The Folk Music Thread

[Tragic_Comedian]

Well, there's already a metal thread, so why not?:smalltongue:

I love folk music. I first discovered it with one song, Whiskey in the Jar, which lead me to the Dubliners, which led me to folk music in general. So, you can discuss bands and songs and such here. Now let's sit back and watch the thread get zero replies.

Anyone listen to Baby Gramps? He's awesome, but I can see him not being for everyone.

[Weirdlet]

I've been listening to The Midnight Special radio program ("Folk tunes and farce, showtunes and satire, madness and escape...") in the Chicago area literally all my life. Tanglefoot's one of my favorite bands, a Canadian folk group. Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer's stuff together is good. There's a lot of good stuff, but often I'll like one or two songs and move on to the next, and there are too many names attached to actually get an accurate list together.

[DeathQuaker]

I've listened to and played a lot of folk and folk rock over the years... where to begin?

Since you've started with some Irish folk, I've got a big soft spot in my heart for "Fiddler's Green."

[Jorkens]

I'm really into Spiers and Boden (http://www.myspace.com/spiersandboden) at the moment. Really good traditional English stuff, very bouncy. They're more famous as two of the founders of Bellowhead, but their stuff as a duo is really cool and stripped down.

As regards Irish, I mainly know the classic 60s / 70s bands like Planxty, Boys of the Lough and the Bothy Band. Apart from the people who used to be in those bands, what good traditional Irish players are around these days?

[valadil]

Just got Great Big Sea's new album. I like some of it, but haven't made my mind up on it yet. It's poppier than their last effort. I like the direction, but they may have overdone it.

[Moff Chumley]

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, solo projects and C&N especially. That will be all.

[DomaDoma]

I'm more into lyrics than any particular band, but all in all, I much prefer the bands that put enunciation over "look how pretty my voice is". If you happen to have a very pretty voice - oddly, Paul Robeson comes first to mind - that's just icing on the cake. As for lyrics, I like the "people from the British Isles suffering some political injustice and/or severing some heads" genre - my favorite is The Harp that Once through Tara's Halls.

[RTGoodman]

I've been really into the Irish folk recently - Dubliners (Luke Kelly is my hero!), Chieftains, Wolfe Tones, Athenry, and similar are all great. In fact, a friend and I have been thinking about trying to start a small group to play their style of music since there's not a group 'round these parts like that.

Some of my favorite songs: "The Rocky Road to Dublin," "The Foggy Dew,"
Finnegan's Wake," "Seven Drunken Nights," and "The Wild Rover."

The same friend from before has also been trying to get me a copy of some Yonder Mountain String Band CDs, but I haven't seen him in a week or two. Anyone know anything about them?

[Hazkali]

You cannot beat the greats of the '70s folk-rock revival- Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention... brilliant. After seeing them at Cropredy festival The Levellers have to make the cut, although not all of their material can be classed as folk. Seth Lakeman is also the hottest young thing in folk music at the moment.

[Jorkens]

I'm more into lyrics than any particular band, but all in all, I much prefer the bands that put enunciation over "look how pretty my voice is".
Yes, a lot of my favorite folk singers are the ones with less 'perfect' 'ooh floaty floaty significance' voices and more earthiness, humour, personality and energy. And I get kind of annoyed by the tendancy to overproduce records and slather everything with reverb to make it sound really ancient and significant rather than letting the tunes speak for themselves and express their personalities...

Hazkali - classic Fairport stuff is absolutely great, love it to bits. I'm not so convinced by Seth Lakeman, though - the stuff I've heard has been a bit dramatic and overwrought for my tastes, and generally not as interesting and distinctive as more traditional stuff.

[Castaras]

Steeleye Span is a funky Folk band.

I'm more of a Filker than a folker though.

It's screen had many bright colours
The lovliest thing I had seen
It's what I always had waaanted
A li'l computing machine...

[Kaelaroth]

Does anti-folk count for the purposes of this thread? If so, everyone in the London AF revival scene rock.

[Catch]

How about folk punk? 'Cause I'd like to see some love for Against Me! and The Pogues.

