagpipes in Swedish folk music together with instrument maker Leif Eriksson....
- HedningarnaHedningarnaHedningarna is a Swedish and, for some years partly Finnish, folk music band that mixes electronics and rock with elements from old Scandinavian folk music. Their music features Yoik or juoiggus, a traditional Sami form of song.-History:...
- Emma HärdelinEmma HärdelinEmma Härdelin is a Swedish musician. She is a violinist and lead singer in folk-rock band Garmarna, which she joined in 1993 for their first album, and also lead singer for the folk band Triakel....
- Pehr HörbergPehr HörbergPehr Hörberg was born January 31, 1746 in Virestad parish in Småland, Sweden and died January 24, 1816 in Risinge in Östergötland, Sweden, was a Swedish artist, painter and musician...
- Åsa JinderÅsa JinderÅsa Jinder is a player of the nyckelharpa , and composer, producer, journalist, author and lecturer...
- Hållbus Totte MattsonHållbus Totte MattsonHållbus Totte Mattson is a multi-instrumentalist folk musician from Dalarna, Sweden. Mattson's instruments include the lute, baroque lute, mandora, bass mandora, hummel, classical guitar, baroque guitar Mora-oud, accordion, Swedish dulcimer, hurdy gurdy and vocals.Mattson was a founding member in...
- Ale MöllerAle MöllerAle Möller is a Swedish musician and composer.He was born and grew up in Scania in southern Sweden and started in music as a jazz trumpet player...
- Anders NoruddeAnders NoruddeAnders Norudde is a Swedish folk musician, multi-instrumentalist, and luthier.After finishing school, Anders took a job at the ironworks in Degerfors, where, in his spare time, he practiced orienteering and played rock music on the guitar...
- SwåpSwåpSwåp are an Anglo-Swedish band that produce a musical fusion of traditional nordic music and celtic music.-Biography:Swåp was formed in 1995 by Karen Tweed , Ian Carr , Ola Bäckström and Carina Normansson...
- Roger TallrothRoger TallrothKarl Johan Roger Tallroth, born in 1958, is a Swedish folk musician and composer, best known as a member of the band Väsen. He was educated at the Sjövik Folk High School and the School of Music in Örebro University. Principally a guitarist, he also plays other stringed instruments such as the...
- TriakelTriakelTriakel is a Swedish folk band. They mostly perform old Swedish folk songs, particularly those from the Jämtland area, but also include songs by contemporary folk artists....
- VäsenVäsenVäsen is a Swedish folk music band originally consisting of Olov Johansson , Mikael Marin and Roger Tallroth . Later André Ferrari also joined the group. they have released 14 albums, and have toured every year also outside of Europe...
- Lena WillemarkLena WillemarkLena Willemark is a Swedish traditional music fiddler, singer, and composer.For several decades Willemark has been widening her scope through collaborations with jazz musicians and other artists...
- The Tallest Man On EarthThe Tallest Man on EarthKristian Matsson is a singer-songwriter from Dalarna, Sweden. Since 2006, he has released two full-length albums and two EPs...
Turkey
- Neşet ErtaşNeset ErtasNeşet Ertaş is a Turkish folk music singer, lyrics writer and a virtuoso of the traditional Turkish instrument bağlama. His profession in Turkish is known as halk şairi, which literally means "folk poet"....
- Selda BağcanSelda BağcanSelda Bağcan is a Turkish singer and guitarist. She was born in 1948. The Turkish military rulers persecuted her in the 1980s due to her political songs.-External links:* – official website* discography at Discogs...
- Musa EroğluMusa EroğluMusa Eroğlu is a Turkish folk musician and bağlama virtuoso.He was born in the Mut county district of Mersin. He completed his secondary education...
- Arif SağArif SagArif Sağ is a singer, bağlama virtuoso and leading figure in modern Turkish folk music, as well as a former MP in the Turkish parliament, and an academic....
- Belkis AkkaleBelkis AkkaleBelkis Akkale is a distinguished Turkish singer of Turkish folk music.She was born in 1956 in Malatya, Turkey.-References:...
- Hasret GültekinHasret GültekinHasret Gültekin was an Alevi Kurdish musician and poet who was murdered, along with 37 other people, in the Sivas Province of Turkey when a fundemantalist Islamist mob set fire to the hotel at which he was staying....
- Brenna MacCrimmonBrenna MacCrimmonBrenna MacCrimmon is a Canadian folk singer from Toronto, Ontario, who has been performing, studying and teaching Balkan and Turkish music since the late 1980s. She speaks and sings perfect Turkish and is internationally acclaimed as a Turkish folk singer....
- Ali Ekber CicekAli Ekber ÇiçekAli Ekber Çiçek was born in 1935 in Erzincan, Turkey. His father died in a disastrous earthquake, and his mother suffered financial problems that made it impossible for her to support his education...
- Baba ZulaBaba ZulaBaba Zula is a Turkish musical group, founded in Istanbul in 1996, featuring founding members Levent Akman and Murat Ertel as well as Coşar Kamçı, who replaced original member Emre Onel in 2005. BaBa Zula added live drawing artist Ceren Oykut into the mix in 2004. She left the band in 2010. Her...
- Lalezar EnsembleLalezar EnsembleThe Lalezar Ensemble is a musical ensemble which performs Ottoman classical music, is based in Istanbul, and is, "spearheading," the revival of Ottoman music....
- Udi Hrant
- Uğur Işılak
England
- Harvey AndrewsHarvey AndrewsHarvey John Andrews is an English singer, songwriter, and poet.-Career:From 1964, Andrews supported his nascent career as a singer/songwriter by working as a schoolteacher, before becoming a full-time professional musician in 1966.Harvey Andrews has produced 17 successful albums singing his own...
- Bombay Bicycle ClubBombay Bicycle ClubBombay Bicycle Club are a British indie rock and folk band from Crouch End, London. The band comprises: Jack Steadman , Jamie MacColl , Ed Nash and Suren de Saram ....
- Joan ArmatradingJoan ArmatradingJoan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
- Frankie ArmstrongFrankie ArmstrongFrankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
- Badly Drawn BoyBadly Drawn BoyDamon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
- Roy BaileyRoy Bailey (folk singer)Roy Bailey MBE , is a British socialist folk singer. Roy began his singing career in a skiffle group in 1958.Colin Irwin from the music magazine Mojo said Bailey represents "the very soul of folk's working class ideals.....
- Peter BellamyPeter BellamyPeter Franklyn Bellamy was an English folk singer. He was a founding member of The Young Tradition but also had a long solo career, recording numerous albums and touring folk clubs and concert halls...
- BlowzabellaBlowzabellaBlowzabella are an English band who play bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies and an array of acoustic instruments to produce an inimitable, driving, drone-based sound influenced by British and European traditional dance music.-History:...
- Jon BodenSpiers and BodenSpiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.-Biography:...
- Billy BraggBilly BraggStephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
- Anne BriggsAnne BriggsAnne Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she traveled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music...
- Vashti BunyanVashti BunyanVashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. In 1970, Bunyan released her first album, Just Another Diamond Day. The album sold very few copies, and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career...
- Eliza CarthyEliza CarthyEliza Carthy is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.-Life and career:...
- Martin CarthyMartin CarthyMartin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
- Ian CarterIan CarterIan Noel Carter is a Canadian former association football player who played at both professional and international levels as a-Early and personal life:Born in Birmingham, England, Carter grew up in the Canadian city of Mississauga....
- Stornoway (band)Stornoway (band)Stornoway is a British alternative indie folk band from the Cowley area of Oxford. It consists of singer and guitarist Brian Briggs; multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman, and the latter's brother Rob on drums. The band is usually joined by trumpeter Adam Briggs and violinist Rahul Satija...
- Dolly CollinsDolly CollinsDorothy Ann Collins, known as Dolly Collins , was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins....
- Shirley CollinsShirley CollinsShirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...
- Christine CollisterChristine CollisterChristine Collister is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adaptation of Fay Weldon's book The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.Prior to this, in...
- Coope Boyes and SimpsonCoope Boyes and SimpsonCoope, Boyes and Simpson are an English vocal folk trio, formed around 1990. Their sound is rich and often has unusual vocal harmonies.The group comprises singers Barry Coope, Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson, and almost all of their music is sung entirely a capella, although they have occasionally...
- Pete CooperPete Cooper (musician)Pete Cooper is a London-based fiddler who performs as a solo artist and with Cooper and Bolton and Rattle on the Stovepipe. His travels around the world have inspired his playing of many traditional fiddle styles including Irish, Old-Time American, Swedish, Eastern European and Scottish as well as...
- Copper familyCopper FamilyThe Copper Family are a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied English folk song. Originally from Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England, the nucleus of the family now live in the neighbouring village of Peacehaven.-History:...
- Harry CoxHarry CoxHarry Fred Cox , was a Norfolk farmworker and one of the most important singers of traditional English music of the twentieth century, on account of his large repertoire and fine singing style....
- Andy CuttingAndy CuttingAndy Cutting is an English folk musician and composer. Born 18 March 1969 in Harrow, he plays melodeon and has had instruments made by Castagnari to his own specification. He won the Folk Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2008 and 2011...
- Sandy DennySandy DennySandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
- Lonnie DoneganLonnie DoneganAnthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
- DonovanDonovanDonovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
- Nick DrakeNick DrakeNicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
- Barry DransfieldBarry DransfieldBarry Dransfield is an English folk singer, fiddler, cellist and guitarist. He has appeared as a session musician on numerous albums by other artists, and has released his own albums as well. Lord of All I Behold was voted Melody Maker folk album of the year...
- Nigel EatonNigel EatonNigel Eaton is an English hurdy gurdy player. He originally played the piano and cello but switched to the hurdy gurdy in 1981 when his father, Christopher Eaton, began making them. He performed as part of the dance band Blowzabella from 1985 and recorded five albums with them before their split in...
- Edward IIEdward II (band)Edward II is an English band named for King Edward II, which play a fusion of world music, English folk and reggae. Active from 1985, the band broke up after losing several key members in 1999, relaunching as "e2K" in 2000...
- Emmy the GreatEmmy the GreatEmma-Lee Moss , known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is a London-based singer-songwriter. She has released two albums, First Love and Virtue.-Early life:Moss was born in Hong Kong to an English father and a Chinese mother...
- Fairport ConventionFairport ConventionFairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
- Flook
- Jo FreyaJo FreyaJo Freya is an English saxophonist, clarinetist and singer.She was born Jo Fraser, but changed her name to Jo Freya as a condition of joining the actors' union Equity, which does not allow two of its members to share the same name...
- Vin GarbuttVin GarbuttVin Garbutt , though second generation Irish, is an English folk singer and songwriter...
- Davey GrahamDavey GrahamDavid Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
- David GrayDavid Gray (musician)David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...
- Clive GregsonClive GregsonClive Gregson is an English singer/songwriter, musician and record producer. He has toured in bands, provided backup for well-known musicians, and written songs that have been covered by Kim Carnes, Norma Waterson and Nanci Griffith.-Solo:At the end of 1984 Gregson released his first solo record,...
