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Folk Pop

 
 

Description of Folk Pop

 
Folk Pop was born in the twentieth century, and is musically synonymous with the music that comes from the majority of Singer-Songwriters. The idea originated from recording folk artists who would enter a studio with an acoustic guitar (and maybe harmonica) to belt out some songs to be recorded for a label. After the artist finished laying down tracks, the label would hire some session musicians to come in and record a backline of pop architecture (bass, drums, piano, backing guitars) in order to make the music more accessible to radio-listeners. Today's Folk Pop artists write with that pop sensibility in mind. Many of these post- coffeehouse crooners can be found in the Adult Alternative genre, but younger storytellers such as the tattooed Elliott Smith and the Post Grunge styled Mary Lou Lord attract hip Indie Rock enthusiasts more than the expected VH-1 demographic.
 

Filed Under

 
Folk  >  Folk Pop
 

Folk Pop Key Artists

 
Bob Lind

Dar Williams

She wrote her first song at
eleven and draws
comparisons to the
tremoloed vocal tones of
Joan Baez and Joni Mitch...

Freedy Johnston

One of the key artists of the
1990s, Johnston helped
return sensitive, melodic
songwriting to pop music.
Johnston wrote the scor...

Indigo Girls

Their pristine and luminary
vocal harmonies make
crowds hoot and holler.
Each song has a totally
different energy. The Indi...

Iris Dement

Dement's Folk Pop shows
her gift to convert tiny
packages of painful
experience into vocal
honey so it's easy going d...

James Taylor

A quintessential '70s
folk-pop singer, James
Taylor masks dark,
introspective songs with a
sweet, breezy sound. Pau...

Janis Ian

Janis Ian continues her
renewed career, delivering
, articulate Folk-Pop with
slick production and
elaborate guitar work.

Jewel

Precocious neo-folkie
Jewel has found mainstream
popularity with her soulful
vocals and sparkling
compositions. Jewel onc...

Joan Armatrading

Joni Mitchell

When it comes to folk music
and women's music in the
twentieth century, Joni
Mitchell stands as the
preeminent trailblazer. Jo...

Laura Nyro

A real maverick, Nyro
created jazz and pop-tinged
arrangements containing
certain subtleties her
impressive voice lacked....

Mary Lou Lord

Her voice ranges from a
scratchy whisper to a
singsong soprano and her
awkward guitar-strumming
has developed into her so...

Michelle Shocked

One of the first Adult
Alternative
singer-songwriters,
Shocked got airplay all over
America with her single "...

Nanci Griffith

She wrote and performed a
beautiful mix of folk,
country and pop while
Jewel was still modeling
Underoos to her kinderga...

Phoebe Snow

Snow charted with her
original mix of
introspective, Joni
Mitchell-style folk/jazz with
a gorgeous set of soulful p...

Shawn Colvin

She is one of the best and
first of the current crop of
female singer-songwriters
who meld folky
introspection with pop ro...

Suzanne Vega

Vega's fragile vocals and
minimalist production
provided fertile ground for
her slice-of-life lyrics, as in
the song "Luka." Rising to...

The Roches

The Roches are folk-pop
sisters known for their
celestial melodies, warm
studio mixes and ethereal
harmonies. The sisters' bi...

Tracy Chapman

With sensitive, well-crafted
narratives and a rich voice,
she re-introduced nuanced
social commentary into
(folk) pop music. As a stu...

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