[Closet_Skeleton]

You cannot beat the greats of the '70s folk-rock revival- Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention... brilliant. After seeing them at Cropredy festival The Levellers have to make the cut, although not all of their material can be classed as folk. Seth Lakeman is also the hottest young thing in folk music at the moment.

I find classic Steeleye Span to be completely lethargic.

My dad hates Seth Lakeman's singing voice and I'm no fan of him either.

I prefer:

Martyn Bennett
Oysterband
Show of Hands
Mauvais Sort

I have nothing against The Pogues either.

[Tragic_Comedian]

How about folk punk? 'Cause I'd like to see some love for Against Me! and The Pogues.

I love the Pogues. Shane MacGowan is a genius.


I've been really into the Irish folk recently - Dubliners (Luke Kelly is my hero!), Chieftains, Wolfe Tones, Athenry, and similar are all great. In fact, a friend and I have been thinking about trying to start a small group to play their style of music since there's not a group 'round these parts like that.

Some of my favorite songs: "The Rocky Road to Dublin," "The Foggy Dew,"
Finnegan's Wake," "Seven Drunken Nights," and "The Wild Rover."

The same friend from before has also been trying to get me a copy of some Yonder Mountain String Band CDs, but I haven't seen him in a week or two. Anyone know anything about them?
Luke Kelly is my hero, too. So's Ronnie Drew. And Barney McKenna, and Ciarian Bourke, and John Sheehan. Those are all my favorite songs, but "Rocky Road to Dublin" is almost impossible to sing.

[Rare Pink Leech]

I love folk music. Bob Dylan is one of my favourite artists, and Neil Young isn't that far behind. I also love Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, and CSN/CSNY. Ian and Sylvia's version of "Four Strong Winds" is one of the first songs I remembering hearing when my dad either played or sang it to me when I was young.

[RTGoodman]

I'm more of a Filker than a folker though.

If you're into folk/filk and also happen to be a Browncoat, you should check out the Bedlam Bards if you haven't already. Their "On the Drift" album (I picked it up at Dragon*Con a few years back, but you can probably find it online) is entirely inspired by "Firefly" and "Serenity" and has a TON of great songs. The soundtrack to "Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity" is good, too; it has some overlap by having some Bedlam Bards tunes but also has stuff by Emerald Rose, Brobdingnagian Bards, and several other groups/artists.

[Tragic_Comedian]

Anyone know where I can find some good American folk?

[Hazkali]

I find classic Steeleye Span to be completely lethargic.


Lethargic? How do you mean?



My dad hates Seth Lakeman's singing voice and I'm no fan of him either.


It is distinctive, in a marmite either-you-love-it-or-you-hate-it sort of way.



I prefer:

Martyn Bennett
Oysterband
Show of Hands
Mauvais Sort

I have nothing against The Pogues either.
Emphasis Added

I've only heard these guys at Cropredy, but I agree, they were good.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Lethargic? How do you mean?

I'm not a profesional music reviewer who can go into detail about such things.

If I call something lethargic I just mean that whenever I hear someone else do the same songs they did (and they didn't really use any original songs, being 'folk' musicians and all) then their version is always less energetic in comparison.

[funkyhomosapien]

I'm kinda fond of Jordi Sevall's "The Medieval Fiddle" if that counts as folk. Honestly, I don't know or care to know much about folk music, but if this was Neo-Folk we were talking about I'd be all about that.

[Tragic_Comedian]

I have discovered Pete Seeger. He's awesome.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

How about folk punk? 'Cause I'd like to see some love for Against Me! and The Pogues.

Crime As Forgiven by Against Me! is one of the very few perfect albums I've ever heard, even if it is only an EP. Reinventing was Good, As the Eternal Cowboy was Mediocre, whatever came after that was abysmal, and the new record seems good, but I'm afraid to try it.

Shane McGowan is an exceedingly brilliant lyricist. And a great guy. He and Conor Oberst tie for the nicest-famous-person-I've-ever-met award. Similarly, Bright Eyes lyrics are excellent; I forgive Oberst the melodrama on account of him, as far as I can tell, legitimately being that upset, and how well phrased it is. When he is more analytical and less sad, there is nothing to forgive, only things to love. Following the good-lyrics train, The Mountain Goats are almost peerless.

