Country Folk
A singer-songwriter-driven blend of folk's introspective lyricism with country's instrumentation and rural sensibility, built on acoustic guitar, gentle fingerpicking, fiddle, pedal steel accents, and plainspoken storytelling. Tempos lean mid and slow, vocals are warm and conversational rather than belted, and harmonies are soft and close. The emphasis is on the song and the lyric more than on virtuoso playing.
History
Country Folk crystallized in the late 1960s when folk-revival songwriters turned toward country roots and country artists absorbed the literate songwriting of the folk world. Bob Dylan's Nashville-recorded "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline," The Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," and the rise of writers like John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, and Townes Van Zandt fused the two streams. Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons gave it a luminous harmony-rich center.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Bill C. Malone, "Country Music, U.S.A."
- "No Depression" magazine archives
- AllMusic genre overview, Country Folk