- John Wesley HardingJohn Wesley Harding (singer)Wesley Stace is a folk/pop singer-songwriter and author who goes by the stage name John Wesley Harding. He has called his style of music folk noir and gangsta folk...
- Bella HardyBella HardyArwen Arabella Hardy, known professionally as Bella Hardy, is a contemporary folk musician, singer and songwriter from Edale in Derbyshire...
- Roy HarperRoy HarperRoy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
- Boo HewerdineBoo HewerdineBoo Hewerdine is an English singer-songwriter. His work includes lead singer and creative force behind The Bible, formed in the 1980s, and reformed in 1994, as well as solo recordings and work for film. He lives in Ely....
- Robyn HitchcockRobyn HitchcockRobyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
- Ashley HutchingsAshley HutchingsAshley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
- Slow ClubSlow ClubSlow Club is a folk-rock duo from Sheffield, England. The band formed in 2006, after the break-up of Sheffield band The Lonely Hearts.-History:The band is made up of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor...
- Joe HuttonJoe Hutton (piper)Joe Hutton was born in Halton Lea Gate, near Haltwhistle in the west of Northumberland. Like his father, Jake, he was a shepherd, and a musician - he started on the fiddle, but took up the Northumbrian smallpipes after hearing P.J. Liddell and G.G. Armstrong playing at a concert in 1936. He...
- Bert JanschBert JanschHerbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
- Nic JonesNic JonesNicolas Paul "Nic" Jones is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player whose professional career spanned the years 1964-1982. He recorded five solo albums, and was a frequent guest performer.-Biography:...
- Wizz JonesWizz JonesRaymond Ronald Jones better-known as Wizz Jones is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present...
- Fred JordanFred Jordan (singer)Fred Jordan was a farm worker from Ludlow, Shropshire, and is noted as one of the great musically untutored traditional English singers. He was first recorded in the 1940s by folk music researcher Alan Lomax and, over subsequent decades endeared himself to the English folk-song revival movement...
- William KimberWilliam KimberWilliam "Merry" Kimber , was an English concertina player and Morris dancer who played a key role in the twentieth century revival of Morris Dancing, the traditional English folk dancing...
- John Kirkpatrick
- Chris Leslie
- Bert Lloyd
- Jez LoweJez LoweJez Lowe is an English folk singer-songwriter. Lowe was born and raised in County Durham, in a coal mining family with Irish roots. He is known primarily for his compositions dealing with daily life in North-East England, particularly in his hometown of Easington Colliery. He performs both as a...
- Kirsty MacCollKirsty MacCollKirsty Anna MacColl was an English singer-songwriter.MacColl scored several pop hits from the early 1980s to the early 1990s...
- Laura MarlingLaura MarlingLaura Beatrice Marling is an English folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire.Initially prominent within the London folk scene, she has also toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim and her second album I Speak Because I Can were nominated for...
- John Martyn
- Iain MatthewsIain MatthewsIain Matthews is an English musician and songwriter. He was born Iain Matthew McDonald, in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He was known in the 1960s first as Ian McDonald, then as the 1960s progressed, as Ian Matthews...
- Kirsty McGeeKirsty McGeeKirsty McGee is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who started performing on the Manchester band scene when she was fourteen but then moved onto the acoustic music scene where she built herself a reputation with well-crafted original songs...
- Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
- Pete MortonPete MortonPete Morton is a folk singer-songwriter who currently lives in London, England.-Biography:Morton was born in Leicester, England on July 30, 1964, and was educated at Countesthorpe Community College where he spent most of his time in the music block learning guitar and playing new wave and punk songs...
- Simon NicolSimon NicolSimon John Breckenridge Nicol is a guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founder member of British folk rock, or electric folk group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band...
- Old Swan BandOld Swan Band-Early years:Its origins lie in the early 1970s with the English country dance band Oak, one of a tiny handful at that time that combined melodeon with fiddles. Two members of Oak, husband and wife Rod and Danny Stradling , went on to form The Cotswold Liberation Front, which became The Old Swan...
- Beth OrtonBeth OrtonBeth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...
- OysterbandOysterbandOysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.-Early history:...
- Maddy PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
- Mumford and Sons
- John RenbournJohn RenbournJohn Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
- Saul RoseSaul RoseSaul Rose is an English folk melodeon player and singer.- Biography :Born in Harrow, he first picked up the melodeon after breaking his leg at the age of eleven and was taught his first tunes by his father....
- Kate RusbyKate RusbyKate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
- Ed SheeranEd SheeranEdward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter who is currently signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records. Sheeran broke through commercially in June 2011, when his debut single "The A Team" debuted at number 3 on the UK chart.-Early life:Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire to...
- Martin SimpsonMartin SimpsonMartin Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in the British Isles, America and beyond.-Biography:...
- Steeleye SpanSteeleye SpanSteeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
- John SpiersSpiers and BodenSpiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box.-Biography:...
- Cat StevensCat StevensYusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
- Joe SummersJoe SummersJoseph Summers is an English songwriter and musician. Originally from Walsall, he is now based out of Cheltenham, where he has developed his sound, following in the footsteps of and sharing stages with some of his favourite artists, such as the legendary Steve Winwood on his recent European tour...
- Dave SwarbrickDave SwarbrickDave Swarbrick is an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British, and many World folk violin players that have followed him...
- June TaborJune TaborJune Tabor is an English folk singer.- Early years :June Tabor was inspired to sing by hearing Anne Briggs' EP Hazards of Love in 1965. "I went and locked myself in the bathroom for a fortnight and drove my mother mad. I learned the songs on that EP note for note, twiddle for twiddle. That's how I...
- John TamsJohn TamsJohn Tams is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician.- Folk musician :John Tams was a member of Derbyshire folk group Muckram Wakes in the 1970s, then worked with Ashley Hutchings as singer and melodeon-player on albums including Son of Morris On, and as a member of the...
- Scan TesterScan TesterScan Tester was an English folk and English country musician.-Overview:Lewis "Scan" Tester was born in Chelwood Gate, near Horsted Keynes, Sussex. At about the age of five he acquired the nickname "scantelope"...
- Richard Thompson
- Teddy ThompsonTeddy ThompsonTeddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...
- Karen TweedKaren TweedKaren Tweed is a piano accordionist from London, England.-Biography:Tweed began to play the piano accordion at the age of 11, studying from button and piano accordion virtuoso John Whelan, and went on to win the first of 5 all-Ireland championships in 1977...
- UiscedwrUiscedwrUiscedwr is a trio which plays British folk music influenced by world music. The group started off as a trio and was originally based in Manchester.Uiscedwr won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2002 ....
- Lal WatersonLal WatersonLal Waterson was an English folksinger and songwriter. She sang with, among others, The Watersons, The Waterdaughters and Blue Murder. She was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and died suddenly in Robin Hood's Bay, of cancer diagnosed only ten days before...
- Norma WatersonNorma WatersonNorma Christine Waterson is an English musician, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a premier English traditional group. Other members of the group included her brother Mike Waterson and sister Lal Waterson, and in later incarnations of the group her husband Martin...
- The WatersonsThe WatersonsThe Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies.-Career:...
- WhippersnapperWhippersnapper (band)Whippersnapper was an English folk band formed in 1984, consisting of Dave Swarbrick , Chris Leslie , Kevin Dempsey and Martin Jenkins ....
- Roger WilsonRoger Wilson (folk musician)Roger Wilson is an English folk singer, fiddler, guitarist, and songwriter who, he says, abandoned a graphic design career to become a full-time musician in 1986. He was a member of The House Band and later joined Chris Wood and Martin Carthy in performances...
- Chris WoodChris Wood (folk musician)Chris Wood is an English folk musician and composer who plays fiddle, viola and guitar, and sings. He is an ardent enthusiast for traditional English dance music , including Morris and other rituals and ceremonies, but his repertoire also includes much French folk music and traditional Québécois...
- The Young TraditionThe Young TraditionThe Young Tradition were a British folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly traditional British folk music, sung in arrangements for their three unaccompanied voices.-Biography:...
Northumberland
- Tommy Armstrong
- Will AtkinsonWill Atkinson (musician)Will Atkinson started off as a player of the English diatonic accordion, but became a harmonica player and a contributor to the Music of Northumbria...
- Tom CloughTom CloughTom Clough , known as 'The Prince of Pipers', was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He had studied the instrument with the noted piper Thomas Todd, and from his own father Henry Clough...
- Johnny HandleJohnny HandleJohnny Handle is an English folk musician and singer/songwriter. Starting as a skiffle player in 1957 he soon crossed into folk music both as a soloist and as a member of The High Level Ranters. His repertoire is heavily influenced by the traditional music of North East England and, in particular,...
- Joe HuttonJoe Hutton (piper)Joe Hutton was born in Halton Lea Gate, near Haltwhistle in the west of Northumberland. Like his father, Jake, he was a shepherd, and a musician - he started on the fiddle, but took up the Northumbrian smallpipes after hearing P.J. Liddell and G.G. Armstrong playing at a concert in 1936. He...
- Jack the LadJack The LadJack the Lad was a folk rock or electric folk group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into much more traditional territory and were in the...
- James HillJames Hill (folk musician)James Hill was a British fiddler-composer and publican who lived in Newcastle and Gateshead for most or all of his short life. He is famous as the composer of many fine common-time hornpipes for fiddle, including The High Level Bridge, The Beeswing, The Hawk and The Omnibus...
- Nancy KerrNancy KerrNancy Kerr is an English folk musician, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is the daughter of London-born singer-songwriter Sandra Kerr and Northumbrian piper Ron Elliott....
- Sandra KerrSandra KerrSandra Kerr is an English folk singer.Sandra Kerr was born in Plaistow, Newham, London. She was a member of The Critics Group from 1963 to 1972.She sings and plays English concertina, guitar, appalachian dulcimer and autoharp....
- Andy MayAndy MayAndy May , is a television and radio presenter and football commentator.-Broadcasting career:Andy is the UK Reporter and Producer for ESPN Star Sports - covering Premier League football and the Olympic games. He also presents a Spanish football programme, La Liga Weekly, for Sky Sports News Radio...
- Billy PiggBilly PiggBilly Pigg was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a Vice-President and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.-Life and music:...
- Jock PurdonJock PurdonJock Purdon , a poet and songwriter, was born George Purdon in the village of Nitshill near Glasgow. Although Nitshill had been a coal mining village, the mine had closed before Purdon grew up and it was a strange twist of fate that saw him spend most of his life as a coal miner in a pit in...
(1925–1998) - Colin Ross
- Kathryn TickellKathryn TickellKathryn Tickell is an English player of the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. She has recorded over a dozen albums, and toured widely.-Life and career:...
- The Witches of ElswickThe Witches of ElswickThe Witches of Elswick are an English A cappella folk quartet. They are: Becky Stockwell, Gillian Tolfrey, Bryony Griffith and Fay Hield. Much of their material comes from traditional music of the British Isles, including Two Sisters, Lord Randall, and Daddy Fox...
