Cheers to Some Good Contemporary Folk!
Contemporary Folk music is different than Traditional Folk. So much so that it really does need its own mention in YourSongmaker’s top 10 genre list. If you’ve been following this blog, you know there’s been some powerhouse genres mentioned. This one is no different. It cannot be understated how significant contemporary folk music has been to our society and how much it has made its mark on music today. In regards to folk music, most people I know, either “love it” or “hate it”. It’s easy for me to see why people have such strong feelings. Contemporary folk is profound and important, but some is very cheesy. I’m not down with the cheese.
With early famous artists like Woody Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, David Bromberg… and later John Denver, Cat Stevens, John Prine, Emmylou Harris – you can see why it’s had such an impact. Each one of these artists (and a lot more) were influences of the artists that came after them. It’s usually this way with everything right? I agree. But the impact they had on the way music is written and heard today all around the world in just about every other genre is pretty amazing. The 1960’s was an undeniably an important part of American history. It’s where a lot of people opened their mind and started questioning things in our society and what was right and wrong. The music of that period helped shape that thought process and some good change came from it. Like traditional folk, contemporary folk tell stories. That what song writing is at its essence. It’s telling your story or someone else’s story as descriptive (or non-descriptive) in as little words as you can… but still getting your message across in a toe tapping, head noddin’ way. It’s a cool thing.