Nick Drake, Nick Drake, and Nick Drake. His three pre-mortem albums are absolutely stunning: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon. Those albums can also be gotten for seven to nine bucks each. Pick them up.
I like Bright Eyes too. And he does have an…interesting voice.
Shirley Ujest, ever heard “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” by** The Twilight Singers**? It’s billed as a “soul-folk cover”. If you like something like that I could probably suggest others you’d like, like the aforementioned Leonard Cohen’s son Adam Cohen for example, **Ben Lee ** for another.
Both Kevin Johnson and Mike McClellan have been performing for at least 30 years but - being from Australia - they’re pretty much unkown in the US.
Eva Cassidy died of cancer at the age of 33, before she had a chance to hit the big time. I heartily recommend her Songbird CD.
As you can tell from the wide array of responses this is a pretty open question. Do you have any particular genres (within folk) that you’re looking for or are there any particular types that you like or dislike more than others?
You also specifically request contemporary. What do you consider contemporary (I would not, for example, call John Prine contemporary as most of his better work is 30 years old now)?
That being said, I would also recommend the following:[ul]
[li]Carrie Newcomer[/li][li]Burns Sisters[/li][li]Iris DeMent[/li][li]Dave Alvin[/li][li]Tom Russell[/li][li]Richard Thompson (of Fairport Convention fame and an awesome guitar virtuoso)[/li][/ul]
Mary Chapin Carpenter
A lot of good suggestions!
For older folk, I really love Tom Rush - The Circle Game is wonderful (Urge for Going is my favorite track).
More recent folk music on my iPod:
- eastmountainsouth
- Mindy Smith
- The Waifs
- Libby Kirkpatrick
and knowing that you like her, here are some related suggestions (at least in my mind, as her music has a contemporary country feel to it too):
First, I’d recommend Ani DiFranco (click here for audio samples). She’s incredibly diverse, forges her own path yet pays homage to classic folk roots, and has a very recognizable style. If you like Ani, you will also probably like Laura Love.
Ani and Laura aren’t quite so country-influenced, but recent albums by The Nields are, particularly Love and China. (click here for samples.) Alison Krauss and Union Station are also heavily country-influenced, with fantastic dobro, lyrics, and musicality across the board. A fantastic sampler of this type of music is the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack, if you’re looking for a place to dip your toe.
Some of Annie’s lyrics remind me a bit of Susan Werner’s and even (as previously mentioned) Carrie Newcomer’s. They both have ravishing voices, and Susan’s Time Between Trains and New Non-Fiction , as well as Carrie’s The Gathering of Spirits, are highly recommended.
Richard Shindell and, to a lesser extent, Lucy Kaplansky, are also contemporary folkies who occasionally toe the line into country influences. I would more heartily recommend their earlier work (particularly Richard’s Sparrow’s Point and Lucy’s Ten Year Night). Richard and Lucy were part of a one-CD folk “supergroup” with modern folk goddess Dar Williams; their eponymous CD, Cry, Cry, Cry, contains incredible harmonies and is an excellent sampler of the writing of a broad range of modern contemporary folk artists.
If you like upbeat, fun and spunky, then the previously-mentioned Eddie From Ohio (click here for some samples and a review). All four members are superb musicians, writers, and performers, and they are among the best folk-rock acts to see live. (Waving to all the fellow Ed-heads out there.)
I’m not sure quite how up your alley these other artists are, but I’d also recommend Patty Griffin, John Gorka, Voices on the Verge, Cheryl Wheeler, Indigo Girls, Jill Sobule, Carla Ulbrich, Nanci Griffith, Stan Rogers, Eva Cassidy, Cliff Eberhardt, Girlyman, Shawn Colvin, Greg Brown and Iris Dement, Catie Curtis, Kris Delmhorst, Disappear Fear, The Kennedys, The Story (and Jennifer Kimball and Jonatha Brooke solo), Chantal Kreviazuk, Erin McKeown, and Richard Thompson. Many of these are in the “gray area” of folk that crosses over to rock, jazz, country, alternative, or Simply Weird, but all of them are grand artists to give a try if you find yourself getting addicted a regular “Folk On!” fix. Happy listening!
I don’t really listen to folk music any more, but I occasionally run into Laura Veirs (whom I suppose you could classify as alt-folk), and I rather like her music. Her voice isn’t that great, but she’s a good songwriter.
Stan’s brother Garnet Rogers continues to work, doing some stirring, uplifting and at times emotionally shattering work. Still, it’s hard to think of a contemporary (or nearly so) singer-song writer who has lifted the hair on the back of my neck like the first time I heard Stan, Garnet and the band do Barrett’s Privateers. Garnet has done some great stuff with Archie Fisher, too.
If you like Richard Thompson, try Clive Gregson and Christine Collister.
And you won’t get “the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs” out of your head!
Neither one can be called contemporary, but I can’t let a thread about folk music pass without at least mentioning The Weavers and Steve Goodman.
John Prine. You should own John Prine, his eponymous debut. It’s an absolutely amazing album. Here’s the track list:
**Illegal Smile
Spanish Pipedream
Hello in There
Sam Stone
Paradise
Pretty Good
Your Flag Decal won’t get You into Heaven Anymore
Far from Me
Angel from Montgomery
Quiet Man
Donald and Lydia
Six O’Clock News
Flashback Blues
**
Of these all but three or four are now standards that have been covered over and over again. One of the greatest debuts, ever.