Scotland
- Amy MacDonaldAmy Macdonald (singer)Amy Macdonald is a Scottish recording artist. Macdonald rose to fame in 2007 with her debut album, This Is the Life and its fourth single, "This Is the Life". The single charted at number one in six different countries worldwide, and charted inside the top ten in another eleven countries worldwide...
- Tom AndersonTom Anderson (fiddler)Dr. Tom Anderson MBE, was a renowned Shetland fiddler and teacher. He was affectionately known to his peers as "Muckle Tammie" .Dr...
(1910–1991) - Aly BainAly BainAly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
- Battlefield BandBattlefield BandBattlefield Band is a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, there are no founder members in the band....
- Martyn BennettMartyn BennettMartyn Bennett was a Scottish musician who was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...
(1971–2005) - Eric BogleEric BogleEric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...
- CapercaillieCapercaillieThe Western Capercaillie , also known as the Wood Grouse, Heather Cock or Capercaillie , is the largest member of the grouse family, reaching over 100 cm in length and 6.7 kg in weight. The largest one ever recorded in captivity had a weight of 7.2 kg....
- The CorriesThe CorriesThe Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...
- Ian Campbell Folk GroupIan Campbell Folk GroupThe Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They performed a mixture of British traditional folk music and...
- Rachel HairRachel HairRachel Hair is folk harpist from Scotland. Of mixed Scots-Irish parentage, she was born and brought up in the village of Ullapool. She studied music at the University of Strathclyde where she gained a first class honors degree....
- Johnny CunninghamJohnny CunninghamJohnny Cunningham was a Scottish folk musician. He was a founding member of Silly Wizard, as well as a member of Relativity, The Raindogs, and Nightnoise. Throughout his career, Cunningham was also a fiddler, composer and producer. His younger brother, Phil Cunningham, is a multi-instrumentalist...
(1957–2003) - Phil CunninghamPhil Cunningham (folk musician)Phil Cunningham, MBE, born 1960 in Edinburgh, Scotland is a Scottish folk musician and composer.-Biography:Phil played accordion and violin from a very young age. He attended school in Portobello, and was raised Mormon, attending church regularly and playing organ...
- Gordon DuncanGordon DuncanGordon Duncan was a Scottish bagpiper. He began playing at the age of eight, taught initially by Bill Hepburn then by his father and his older brother Ian Duncan, himself a successful piper and Pipe Major...
(1963–2005) - Archie FisherArchie FisherArchie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...
- Ray FisherRay FisherRay Lyle Fisher was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball. His debut game took place on July 2, 1910. His final game took place on October 2, 1920...
- Dick GaughanDick GaughanRichard Peter Gaughan usually known as Dick Gaughan is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs.-Early years:...
- Alistair HulettAlistair HulettAlistair Hulett, was a Scottish acoustic folk singer and revolutionary socialist, best known as the singer of the folk punk band, Roaring Jack.-Early life:...
- The House BandThe House BandThe House Band was a musical group formed in Edinburgh in 1984 by musicians Ged Foley , Jimmy Young , Iain Macleod and Chris Parkinson...
- The Incredible String Band
- Bert JanschBert JanschHerbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
- James MackintoshJames MackintoshSir James Mackintosh was a Scottish jurist, politician and historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a journalist, judge, administrator, professor, philosopher and politician.-Early life:Mackintosh was born at...
- The McCalmansThe McCalmansThe McCalmans were a folk song trio from Scotland. Formed in 1964, they recorded and toured without interruption up until they disbanded in December 2010....
- Ewan MacCollEwan MacCollEwan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
(1915–1989) - Catriona MacDonaldCatriona MacDonaldCatriona McDonald is a musician and teacher from Shetland and is considered to be one of the world's leading traditional fiddle players.- Background :...
- Karine PolwartKarine PolwartKarine Polwart is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide...
- Alasdair Roberts
- ShoogleniftyShoogleniftyShooglenifty are an Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock...
- SileasSileasSíleas is a Scottish harp duo. Patsy Seddon plays electric harp and gut-strung harp, and Mary Macmaster plays electric harp and metal-strung harp. Together they make up part of the all-women folk band The Poozies....
- Silly WizardSilly WizardSilly Wizard was a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students—Gordon Jones and Bob Thomas...
- The Tannahill WeaversThe Tannahill WeaversThe Tannahill Weavers are a popular band who performs traditional Scottish music. Releasing their first album in 1976 they became notable for being one of the first popular bands to incorporate the sound of the Great Highland Bagpipe in an ensemble setting, and in doing so helped to change the...
- Linda ThompsonLinda Thompson (singer)Linda Thompson is a British singer. Born Linda Pettifer in Hackney, Thompson became one of the most recognised names—and voices—in the British folk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s, in collaboration with her former husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard...
(born 1948) - Simon ThoumireSimon ThoumireSimon Thoumire is a Scottish musician and a concertina virtuoso.Thoumire has played all over the world. A winner of the BBC Radio 2 Young Tradition Award in 1989, Thoumire has always been keen to explore different genres of music, releasing many records over the years delving into folk, jazz,...
- WolfstoneWolfstoneWolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Highland music combined with rock and roll. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. To date, they have released seven studio albums, the latest, Terra Firma, in 2007. The band record on their own...
- Billy ConnollyBilly ConnollyWilliam "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
Wales
- FernhillFernhillFernhill is a residential district in the Scottish town of Rutherglen in Lanarkshire. It is situated south of the River Clyde. Built largely in the 1950s and 60s as a slum clearance area for Rutherglen, Fernhill could be considered as a smaller equivalent to the infamous Castlemilk estate which...
- Mary HopkinMary HopkinMary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....
- Sian James
- Ceri Rhys MatthewsCeri Rhys MatthewsCeri Rhys Matthews is a Welsh traditional musician, record producer, and teacher.-Biography:Matthews was born in Swansea, Wales...
- Julie MurphyJulie MurphyJulie Murphy is a singer who sings in Welsh and English. She sings in the Welsh band Fernhill, as well as performing and recording as a solo artist.She has also collaborated musically with John Cale , and Afro Celt Sound System .-Biography:Murphy was born in Highgate, London,...
- Siân PhillipsSiân PhillipsJane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
Appalachian
- Clarence AshleyClarence Ashley"Tom" Clarence Ashley was an American clawhammer banjo player, guitarist and singer. He began performing at medicine shows in the Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911, and gained initial fame during the late 1920s as both a solo recording artist and as a member of various string bands...
- Joe BethancourtJoe BethancourtW.J. Bethancourt III is a traditional American musician , based in Phoenix, Arizona.-Biography:Bethancourt was born in El Paso, Texas. He began learning banjo at age 9, after he heard his maternal grandfather, C. H. Burnett, playing fiddle. His first banjo was given him by his grandfather, and...
- Dock BoggsDock BoggsMoran Lee "Dock" Boggs was an influential old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player. His style of banjo playing, as well as his singing, is considered a unique combination of Appalachian folk music and African-American blues...
- Fleming BrownFleming BrownFleming Brown, 1926–1984, born in Marshall, Missouri. He was a banjo player and one of the early teachers at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. As an artist, Brown specialized in traditional songs of the Southern Appalachians. He was influenced by old-time banjo players such as Uncle Dave...
(1926–1984) - Dick BurnettDick Burnett (musician)Richard Burnett was an American folk songwriter from Kentucky.Burnett was born near Monticello, Kentucky. He was known to play the banjo and guitar and was blind in one eye...
(1883–1977) - Guy CarawanGuy CarawanGuy Carawan is an American folk musician and musicologist. He serves as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee....
- Sara CarterSara CarterSara Carter was an American Country music musician. Known for her deep and distinctive singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s....
(1898–1979) - Stoney CooperStoney CooperDale Troy Cooper , known professionally as Stoney Cooper, was an American country star and member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was a master of the fiddle and the guitar.-Biography:...
- Hazel DickensHazel DickensHazel Jane Dickens was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs...
- Roscoe HolcombRoscoe HolcombRoscoe Holcomb, was an American singer, banjo player, and guitarist from Daisy, Kentucky. A prominent figure in Appalachian folk music, Holcomb was the inspiration for the term "high, lonesome sound," coined by folklorist and friend John Cohen...
- Tommy JarrellTommy JarrellTommy Jarrell was an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains.-Biography:...
- Kossoy SistersKossoy SistersThe Kossoy Sisters, Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson, are an American folk and old time music act based around the identical twin sisters Irene Saletan and Ellen Christenson. In their music, Irene sings mezzo soprano vocal, and Ellen supplies soprano harmony, with Irene on guitar and Ellen...
- Wilma Lee
- Bascom Lamar LunsfordBascom Lamar LunsfordBascom Lamar Lunsford was a lawyer, folklorist, and performer of traditional music from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."- Early life :...
- New Lost City RamblersNew Lost City RamblersThe New Lost City Ramblers is a contemporary old-time string band that formed in New York City in 1958 during the Folk Revival. The founding members of the Ramblers, or NLCR, are Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley...
- Uncle Charlie OsborneUncle Charlie OsborneCharles Nelson Osborne, , affectionately known as "Uncle Charlie," was a musician in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. He was born in what is now known as Cowan Osborne Hollow, named for his father, in Copper Creek, Virginia...
- Jean RitchieJean RitchieJean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
- Sam RizzettaSam RizzettaSam Rizzetta is a hammered dulcimer player, builder, and designer originally from Chicago, and now living in Inwood, West Virginia....
- Loraine WymanLoraine WymanLoraine Wyman was an American folksinger, dulcimer player, and music collector. She co-edited with Howard Brockway two collections of folk music.*Lonesome Tunes: Folk Songs from the Kentucky Mountains...
(1885–1937) - Doc WatsonDoc WatsonArthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
- Uncle Dave MaconUncle Dave MaconUncle Dave Macon , born David Harrison Macon—also known as "The Dixie Dewdrop"—was an American banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian...
- Charlie PooleCharlie PooleCharlie Poole was an American old time banjo player and country musician and the leader of the North Carolina Ramblers, an American old-time string band that recorded many popular songs between 1925 to 1930.-Biography:...
Cajun and zydeco
- Amédé ArdoinAmédé ArdoinAmédé Ardoin was an American Louisiana Creole musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on the Creole/Cajun Accordion...
- Chris ArdoinChris ArdoinChris Ardoin is a zydeco accordionist and singer. He is one of the young artists that helped form nouveau zydeco, a new style of music that fused traditional zydeco with various styles including hip-hop, reggae and R&B.He was a child prodigy belonging to a musical dynasty Chris Ardoin (born April...
- Dewey BalfaDewey BalfaDewey Balfa was an American Cajun fiddler and singer who contributed significantly to the popularity of Cajun music. Balfa was born near Mamou, Louisiana...
- BeausoleilBeausoleilBeauSoleil is an American musical group specializing in Cajun music. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, the group members are brothers Michael Doucet and David Doucet , Jimmy Breaux , Billy Ware , Tommy Alesi , and Mitchell Reed .-Band history:Founded in 1975, BeauSoleil BeauSoleil (French, beautiful...
