Roots Pop
tagStarted 1985Peak 1989-1998Last big hit still active
Pop grounded in American roots traditions: a stew of folk, country, blues, R&B and gospel under hook-driven songwriting. Organic, slightly weathered production foregrounds acoustic and electric guitar, organ, mandolin and rootsy grooves. Earthy and melodic, it sounds lived-in rather than polished, marrying heartland-rock muscle and folk warmth to radio-sized choruses.
History
Rose in the mid-1980s as artists blended roots music with mainstream pop accessibility. Paul Simon's Graceland widened the palette; the Indigo Girls and Shawn Colvin brought folk-roots writing to the charts. The Wallflowers and later Mumford & Sons' stomp-folk and The Lumineers extended the roots-pop crossover into the 2010s.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_rock
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/roots-rock-ma0000002817
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americana_(music)