Tragic Comedian: The Mountain Goats, Devandra Banhart (if you're into that sort of thing), Kaiser Sunshine (surrealist jazz country folk), Gregory and the Hawk, Owen.

[Amotis]

Following the good-lyrics train, The Mountain Goats are almost peerless.

Tragic Comedian: The Mountain Goats, Devandra Banhart (if you're into that sort of thing), Kaiser Sunshine (surrealist jazz country folk), Gregory and the Hawk, Owen.

Oh yeah, good stuffs. I just love it whenever people mention Mt. Goats.

Listening to now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U_1rhqdMwI

Man, I love Oldham's voice...

[Closet_Skeleton]

Shane McGowan is an exceedingly brilliant lyricist.

Funny, my favourite Pogues tracks are instrumentals (Wild Cats of Kilkenny).

[Klose_the_Sith]

Anyone know where I can find some good American folk?

The Nightwatchman is the solo project of Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Aagainst The Machine and the now defunct Audioslave, It's very enjoyable from my perspective at least.

[Tragic_Comedian]

Shane McGowan is an exceedingly brilliant lyricist. And a great guy. He and Conor Oberst tie for the nicest-famous-person-I've-ever-met award.


You met him?! Where?

Yeah. he writes great songs, but I don't like listening to him live (like videos from concerts and stuff), because he slurs all the words. He's still my hero, though.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Shance? Outside of a concert in San Francisco. He actually sings pretty coherently, at least when I was there. Speaking, on the other hand? Almost unintelligible.

[Jorkens]

A slight bump to mention my fave traditional record ever:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/1975-First-Album-Bothy-Band/dp/B0014GFHPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1219968451&sr=1-1
It's brilliant, if you don't know get to know.

[Occasional Sage]

I'm a fan of Dave van Ronk. His influence on US music is under-recognized, but even if he hadn't mentored or been the idol of any of the 60s and 70s musicians his writing skills would make him more than worth looking up.

[Susil]

I'm really into Spiers and Boden (http://www.myspace.com/spiersandboden) at the moment. Really good traditional English stuff, very bouncy. They're more famous as two of the founders of Bellowhead, but their stuff as a duo is really cool and stripped down.


Saw them for free last semester, as I was stewarding a festival with them. :smallbiggrin: Excellent set. And having just got back from Greenbelt, I'm gonna have to add my voice to support Seth Lakeman - true his voice isn't the best (he mumbles a lot..) but I've never seen a folk act with quite so much onstage energy, its very contagious.


What about playing? I know a place that does weeky traditional music sessions and puts together ceilidh scratch bands from it, but sadly D&D comitments prevented me from going last year except on odd occasions. I play guitar and mandolin... anyone else get into this sort of stuff, and can recomend me a few good tunes to learn so I don't look a total newb if I start going? Cheers..! :smalltongue:

[Tragic_Comedian]

Saw them for free last semester, as I was stewarding a festival with them. :smallbiggrin: Excellent set. And having just got back from Greenbelt, I'm gonna have to add my voice to support Seth Lakeman - true his voice isn't the best (he mumbles a lot..) but I've never seen a folk act with quite so much onstage energy, its very contagious.


What about playing? I know a place that does weeky traditional music sessions and puts together ceilidh scratch bands from it, but sadly D&D comitments prevented me from going last year except on odd occasions. I play guitar and mandolin... anyone else get into this sort of stuff, and can recomend me a few good tunes to learn so I don't look a total newb if I start going? Cheers..! :smalltongue:

You have to learn the Wild Rover and Whiskey in the Jar. Black Velvet Band is up there, too, and maybe McAlpine's Fusiliers.

[Flickerdart]

I'm going to assume that Author's Song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author%27s_Song) counts as Folk. In which case, I recommend Vladimir Vysotskiy and Bulat Okudzhava.

[ColonelFuster]

Yah, well, I've been listening to folk music my whole life, and my favorites are, of course, the Smothers Brothers. No contest. The Church Bells song is a hit at summer camps, by the way.