- Bobby CharlesBobby CharlesBobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.An ethnic Cajun, Charles was born as Robert Charles Guidry in Abbeville, Louisiana and grew up listening to Cajun music and the country and western music of Hank Williams...
- Boozoo ChavisBoozoo ChavisWilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis was a zydeco musician - music created by French speaking Creoles of South-West Louisiana. He was active from 1954 until his death during which time he largely sang and played the accordion. Chavis was also a prolific writer of zydeco songs...
- Clifton ChenierClifton ChenierClifton Chenier , a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas, Louisiana, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco, which arose from Cajun and Creole music, with R&B, jazz, and blues influences. He played the accordion and won a Grammy Award in 1983...
- Keith FrankKeith FrankKeith Frank is a zydeco musician from Louisiana. Frank started his band, The Soileau Zydeco Band, in 1990 and was active as of 2010. Frank is a 1998 graduate of McNeese State University.Frank records on Soulwood Records.-Studio Albums/EP:...
- Beau JocqueBeau JocqueBeau Jacques was an American zydeco musician active in the 1990s.Beau Jacques is known for his gruff vocals, his fusion of many musical styles onto zydeco, and above all, for the powerful energy of his rhythm and sound...
- Queen IdaQueen IdaIda Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory is an Louisiana Creole accordionist. She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band...
- Rosie LedetRosie LedetRosie Ledet is a Creole Zydeco accordion player and singer.Raised in rural Louisiana, she listened to rock music in her youth. Although she was in an environment where zydeco was heard, she took little interest in the music at the time...
- Steve Riley and the Mamou PlayboysSteve Riley and the Mamou PlayboysSteve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are a Grammy Award-nominated Cajun band from southern Louisiana. The band formed in 1988 and has since recorded 10 albums, nine of which are on Rounder Records....
- Rockin' DopsieRockin' DopsieRockin' Dopsie was born Alton Rubin in Carencro, Louisiana. He was a leading Zydeco musician and button accordion player who enjoyed popular success first in Europe and later in the United States...
- Rockin' SidneyRockin' SidneySidney Simien aka Rockin' Sidney and Count Rockin' Sidney, was an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician who began recording in the late 1950s and continued performing until his death.-Biography:...
- Terrance SimienTerrance SimienTerrance Simien is an American zydeco musician, vocalist and song writer. He and his band won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for 2007....
- Buckwheat ZydecoBuckwheat ZydecoBuckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. , an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success...
(born 1947) - Zydeco ForceZydeco ForceZydeco Force was an American zydeco band from Opelousas, Louisiana, consisting of Robby Robinson, Raymond Thomas and the two sons of Lawtell Playboys frontman Delton Broussard: Shelton, and Jeffery Broussard and Delton's nephew Herbert Broussard. They formed in 1988 and became a regional hit...
General
- Derroll AdamsDerroll AdamsDerroll Adams was an American folk musician.-Biography:Adams was born Derroll Lewis Thompson in Portland, Oregon. At 16, he served in the Army and later in the Coast Guard. He was a tall, lanky banjo player with a deep voice...
(1925–2000) - A Fragile TomorrowA Fragile TomorrowA Fragile Tomorrow is an indie rock/jangle pop band from Charleston, South Carolina, formerly from Montgomery, New York The group formed in 2003 and included brothers Sean Kelly, Dominic Kelly, and Brendan Kelly. In 2006, bassist Shaun Rhoades joined the group. The band has put out three albums...
- The Almanac Singers
- Eric AndersenEric AndersenEric Andersen is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Eric Andersen was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York...
- Jamie AndersonJamie Anderson (musician)Jamie Anderson is an American female singer from Tucson, Arizona, best known as a performer of women's music. She is based in Ottawa, Ontario.Anderson first began touring the U.S. in 1987, and released her debut album in 1989. She was voted Favorite New Performer by Hot Wire in 1990 and 1991, and...
- Joan BaezJoan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
- Devendra BanhartDevendra BanhartDevendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
- Robin BatteauRobin BatteauRobin Batteau is an American Grammy-winning, Emmy-winning, Clio-winning, and Oscar-nominated composer, singer-songwriter-soloist and music producer. Batteau is the son of Blanca Batteau and Dr. Dwight Wayne Batteau, of Harvard University and Tufts University...
- BeckBeckBeck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
- Dan BernDan BernDan Bern is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, novelist and painter. His music is often compared to that of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Ochs and Elvis Costello....
- Leon BibbLeon Bibb (musician)Leon Bibb is an American folk singer and actor who grew up in Kentucky, worked in New York, and has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada since 1969.Bibb was born in Louisville, Kentucky...
- Theodore BikelTheodore BikelTheodore Meir Bikel is a character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen and was nominated for an Academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones ....
- Billy Pilgrim
- David Blue (1941–82)
- Hugh BlumenfeldHugh BlumenfeldHugh Blumenfeld is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, graduated with degrees in Biology and Humanities from M.I.T. in 1980, and got a Masters in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1981...
- Dock BoggsDock BoggsMoran Lee "Dock" Boggs was an influential old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player. His style of banjo playing, as well as his singing, is considered a unique combination of Appalachian folk music and African-American blues...
(1898–1971) - Gordon BokGordon BokGordon Bok is a folklorist and singer/songwriter who grew up in Camden, Maine.-Career:His first album, self-titled, was produced by Noel Paul Stookey and released in 1965 on the Verve Records Folkways imprint...
- Bryan BowersBryan BowersBryan Bowers is an American autoharp player who is frequently credited with introducing the instrument to new generations of musicians.-Career:...
- Brewer & ShipleyBrewer & ShipleyBrewer & Shipley were an American folk rock music duo of the late 1960s through 1970s, consisting of singer-songwriters Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley. They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmonies and socially conscious lyrics. Their greatest success was the song "One Toke Over the...
- Chuck BrodskyChuck BrodskyChuck Brodsky is an American musician and singer-songwriter currently living in Asheville, North Carolina. He is particularly known for his often humorous and political lyrics, as well as his songs about baseball, such as "The Ballad of Eddie Klepp" and "Moe Berg: The Song"...
- David BrombergDavid BrombergDavid Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
- Jonatha BrookeJonatha BrookeJonatha Brooke is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Illinois.Her music merges elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies...
- The Brothers FourThe Brothers FourThe Brothers Four are an American folk singing group, founded in 1957 in Seattle, Washington, known for their 1960 hit song "Greenfields".-History:...
- Greg Brown
- Tim BuckleyTim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
(1947–75) - David BuskinDavid BuskinDavid Buskin is a singer, songwriter, performer, author, playwright, jingle composer and girls’ basketball coach. He is well known for composing numerous television and radio commercials produced in the 1980s and 1990s. He won a Clio Award in 1983 for Just Watch Us Now, NBC's signature...
- Rolf CahnRolf CahnRolf Cahn was a folk musician, martial arts teacher, author, and social activist. Born in Germany, he and his family, who were Jewish, fled from Adolf Hitler's oppression and arrived in the United States in 1937. They settled in Detroit, Michigan...
(1924–94) - Andrew CalhounAndrew CalhounAndrew Calhoun is an American folk singer/songwriter. He was inspired to become a musician when his mother brought home a couple of her hippie students who played guitar. Early influences include Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Leonard Cohen, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Joseph Conrad,...
- Hamilton CampHamilton CampHamilton Camp was an English-American singer, songwriter, actor and voice actor.-Early life:Camp was born in London, England, and was evacuated during World War II to the United States as a child with his mother and sister. He became a child actor in films and onstage...
(1934–2005) - Guy CarawanGuy CarawanGuy Carawan is an American folk musician and musicologist. He serves as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee....
- Mary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin CarpenterMary Chapin Carpenter is an American folk and country music artist. Carpenter spent several years singing in Washington, D.C. clubs before signing in the late 1980s with Columbia Records, who marketed her as a country singer...
- Dave CarterDave CarterDave Carter was an American folk singer-songwriter who described his style as "post-modern mythic American folk music." He was one half of the duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, who were heralded as the new "voice of modern folk music" in the months before Carter's unexpected death in July 2002...
(1952–2002) - Chad Mitchell TrioChad Mitchell TrioThe Chad Mitchell Trio were a North American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed folk songs, some of which were traditionally passed down and some of their own compositions. Unlike many fellow folk music groups, none of the trio played instruments...
- Len ChandlerLen ChandlerLen Hunt Chandler, Jr. , better known as Len Chandler, is a folk musician from Akron, Ohio.-Biography:He showed an early interest in music and began playing piano at age 8. Studying classical music in his early teens, he learned to play the oboe so he could join the high school band, and during...
- Harry ChapinHarry ChapinHarry Forster Chapin was an American singer-songwriter best known in particular for his folk rock songs including "Taxi", "W*O*L*D", and the number-one hit "Cat's in the Cradle". Chapin was also a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key player in the creation of the...
(1942–81) - Tracy ChapmanTracy ChapmanTracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
- The Chenille Sisters
- Vic ChesnuttVic ChesnuttJames Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...
- Frank ChristianFrank Christian (singer-songwriter)Frank Christian is a Greenwich Village-based singer-songwriter and guitarist. His best known song, "Three Flights Up" was recorded by Nanci Griffith for her Grammy award-winning 1992 release Other Voices, Other Rooms....
- Meg ChristianMeg ChristianMeg Christian is an American folk singer associated with the Women's music movement.-Biography:She graduated from the University of North Carolina and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1969, where she performed in nightclubs and began writing material from an explicitly political and feminist perspective...
- The Civil WarsThe CIVIL warSThe Civil Wars: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down is an opera created in the early 1980s by director Robert Wilson to music by Philip Glass, David Byrne, Gavin Bryars and others...
- Paul Clayton (1931–67)
- Slaid CleavesSlaid CleavesSlaid Cleaves is a singer-songwriter born in Washington, D.C. and raised in South Berwick, Maine and Round Pond, Maine. An alumnus of Tufts University, where he majored in English and philosophy, Cleaves lives in Austin, Texas....
- Judy CollinsJudy CollinsJudith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
- Lui CollinsLui CollinsLui Collins is a contemporary folk singer-songwriter. She attended the University of Connecticut and played her first gigs as a student there. She began touring in the mid-1970s as part of a duo with Horace Williams, Jr.. Her first two albums consisted of cover songs, after which she moved on to...
- Shawn ColvinShawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
- Matt CostaMatt CostaMatthew Albert Costa is a singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, California.He has five independent releases: two self-recorded EPs, and three full-length CDs released via Brushfire Records.-Life:...
- Elizabeth CottenElizabeth CottenElizabeth "Libba" Cotten was an American blues and folk musician, singer, and songwriter.A self-taught left-handed guitarist, Cotten developed her own original style. Her approach involved using a right-handed guitar , not re-strung for left-handed playing, essentially, holding a right-handed...
(1895–1987) - Jim CroceJim CroceJames Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
(1943–73) - Mike Cross
- Sis CunninghamSis CunninghamAgnes Cunningham was an American musician, best known for her involvement as a performer and publicist of folk music and protest songs...
