Folk-Punk / Celtic Punk

familyStarted c. 1982Peak 1988-2012Last big hit still active in touring scenes

Located in 1 route

Folk-Punk / Celtic Punk uses acoustic instruments, traditional-song memory and communal singalongs with punk tempo and attitude: mandolin, banjo, fiddle, accordion, tin whistle, stomp rhythms, gang vocals, political anger, drinking songs, street stories and anti-polish urgency. It can be Celtic, Jewish, Balkan, American hobo-folk or anti-folk, but the family shares a belief that old songs and punk shows both belong to ordinary people.

History

The Pogues made Irish folk and punk feel inseparable in the 1980s, followed by Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Tossers, The Real McKenzies and many regional scenes. In the United States, Violent Femmes, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Against Me!, Defiance, Ohio, Andrew Jackson Jihad and Mischief Brew connected punk to folk protest, busking and DIY. Gogol Bordello made gypsy punk globally visible, while shanty-punk and Celtic-punk scenes kept the communal live model alive.

Defining artists

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Essential listening

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← Explore Punk / Hardcore

Sources

  • AllMusic folk-punk and Celtic punk overviews
  • The Pogues and Dropkick Murphys histories
  • Plan-It-X and folk-punk scene writing
  • gypsy-punk retrospectives