# Am I missing anybody?  (Contemporary folk/folk-rock)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-anybody-contemporary-folk-folk-rock/136232>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 11, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-anybody-contemporary-folk-folk-rock/136232 "2002-11-11T03:52:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-anybody-contemporary-folk-folk-rock/136232/1 "2002-11-11T03:52:11Z")

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Sometimes there’s nothing quite like a singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar. Stuff I’ve been listening to in this genre:

Willy Porter  
Jack Johnson  
Rockwell Church  
Peter Mulvey

Anyone who enjoys this type of music, what other artists do you listen to in this vein?

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-anybody-contemporary-folk-folk-rock/136232/2 "2002-11-11T04:52:02Z")

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All of Andrew Ratchin’s stuff is excellent. He performs solo as **Electric Bonsai Band** , he did his best work with **Uncle Bonsai** (the two women, Arni and Ashley, did most of the vocals, with Andrew on guitar), and **Mel Cooleys** was much more heavily instrumented, but had the same hyper-literate, satiric lyrics. Website’s at [www.yellowtailrecords.com](http://www.yellowtailrecords.com) (I hope that link’s not against the rules. As near as I can tell, the whole label is run out of a house by one or two people. I ordered some tapes a couple years ago and Andrew called me to see if I’d gotten them, so it’s not exactly a commercial juggernaut.)

There’s also **John Wesley Harding**. He tends to bounce back and forth from almost-rock and very traditional folk, and in between the extremes he’s done some very good music. If you have your heart set on accoustic guitar, try the album _John Wesley Harding’s New Deal_, and his song _The Devil in Me_ absolutely kicks ass.