(1909–2004) - Catie CurtisCatie CurtisCatie Curtis is an American singer-songwriter. Her music has been categorized in several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country, indie and folk. She has recorded 11 CDs. The most recent, Stretch Limousine On Fire, will be released in August 2011 on Compass Records.-Early life:Catie...
- Barbara DaneBarbara DaneBarbara Dane is an American folk, blues, and jazz singer.-Early life:Barbara Dane's parents arrived in Detroit from Arkansas in the 1920s. Out of high school, Dane began to sing regularly at demonstrations for racial equality and economic justice. While still in her teens, she sat in with bands...
- Erik Darling (1933–2008)
- Grey DeLisleGrey DeLisleGrey DeLisle is an American voice actress, singer-songwriter, and comedienne. To date, she has released four solo albums and has featured on the tribute album Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash and film soundtrack of Loggerheads...
- Kris DelmhorstKris DelmhorstKris Delmhorst is an American singer-songwriter who is part of the Boston folk scene. She was involved in producing 1998's Respond compilation, a fundraiser for domestic violence groups, and it included her song Weatherman. In 1999, she released a live album with The Vinal Avenue String Band,...
- Iris DeMentIris DeMentIris DeMent is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres country and folk music.-Early life:...
- John DenverJohn DenverHenry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
(1947–97) - Ani DiFrancoAni DiFrancoAni DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...
- Alice Di MiceleAlice Di MiceleAlice Di Micele is a folk music and environmental singer/songwriter from Ashland, Oregon. She was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1965, to a pianist mother and a school teacher father. Alice grew up playing the recorder, flute, and finally the guitar. At 15 she was the lead singer of a local...
- disappear fearDisappear feardisappear fear is an American Indie Pop/Indie Folk band formed in Baltimore, MD in 1987. Even though the band has gone through different incarnations, they still make music for audiences around the world.-Biography:...
- Alix DobkinAlix DobkinAlix Dobkin is an American folk singer-songwriter.-Biography:Alix Dobkin was born in New York City and raised in Philadelphia and Kansas City. She graduated from Germantown High School in 1958 and the Tyler School of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1962...
- DW (Dave) DrouillardDW (Dave) DrouillardDW Drouillard is an American vocalist, songwriter and musician.-Background:DW Drouillard was introduced at an early age to the songs of Woody Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, The Weavers, and the work of John Jacob Niles by his mother, Elizabeth Harriet Wilson, a music educator and 1943 graduate of...
- Antje DuvekotAntje DuvekotAntje Duvekot is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Somerville, Massachusetts. holds three top songwriting awards, including the Kerrville New Folk Competition's Best New Folk Award, Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act and Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting...
- Richard Dyer-BennetRichard Dyer-BennetRichard Dyer-Bennet was an English-born American folk singer , recording artist, and voice teacher....
(1913–91) - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
- Eddie from OhioEddie From OhioEddie from Ohio is an American folk band.Formed in 1991 in Northern Virginia, the band has achieved considerable local success, winning four Wammies Eddie from Ohio (or often just EFO) is an American folk band.Formed in 1991 in Northern Virginia, the band has achieved considerable local success,...
- Cass ElliotCass ElliotCass Elliot , born Ellen Naomi Cohen and also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and member of The Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. Elliot was found dead in her room in London, England, from an apparent heart attack after two weeks of sold-out...
(1941–74) - Ramblin' Jack ElliottRamblin' Jack ElliottRamblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk singer and performer.-Life and career:Elliot Charles Adnopoz was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents in 1931. Elliott grew up inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, and wanted to be a cowboy...
- Mark ErelliMark ErelliMark Erelli is an American folk singer/songwriter from Reading, Massachusetts. He currently resides in Massachusetts. Erelli is a 1996 graduate of Bates College, where he majored in Biology, and holds a Master's Degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Massachusetts...
- John FaheyJohn Fahey (musician)John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
(1939–2001) - RichardRichard FariñaRichard George Fariña was an American writer and folksinger.-Early years and education:Richard Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Cuban and Irish descent. He grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Technical High School...
(1937–66) & MimiMimi FariñaMimi Baez Fariña was a singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez .- Early years:Fariña's father, a physicist affiliated with Stanford University and MIT, moved his family...
(1945–2001) Fariña - Anne FeeneyAnne FeeneyAnne Feeney is a political activist, folk musician and singer-songwriter.- Life and career :Anne Feeney was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania to Annabelle Runner and Edward J. Feeney. She has a sister, Kathleen, born May 3, 1953. The family moved to the nearby Brookline neighborhood of the city of...
- Melissa FerrickMelissa Ferrick-Early life:Ferrick was raised in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Herfather John was a well-liked public school teacher who managed several free-jazz bands on the side. As a child, Ferrick would often accompany her father to clubs on Boston's North Shore to watch the bands play. She began taking...
- Cathy Fink
- Steve ForbertSteve ForbertSteve Forbert is an American pop music singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980....
- Mark FossonMark FossonSongwriter and guitarist Mark Fosson grew up in Kentucky, where he began writing songs while he was still in his early teens. In the late '70s he sent some song demos to John Fahey's West Coast-based Takoma Records, and Fahey, impressed with what he heard, offered Fosson a recording deal...
- Jeffrey FoucaultJeffrey FoucaultJeffrey Foucault is a singer-songwriter from Whitewater, Wisconsin. His 2001 debut album, Miles from the Lightning, won much praise from critics and helped to kick-start a career of tours across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Along the way, he has played with such artists as Greg Brown,...
- Four Bitchin' BabesFour Bitchin' BabesThe Four Bitchin' Babes is a group of female singer-songwriters with rotating membership, performing mainly humorous, satirical or light-hearted songs in the folk genre. The group was described as "slyly outre" writing songs about the "humorous satire of everyday life" with an "inherent charm"...
- Bob FrankeBob FrankeBob Franke is an American folk singer/songwriter.-Biography:He began his career in 1965, while a student at the University of Michigan, and performed at The Ark, a coffeehouse in Ann Arbor....
- Donavon FrankenreiterDonavon FrankenreiterDonavon Frankenreiter is an American musician and surfer. He is a long-time friend of Jack Johnson and his debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Johnson's Brushfire Records through Universal Music and made the Australian ARIA Top-40 charts in April 2004.-Surfing career:He took up surfing...
- Debbie FriedmanDebbie FriedmanDeborah Lynn "Debbie" Friedman was an American composer and singer of songs with Jewish religious content. She was born in Utica, New York but moved with her family to Minnesota at age 5. She is best known for her setting of “Mi Shebeirach”, the prayer for healing, which is used by hundreds of...
- Gaia ConsortGaia consortGaia Consort is the original incarnation of Seattle-based folk rock music-group Bone Poets Orchestra. The group, popular in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, was founded as Gaia Consort by Chistopher Bingham and Sue Tinney in 1997. Their first performance was at Nudestock 97...
- Mary GauthierMary GauthierMary Gauthier is an American folk singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Gauthier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier was adopted by an Italian Catholic couple in Thibodaux, Louisiana...
- Bob GibsonBob Gibson (musician)Samuel Robert Gibson was a folk singer who led a folk music revival in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was known for playing both the banjo and the 12-string guitar. He introduced a then largely unknown Joan Baez at the Newport Folk Festival of 1959. He produced a number of LPs in the decade...
- Ronnie GilbertRonnie GilbertRonnie Gilbert is an American folk-singer. She is one of the original members of the Weavers with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Fred Hellerman.-Career:...
- Vance GilbertVance GilbertVance Gilbert is an American folk singer/songwriter. He started out as a jazz singer, then switched to folk music, performing on the open mike circuit in Boston. His career took off when he toured with Shawn Colvin. He has recorded eight albums, including Side of the Road, a duo album with friend...
- Eliza GilkysonEliza GilkysonEliza Gilkyson is an Austin, Texas-based folk musician. She is the daughter of songwriter and folk musician Terry Gilkyson and Jane Gilkyson. She is the sister of guitarist Tony Gilkyson, who played with the Los Angeles-based bands Lone Justice and X...
- Terry GilkysonTerry GilkysonHamilton H. Gilkyson III , better known as Terry Gilkyson, was an American folk singer, composer, and lyricist.-Biography:...
- GirlymanGirlymanGirlyman is an American folk-rock band formerly based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, now based in Atlanta, Georgia.Their self-released debut album, Remember Who I Am, sold 5,000 copies before it was re-released by Daemon Records, the independent record label run by Amy Ray of the Indigo...
- Joe GlazerJoe GlazerJoe Glazer , closely associated with labor unions and often referred to as the "labor's troubadour," was a US-American folk musician who recorded more than thirty albums over the course of his career....
(1918–2006) - Steve GoodmanSteve GoodmanSteve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
(1948–84) - John GorkaJohn GorkaJohn Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."-Biography:...
- Tracy GrammerTracy GrammerTracy Grammer is an American folk singer known for her work as half of the folk duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer and for the solo career that she has continued since Carter's death...
- Greenbriar Boys
- Patty GriffinPatty GriffinPatty Griffin, born Patricia Jean Griffin, March 16, 1964, is an American Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter and musician. She is especially known for her down-home crafting of songs and her connection to musicians including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, and the Dixie Chicks, who have played with...
- Nanci GriffithNanci GriffithNanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
- Arlo GuthrieArlo GuthrieArlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
- Sarah Lee Guthrie
- Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
(1912–67) - Kristen HallKristen HallKristen Alyson Hall is an American folk rock singer/songwriter. In 2002, she was a founding member of the country music group Sugarland. She left the group in December 2005.-Lawsuit:...
- Frank HamiltonFrank Hamilton (musician)Frank Hamilton is an American folk musician and co-founder of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois. As a performer, he has recorded for Folkways Records and, as a member of the folk group The Weavers, for Vanguard Records, as well as for Philips and several other labels and...
- Kristy HansonKristy HansonKristy Hanson is an Americansinger-songwriter, who has released a number of folk-pop albums.-Background:Hanson was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where she lived in the Shaker Heights area. Her family moved to south Florida in 1986...
- Jack HardyJack Hardy (singer-songwriter)John Studebaker "Jack" Hardy was an American lyrical singer-songwriter and playwright based in Greenwich Village, who was influential as a writer, performer, and mentor in the North American and European folk music scenes for decades...
- Kelly HarrellKelly HarrellKelly Harrell was a country music singer in the 1920s. He recorded more than a dozen songs for OKeh and Victor Records and wrote songs which were recorded by other artists, including Jimmie Rodgers and Ernest Stoneman, in his own lifetime.-Biography:Harrell was born in Draper's Valley, Wythe...
(1889–1942) - Jesse HarrisJesse HarrisJesse Harris is a Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter. He has collaborated with several musical artists including Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and Lizz Wright.-Early life and education:...
- Richie HavensRichie HavensRichard P. "Richie" Havens is an African American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense, rhythmic guitar style , soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, Havens was the eldest of nine children...
- Bess Lomax HawesBess Lomax HawesBess Lomax Hawes was an American folk musician, folklorist, and researcher. She was the daughter of John Avery Lomax and Bess Bauman-Brown Lomax, and the sister of Alan Lomax.-Early life and education:...
