Folk Singer-Songwriter Pop
tagStarted 1990Peak 2010-2019Last big hit still active
Singer-songwriter pop steeped in folk instrumentation: acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, upright bass and close, family-style harmonies. Earthy, narrative lyrics about home, love and loss delivered with stomp-and-holler energy or hushed-campfire warmth. More rustic than coffeehouse pop, it weds folk's communal textures to pop-sized melodies and choruses.
History
The Indigo Girls and Dar Williams kept literate folk-pop alive through the 1990s. The 2010s 'new folk' boom, led by Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men, carried banjo-and-foot-stomp acoustic pop to arenas and radio. The Lumineers' 'Ho Hey' (2012) typified the chant-along, folk-rooted singer-songwriter sound at its mainstream peak.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Head_and_the_Heart_(album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shepherd's_Dog
- https://www.discogs.com/release/9065143-The-Head-And-The-Heart-All-We-Ever-Knew
- https://open.spotify.com/track/7d1GPc45c9wtmYxNSwLXTy