- Lee Hays (1914–81)
- John HeraldJohn HeraldJohn Herald was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo and studio musician, and one-time member of The Greenbriar Boys trio.-Biography:...
(1939–2005) - Priscilla HerdmanPriscilla HerdmanPriscilla Herdman is an American folk singer. Although she has written songs, sheis notable chiefly for her interpretations of other artists' work....
- Carolyn HesterCarolyn HesterCarolyn Hester is an American folk singer and songwriter. She was a figure in the early 1960s folk music revival.-Biography:...
- Sara HickmanSara HickmanSara Hickman is a rock/folk/pop/children's music singer, songwriter, and artist.-Biography:Hickman was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina. She grew up in Houston, Texas, where she attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts as a vocal major. In 1986, she graduated from the...
- The HighwaymenThe Highwaymen (folk band)The Highwaymen were a circa 1960 "collegiate folk" group, which originated at Wesleyan University and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields"...
- David Holt
- Holy Modal RoundersHoly Modal RoundersThe Holy Modal Rounders were an American folk music duo from the Lower East Side of New York City which started in the early 1960s, consisting of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber. Their unique blend of folk music revival and psychedelia gave them a cult-like following from the late 1960s into the 1970s...
- Rita HoskingRita HoskingRita Hosking is an American composer and musician based in Davis, California. She plays Americana and bluegrass styles of music with both standards and original songs. Since the release of Are You Ready?, she has been performing around the country at concerts, festivals, and other...
- Cisco HoustonCisco HoustonGilbert Vandine 'Cisco' Houston was an American folk singer and songwriter who is closely associated with Woody Guthrie due to their extensive history of recording together....
(1918–61) - Michael Hurley
- Janis IanJanis IanJanis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
- Indigo GirlsIndigo GirlsThe Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
- Iron & WineIron & WineSamuel Beam , better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released four studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album...
- Bon IverBon IverBon Iver is a Grammy nominated folk band founded in 2007 by American indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. It includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was...
- Burl IvesBurl IvesBurl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
(1909–95) - Ella JenkinsElla JenkinsElla Jenkins is an American folk singer. Dubbed “The First Lady of the Children’s Folk Song” by the Wisconsin State Journal, Jenkins has been a leading performer of children’s music for fifty years.-Family and personal life:...
- Jim and JeanJim and JeanJim and Jean, composed of Jim Glover and Jean Ray were an American folk music duo, who performed and recorded music from the early to the late 1960s....
- Orville JohnsonOrville JohnsonOrville Johnson is an American resonator guitar player and musician, born in 1953 in Edwardsville, Illinois. He came up in the St. Louis, Missouri music scene and now lives in Seattle, Washington. A frequent session musician, he also has released a number of solo and group albums...
- Freedy JohnstonFreedy JohnstonFreedy Johnston is a New York City-based singer-songwriter originally from Kinsley, Kansas.Having scored several minor hits since the early 1990s, Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation and disappointment...
- Billy JonasBilly JonasBilly Jonas is a multi instrumentalist singer/songwriter best known for his brand of “funky folk music for the whole family”. He has produced concerts and recordings across North America since 1987. Jonas' original music is played on home-made "industrial re-percussion" instruments made from...
- Diana JonesDiana Jones (singer-songwriter)Diana Jones is an American singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. Jones's career gained wider critical acclaim in 2006 with the release of her album, My Remembrance of You. The album made a number of critics end-of-the-year "best of" lists...
- Dick JusticeDick Justice (singer)Dick Justice was an American blues and folk musician, who hailed from West Virginia, United States.Born Richard Justice, he recorded ten songs for Brunswick Records in Chicago in 1929. Unlike many contemporary white musicians, he was heavily influenced by black musicians, particularly Luke Jordan...
(1906–62) - Si KahnSi KahnSi Kahn is an American singer-songwriter, activist, and founder and former executive director of Grassroots Leadership.- Early life and education :...
- Shira KammenShira KammenMulti-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen received her degree in music from the University of California, Berkeley and studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. She has performed and taught throughout the world and has played on several television and movie soundtracks, including "O", a modern...
- Christine KaneChristine KaneChristine Kane is an American folk singer/songwriter and acoustic guitarist based in Asheville, North Carolina. Her song "Right Outta Nowhere" was covered by Kathy Mattea....
- Lucy KaplanskyLucy KaplanskyLucy Kaplansky is an American folk musician based in New York City. Kaplansky also has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University.-Biography:...
- Buell KazeeBuell KazeeBuell Kazee was an American country and folk singer. He is considered one of the most successful folk musicians of the 1920s and experienced a career comeback during the American folk music revival of the 1960s due in part to his inclusion on the Anthology of American Folk Music.- Early life...
(1900–76) - The KennedysThe Kennedys (band)The Kennedys are an American folk-rock band, consisting of husband and wife Pete and Maura Kennedy. Their first album, River of Fallen Stars, was released under the name "Pete and Maura Kennedy"; they released all subsequent albums as "The Kennedys"...
- Barbara KesslerBarbara KesslerBarbara Kessler is an American folk-rock singer/songwriter. She began her career performing in clubs on Cape Cod and driving an ice cream truck, then began performing at open mikes in Boston, and continues to be part of the Boston folk scene...
- Jennifer KimballJennifer KimballJennifer Kimball is a vocalist and songwriter who is notable for being part of the acclaimed folk duo The Story. She is a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and has released two albums Veering from the Wave and Oh Hear Us....
- Charlie KingCharlie King (folksinger)Charlie King is a folksinger and activist. He was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1947 and cites the folk music revival of the 1960s, the American Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War era as his as musical influences...
- The Kingston TrioThe Kingston TrioThe Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
- The KlezmaticsThe KlezmaticsThe Klezmatics are a Grammy Award-winning American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins...
- Leo KottkeLeo KottkeLeo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies...
- Peter La FargePeter La FargePeter La Farge was a New York-based folksinger and songwriter of the 1950s and 1960s...
(1931–65) - Jimmy LaFaveJimmy LaFaveJimmy LaFave is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician born in Wills Point, Texas, a small farming community located near Dallas. At a young age, LaFave's family moved to the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas where he attended junior high and high school. By the early teens LaFave was...
- Bruce LanghorneBruce LanghorneBruce Langhorne is an American folk musician. He was active in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, primarily as a session guitarist for folk albums and performances...
- Patty LarkinPatty LarkinPatty Larkin is a Boston-based singer-songwriter. redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics...
- Lavender DiamondLavender DiamondLavender Diamond is a Los Angeles-based Folk/country-pop quartet known for its light-hearted, often winsome sound; its simple, romantic lyrics; and the charismatic, whimsical stage presence and ethereal vocals of frontwoman Becky Stark.-History:...
- Christine LavinChristine LavinChristine Lavin is a New York City-based singer-songwriter and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin' Babes...
- Lead Belly (1888–1949)
- Katie LeeKatie Lee (singer)-Biography:Katie Lee is an Arizona folk singer, writer, actress and photographer.She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After that, she went on to study with two of the most successful folksingers of the 1940s, Burl Ives and Josh White...
- Julius LesterJulius LesterJulius Lester is an American author of books for children and adults, and taught for 32 years at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is also a photographer, as well as a musician who recorded two albums of folk music and original songs.-Early life and family:Born on January 27, 1939, in...
- Jeffrey LewisJeffrey LewisJeffrey Lewis is an American singer/songwriter and comic book artist.-Early life:Lewis attended State University of New York at Purchase and graduated in 1997 with a degree in Literature...
- The LimelitersThe LimelitersThe Limeliters are an American folk music group, formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb , Alex Hassilev , and Glenn Yarbrough . The group was active from 1959 until 1965, when they disbanded. After a hiatus of sixteen years Yarbrough, Hassilev, and Gottlieb reunited and began performing as...
- Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
(1915–2002) - Laura LoveLaura Love (musician)-Biography:Love was born Laura Jones in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1960. She is of African American, Native American, and Caucasian descent. Love had a difficult childhood, raised by a mother with schizophrenia and in foster homes...
- Lullaby for the Working ClassLullaby for the Working ClassLullaby for the Working Class was an indie folk rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska, active from the mid-to-late 1990s. Fronted by Omaha, Nebraska singer-songwriter Ted Stevens , the group also featured multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, his brother, producer A.J...
- The MammalsThe MammalsThe Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley, area of New York, in the United States.Current band members are Michael J. Merenda, Jr., Chris Merenda, Ruth Ungar, Jacob Silver and Tao Rodríguez-Seeger.- Band history :...
- Woody MannWoody Mann-Biography:Mann specializes in jazz, blues, and American roots music.He was born in New York, where he first studied acoustic guitar with ragtime and blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis from 1968-72. From 1973-78, Mann continued private lessons, focusing on improvisation with jazz pianist Lennie...
- Roger ManningRoger ManningRoger Manning is a New York City based singer-songwriter who plays an aggressive acoustic style of music.He was also host of the short-lived syndicated radio program "Soho Natural Sessions" ....
- Marcy Marxer
- Molly MasonMolly MasonMolly Mason is an American musician and composer.Mason grew up in Washington state. She plays traditional American fiddle and acoustic bass guitar....
- Willy MasonWilly MasonWilly Mason is an American singer-songwriter.- Early life :He was born in New York, the son of Jemima James and Michael Mason, both folk singers. When Mason was five, he and his family moved from New York to West Tisbury, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard...
- David MassengillDavid MassengillDavid Massengill is an American folk singer/songwriter, guitar and appalachian dulcimer player. His best-known songs include "On The Road to Fairfax County," recorded by The Roches and by Joan Baez, "The Great American Dream," and "My Name Joe," about an illegal immigrant restaurant worker...
- Ed McCurdyEd McCurdyEd McCurdy was an American folk singer, songwriter, and television actor. His anti-war classic, "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" , inspired and gave hope to those in the peace movement.-Career:...
(1919–2000) - John McCutcheonJohn McCutcheonJohn McCutcheon is an American folk music singer and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 34 albums since the 1970s. He is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer, and is also proficient on many other instruments including guitar, banjo, autoharp, mountain dulcimer, fiddle, and...
- Country Joe McDonaldCountry Joe McDonaldCountry Joe McDonald is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.-Personal life:...
- Brownie McGheeBrownie McGheeWalter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
(1915–96) - Lori McKennaLori McKennaLori McKenna is an American folk singer/songwriter. She lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts with her husband and five children.-Early work:...
- Will McLean (1919–90)
- MelanieMelanie SafkaMelanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...
- Bill MillerBill Miller (musician)Bill Miller is a Native American singer/songwriter of Mohican heritage. He was born on the Stockbridge-Munsee reservation, near Shawano in northern Wisconsin....
- Roger MillerRoger MillerRoger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
(1936–92) - Anais MitchellAnais MitchellAnaïs Mitchell is an American singer-songwriter.-Early life:Anaïs Mitchell grew up on a farm in Addison County, Vermont and attended Middlebury College. Her father is a novelist and a retired college professor....
- Modern Folk QuartetModern Folk QuartetThe Modern Folk Quartet recorded two albums of folk revival music in the early 1960s, with an emphasis on group harmonies, and have subsequently re-formed more than once and made further recordings....
- Alastair MoockAlastair MoockAlastair Moock is an American folk singer-songwriter based out of Boston. He is known for his gruff voice, thoughtful lyrics, and fingerpicking guitar style...
- Dawn Xiana Moon (1981-)
- Bill MorrisseyBill MorrisseyBill Morrissey was an American folk singer/songwriter from New Hampshire. Many of his songs reflect the harsh realities of life in crumbling New England mill towns.-Career:Morrissey was born in Hartford, Connecticut...
- Moxy FrüvousMoxy FrüvousMoxy Früvous was a politically satirical folk-pop band from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The band was founded in 1989, and was active throughout the 1990s...
- Geoff MuldaurGeoff MuldaurGeoff Muldaur is an American founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band of Cambridge, Massachusetts; a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days; and an accomplished solo guitarist, singer, and songwriter....
- Maria MuldaurMaria MuldaurMaria Muldaur is a folk-blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s...
- Peter MulveyPeter MulveyPeter Mulvey is an American folk singer-songwriter based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since the early 1990s, he has developed a strong national following in the indie folk/rock scene through his relentless touring and critically acclaimed albums. Starting his musical career in Milwaukee while at...
- Holly NearHolly NearHolly Near is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist for social change.-Early years:...
- Fred NeilFred NeilFred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer, and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after being...
(1936–2001) - The New Christy Minstrels
- Carrie NewcomerCarrie NewcomerCarrie Newcomer is an American singer and songwriter.-Early life and education:Carrie Newcomer was born in Dowagiac, Michigan, and raised in Elkhart, Indiana. She attended Goshen College and received a B.A...
- Nickel CreekNickel CreekNickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
- The NieldsThe NieldsThe Nields was a folk-rock band that performed from 1991 to 2001. It toured much of the United States, performing with artists such as Dar Williams, Moxy Früvous, and Catie Curtis and appeared at many folk festivals...
- Willie NileWillie NileWillie Nile is an American singer-songwriter. In 1980 Nile released his self-titled debut album which according to one critic remains “one of the most thrilling post-Byrds folk-rock albums of all time”...
- John Jacob NilesJohn Jacob NilesJohn Jacob Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers", Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, with Joan Baez, Burl Ives, and Peter, Paul and Mary, among others,...
(1892—1980) - Conor OberstConor OberstConor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
- Phil OchsPhil OchsPhilip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
(1940–76) - Mark O'ConnorMark O'ConnorMark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...
- OdettaOdettaOdetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
(1930–2008) - Jim PageJim PageJim Page born in 1949, is a folk singer-songwriter and social activist.-Early life:Page was born in Palo Alto, California in 1949 and moved to Seattle in 1971.-Music career and activism:...
- Patrick ParkPatrick Park-Early life:Park grew up in Morrison, Colorado. He was exposed to the arts at an early age: his mother was a published poet, and his father was a doctor who enjoyed playing folk and blues records and the guitar at home...
- Tom PaxtonTom PaxtonThomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
- Ellis PaulEllis PaulEllis Paul is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Aroostook County, Maine, Paul is a key figure in what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, a literate, provocative and urbanely romantic folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s...
- Alice PeacockAlice PeacockAlice Peacock is an American folk singer and has recorded three independent albums. A native of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, she is based in Chicago, Illinois, where she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at U.S...
- Elvis PerkinsElvis PerkinsElvis Perkins is an American folk-rock recording artist. He released his debut studio album, Ash Wednesday, in 2007...
- Peter, Paul & Mary
- Gretchen PetersGretchen PetersGretchen Peters is a singer-songwriter in the folk/country genre. She was born in New York and raised in Boulder, Colorado, but moved to Nashville in the late 1980s...
- Utah PhillipsUtah PhillipsBruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist...
(1935–2008) - PhrancPhrancPhranc is an American singer-songwriter whose career has spanned several decades.-Biography:She began her performing career in the late 1970s and early 1980s punk scene in Los Angeles...
- Wally PleasantWally PleasantWally Pleasant is a U.S. musician from Michigan . He plays humorous songs based on folk music & 1950s-60s rock and roll influences.Born Wally Bullard in Detroit, Pleasant did not become a serious guitarist until college...
- Rose PolenzaniRose PolenzaniRose Polenzani is an independent folk musician. She was raised in the Chicago area and attended Knox College before leaving to pursue a singing career. She is currently living in Boston, Massachusetts. Her singing style is distinctive and emotionally charged. At least one free download is always...
- John PrineJohn PrineJohn Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
- Chris PurekaChris PurekaChris Pureka is an American acoustic singer-songwriter from Northampton, Massachusetts. Raised in Connecticut, she began writing songs at the age of eight and began playing the guitar at 16. She soon became a frequent performer at local coffee houses and open mics...
- RatsyRatsyRatsy is a folk singer/songwriter who was part of the Boston folk scene. She is known for her quirky and humorous lyrics....
- Toshi ReagonToshi ReagonToshi Reagon is an American folk/blues musician. She is the daughter of Freedom Singers co-founders Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock, with whom she has sometimes collaborated on musical projects and of Cordell Hull Reagon, a leader of the civil rights movement in...
- Rebecca RiotsRebecca Riots (band)Rebecca Riots is a female “radical folk” trio founded in 1993 by its members, Andrea Prichett, Lisa Zeiler, and Eve Decker. From 1993-2001 they released four CDs, were signed to Appleseed Recordings, and toured the United States several times...
- Del Rey
- Malvina ReynoldsMalvina ReynoldsMalvina Reynolds was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her song-writing, particularly the songs "Little Boxes" and "Morningtown Ride".-Early life:...
(1900–78) - Jean RitchieJean RitchieJean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
- Josh RitterJosh RitterJosh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...
- Earl RobinsonEarl RobinsonEarl Hawley Robinson was a singer-songwriter and composer from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is probably as well remembered for his left-leaning political views as he is for his music, including the songs "Joe Hill", "Black and White", and the cantata "Ballad for Americans"...
(1910–91) - The RochesThe RochesThe Roches are a female vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances.The Roches have been active as performers and recording artists since the mid-1970s,...
- Libby RoderickLibby RoderickLibby Roderick is an American singer/songwriter, recording artist, poet, activist, and teacher. The global impact of her song "How Could Anyone" has been featured on CNN, in Readers Digest, and in the Associated Press. She was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska where she still lives part of the...
- The Rooftop SingersThe Rooftop SingersThe Rooftop Singers were an American progressive folk-singing trio in the early 1960s, best known for the hit "Walk Right In". The group was composed of Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe with former jazz singer Lynne Taylor ....
- Jack RoseJack Rose (guitarist)Jack Rose was an American guitarist originally from Virginia and later based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rose is best known for his solo acoustic guitar work. He was also a member of the noise/drone band Pelt....
- Josh RouseJosh RouseJosh Rouse is an American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter.-Biography:Born in the small town of Paxton, Nebraska, he moved to various places in the Midwest during his childhood due to his father's military career...
- Tom RushTom RushTom Rush is an American folk and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.- Life and career :Rush was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School, in Concord, New Hampshire. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University after...
- The SandpipersThe SandpipersThe Sandpipers were an American easy listening trio/quartet, who carved a niche in 1960s folk rock. They are best remembered for their cover version of "Guantanamera", which became a transatlantic Top 10 hit in 1966, and their Top 20 hit "Come Saturday Morning" from the soundtrack of the film The...
- Claudia SchmidtClaudia SchmidtClaudia Schmidt is a musician, originally from New Baltimore, Michigan, who has recorded folk, jazz, blues, and spoken word albums. She plays guitar and Appalachian dulcimer and sings. She has appeared numerous times on the radio program, A Prairie Home Companion. She has recorded with Paul...
- Eric SchwartzEric SchwartzEric Schwartz is an American folk singer/songwriter known for his often humorous, sexually explicit lyrics, as in the songs "Clinton Got A Blowjob" and "Who Da Bitch Now". His has been downloaded over a million times. He cites Dr. Demento as an inspiration...
- Mike SeegerMike SeegerMike Seeger was an American folk musician and folklorist. He was a distinctive singer and an accomplished musician who played autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro, jaw harp, and pan pipes. Seeger, a half-brother of Pete Seeger, produced more than 30 documentary...
- Peggy SeegerPeggy SeegerMargaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
- Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
- The Serendipity SingersThe Serendipity SingersThe Serendipity Singers were a 1960s American folk group, similar to The New Christy Minstrels.This nine-member folk-oriented group started at the University of Colorado with seven original members of a group called the Newport Singers...
- Colleen SextonColleen SextonColleen Sexton is an American folk singer/songwriter, and the sister of musician Martin Sexton. She attended Syracuse University Law School but dropped out after two days to become a musician. She has released two studio albums and one live album...
- Martin SextonMartin SextonMartin Sexton is an American singer-songwriter and producer originally from Syracuse, New York.- Early life :Sexton grew up the tenth of twelve children in a working class Irish-American family. He acquired his first guitar, a Sears & Roebuck acoustic, at the age of 14 and later played in local...
- Linda ShearLinda ShearLinda Shear is a singer/songwriter and piano player. On May 13, 1972 she performed in the first out Lesbian concert in the U.S. at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus. She was accompanied by percussionist Ella Szekeley...
- The Shells
- Richard ShindellRichard ShindellRichard Shindell is an American folk songwriter. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York. He currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, a university professor, and their children....
- Michelle ShockedMichelle ShockedMichelle Shocked is the stage name of Michelle Karen Johnston, an American singer-songwriter.-History:Shocked received her first international exposure in Europe, particularly Britain, with her debut album The Texas Campfire Tapes .Her first U.S...
- Paul SiebelPaul SiebelPaul Siebel is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born on September 19, 1937 in Buffalo, NY. He is best known for other artist's cover versions of his songs, most notably "Louise"...
- Judee SillJudee SillJudee Sill was an American singer and songwriter. The first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, she released two albums, then worked briefly as a cartoonist before dying of drug abuse in 1979.Her eponymous debut album was released in late 1971 and was followed around eighteen months...
(1944–79) - Simon & Garfunkel
- Patrick SkyPatrick SkyPatrick Sky is a musician, singer and songwriter of Irish and Native American ancestry...
- Langhorne SlimLanghorne SlimLanghorne Slim is an American singer-songwriter, . Scolnick attended high school at Solebury School in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, part of the SUNY system.He began to gain public notice through several years of touring with the...
- Fred SmallFred SmallFrederick Emerson Small , known publicly as Fred Small, is an American singer-songwriter. He is also a lawyer and a Unitarian Universalist minister. His songs often make a political or ethical statement. Among his best-known songs are "Heart of the Appaloosa," "Everything Possible," "Peace Is",...
- Elliott SmithElliott SmithSteven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
- Michael Peter SmithMichael Peter SmithMichael Peter Smith is a Chicago, U.S.-based singer-songwriter. Rolling Stone Magazine once called him "The greatest songwriter in the English language"...
- Mindy SmithMindy SmithMindy Smith is an American singer-songwriter. Her music can be classified as all of the following: folk, country, Americana, bluegrass, pop, rock, and even alternative. Her voice and music have been compared to that of Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin, Norah Jones, and Alison Krauss.-Biography:Smith...
- Stephan Smith
- Chris SmitherChris SmitherChris Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and philosophers.-Early life, influences and education:...
- Faith SolowayFaith SolowayFaith Soloway is a folk-rock musician, comedic performer, and creator of several folk-rock musicals, based in the Boston area. She studied theater at Indiana University and performed improv comedy regularly, along with leaving school to tour with Second City...
- Rosalie SorrelsRosalie SorrelsRosalie Sorrels is an American folk singer-songwriter who resides in the mountains near Boise, Idaho. She began her public career as a singer and collector of traditional folksongs in the late 1950s. During the early 1960s she left her husband and began traveling and performing at music festivals...
- Mark SpoelstraMark SpoelstraMark Warren Spoelstra was an American singer-songwriter and folk and blues guitarist.He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He began his musical career in Los Angeles in his teens and migrated around to wind up in New York City in time to take part in the folk music revival of the early...
(1940–2007) - Bill StainesBill StainesBill Staines is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from New England, who writes and performs in a traditional vein. He has also written and recorded children's songs....
- James Lee StanleyJames Lee StanleyJames Lee Stanley is an American folk singer-songwriter.-Biography:Stanley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Italian, German, Cherokee Indian, Scotch/Irish and English heritage. He said in a 2002 interview that as a child he was "shy, bright, blessed ... strict father gentle mother ......
- Jody StecherJody StecherJody Stecher is an American singer and musician, who plays bluegrass and old-time music on banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar, and Dagar-vani dhrupad on the sursringar, a rare Indian instrument that is a baritone relative of the sarod....
- Sufjan StevensSufjan StevensSufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
- The StoryThe Story (band)The Story was an early 1990s folk-rock duo composed of Jonatha Brooke and Jennifer Kimball.-History:The folk-pop duo The Story consisted of Jonatha Brooke and Jennifer Kimball, who first met each other in 1981 while freshmen at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts...
- Sweet Honey in the RockSweet Honey in the RockSweet Honey in the Rock is an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an American Grammy Award-winning troupe who express their history as women of color through song, while entertaining their audience. They have together worked from four women to the difficult five-part harmony...
- The TarriersThe TarriersThe Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
- James TaylorJames TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
- Livingston TaylorLivingston TaylorLivingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter, born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He attended the Westtown School in Pennsylvania...
- Luke TempleLuke TempleLuke Temple is an American pop-folk singer-songwriter, born in Manchester, Massachusetts. He is an alumnus of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. While living in New York, making a living by painting murals in wealthy New Yorkers' apartments, he released a four song self-titled EP,...
- Rosie ThomasRosie ThomasRosie Thomas is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Michigan. It was through mutual friends that she met Trey Many and began playing shows with Velour 100. They recorded one EP together and played a few short tours, where she met Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion...
- TrapezoidTrapezoid (band)Trapezoid is an American folk music group led by Paul Reisler. Founded in 1975 by Sam Rizzetta, they began as a quartet of hammer dulcimer players. Two of the four played the traditional hammer dulcimer, while the other two played baritone and treble hammer dulcimers specially designed by Rizzetta...
- Artie TraumArtie TraumArtie Traum was a New Age Voice Award-winning guitarist, producer and songwriter. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums...
- Happy TraumHappy TraumHappy Traum is an American folk musician who started playing music in the Fifties. Happy is most famously known as one half of Happy and Artie Traum, a duo he began with his brother...
- Two Nice GirlsTwo Nice GirlsTwo Nice Girls were a self-styled "lesbian rock" band from Austin, Texas, featuring singer-songwriter Gretchen Phillips.The group's original line up was*Gretchen Phillips - guitar, bass, mandolin and vocals...
- Uncle BonsaiUncle BonsaiUncle Bonsai is an American contemporary folk trio of Bennington College graduates living in Seattle, Washington. They announced they had disbanded in 1989, but have continued to perform and record occasionally...
- Jay UngarJay UngarJay Ungar is an American folk musician and composer. -Biography:Ungar was born in the Bronx , the son of immigrant Jewish parents from Eastern Europe. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s...
- Dave Van RonkDave Van RonkDave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
- Townes Van ZandtTownes Van ZandtJohn Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
(1944–97) - Suzanne VegaSuzanne VegaSuzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"...
- Voices on the VergeVoices on the VergeVoices on the Verge was a folk, country, and rock band formed as a collaboration between four young, formerly-independent, female musicians: Jess Klein, Erin McKeown, Rose Polenzani, and Beth Amsel....
- Eric Von SchmidtEric Von SchmidtEric "Rick" Von Schmidt was an American singer-songwriter and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk/blues revival of the 1960s and a key part of the East Coast folk music scene that included Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.-Background and associations with Dylan:Von Schmidt's father,...
(1931–2007) - Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
- M. WardM. WardMatthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
- Doc WatsonDoc WatsonArthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
- Washington SquaresWashington SquaresThe Washington Squares were a 1980s neo-beatnik folk revival music group. Modeled after early 1960s groups like The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, the group was named after New York City's Washington Square Park, emblematic of Greenwich Village...
- Linda WaterfallLinda WaterfallLinda Waterfall is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter. She has recorded more than 10 albums beginning with her first in 1977.-Career:...
- The WeaversThe WeaversThe Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
- The WeepiesThe WeepiesThe Weepies are an indie pop-folk duo of married singer-songwriters Deb Talan and Steve Tannen. Their music has been described as "subtly intoxicating folk-pop".-Formation and early years :...
- Brenda WeilerBrenda WeilerBrenda Weiler is a singer/songwriter originally from Fargo, North Dakota. Her plans of "exploring music" before attending college developed into a career. Her debut album Trickle Down was released in 1997 on 'Barking Dog' records as was its follow-up, 1999's Crazy Happy...
- Gillian WelchGillian WelchGillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
- Susan WernerSusan WernerSusan Werner is an American singer-songwriter. Much of Werner's work has been in the contemporary folk genre.-Career:Born and raised near Manchester, Iowa, Werner became interested in music at a young age and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in voice at the University of Iowa. In 1987, she...
- Hedy WestHedy WestHedy West was an American folksinger and songwriter.West was of the same generation as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and others of the American folk music revival. Her most famous song "500 Miles" is one of America's best loved and best known folk songs...
(1938–2005) - Floyd Red Crow WestermanFloyd Red Crow WestermanFloyd "Red Crow" Westerman, also known as Kanghi Duta was a Sioux musician, political activist and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life, he became a leading actor depicting Native Americans in American films and television. He is sometimes credited simply...
(1936–2007) - Cheryl WheelerCheryl WheelerCheryl Wheeler is an American singer-songwriter of contemporary folk music, based in New England. To date, she has recorded several folk albums, and has toured extensively throughout the United States....
- Erica WheelerErica WheelerErica Wheeler is an American folk singer-songwriter. She currently lives in western Massachusetts. Growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., she was exposed to traditional folk and bluegrass music in surrounding Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, which influenced her later style. She...
- WhiskeytownWhiskeytownWhiskeytown was an alternative country band formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1994. Fronted by Ryan Adams, other members included Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric "Skillet" Gilmore, and Mike Daly. They disbanded in 2000, with Adams leaving to pursue his solo career...
- Josh WhiteJosh WhiteJoshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
(1914–69) - William Elliott WhitmoreWilliam Elliott WhitmoreWilliam Elliott Whitmore is an American blues singer and musician from Lee County, Iowa. He has recorded a number of albums released on Southern Records, and now is a member of the Anti Records family. His act consists mostly of playing the banjo or guitar while singing, though on occasion he...
- David WilcoxDavid Wilcox (American musician)David Patrick Wilcox is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter guitarist. He has been active in the music business since the late 1980s.-Career:...
- Dar WilliamsDar WilliamsDar Williams is an American singer-songwriter specializing in pop folk.She is a frequent performer at folk festivals and has toured with such artists as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Griffin, Ani DiFranco, The Nields, Shawn Colvin, Girlyman, Joan Baez, and Catie Curtis.-Biography:Williams was born...
- Lucinda WilliamsLucinda WilliamsLucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
- Victoria WilliamsVictoria WilliamsVictoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...
- Cris WilliamsonCris WilliamsonCris Williamson is an American feminist singer-songwriter, who achieved fame as a recording artist, and who was a pioneer as a visible lesbian political activist, during a time when few who were not connected to the Lesbian community were aware of Gay and Lesbian issues...
- Wishing ChairWishing ChairWishing Chair is an award-winning American folk-roots duo, consisting of Kiya Heartwood and Miriam Davidson. The band formed in 1995 and has since then released seven recordings on their own independent label, Terrakin Records...
- Denison WitmerDenison WitmerDenison Witmer is an indie singer-songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His first release, in 1995, was a cassette titled My Luck, My Love. He has since released six studio LPs; two live albums, a cover album ; three EPs; and an LP with The River Bends—a side project consisting of members of the...
- Kate WolfKate WolfKate Wolf was an American folk singer and songwriter. Though her career was relatively short, she had a significant impact on the folk music scene, and many musicians continue to cover her songs...
(1942–86) - Hally WoodHally WoodHally Wood was an American musician and singer.-Biography:Wood was born Harriet Elizabeth Wood in Washington, D.C., in 1922. She was the daughter of a U.S...
(1922–89)
Irish-American
- Liz CarrollLiz CarrollLiz Carroll is an Irish-American musician. She was born in Chicago of Irish parents. In 1974 she won the All-Ireland under 18 fiddle championship. The next year she won the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Championship....
- Karan CaseyKaran CaseyKaran Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.-Early years:Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she...
(Irish immigrant to U.S.) - Cherish the LadiesCherish the LadiesCherish the Ladies is an American all-female Irish-American super group. The band began as a concert series in New York in January 1985, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who wanted to showcase the brightest female musicians in America in what had been a male-dominated scene...
- Dropkick MurphysDropkick MurphysDropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St....
- Seamus EganSéamus EganSéamus Egan is an Irish musician.-Early days:Séamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish émigrés Jack and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland....
(Irish immigrant to U.S.) - Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- Eileen IversEileen IversEileen Ivers is an Irish-American musician.Eileen Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents and grew up in the Bronx. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of nine. Her teacher was the Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill. She toured with Mick Moloney's band The...
- Susan McKeownSusan McKeownSusan McKeown is an Irish songwriter, folk singer and producer.-Early years:Susan McKeown was born on February 6, 1967 to John Ryan and Jane Ann McKeown in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. She was greatly influenced by her mother, an organist and composer who died in 1982...
- Jerry O'SullivanJerry O'SullivanJerry O'Sullivan is a contemporary Irish-American musician.Jerry was born in New York. As a youngster he learned Scottish highland bagpipes. Following a visit to his cousins in Dublin he took up uilleann pipes....
- Solas