Category: Folk
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Simon & Garfunkel ‘Sounds of Silence’ (1966)
Simon & Garfunkel hadn’t yet fully reached the height of their powers when Sounds of Silence was released. In fact, the duo had toiled in relative obscurity for nearly a decade prior. The childhood friends met and wrote their first song together in sixth grade, were signed to their first record contract at the age…
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Billy Strings ‘Home’ (2019)
Billy Strings is a helluva guitar player and Home is a helluva guitar album that takes you on a whirlwind journey through the world of bluegrass. There are songs that march straight on the traditional path (“Taking Water”), songs that venture into the weeds with a progressive bounce to their gait (“Way From The Mire”),…
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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ‘Deja Vu’ (1970)
From the opening moments of Deja Vu, when Stephen Stills’ iconic acoustic guitar kicks in and the three-piece harmony hits your eardrums, it’s evident you’re about to bear witness to musical greatness. Out of all the iconic protest folk rock that entered the American consciousness during the late 60’s and early 70’s, Deja Vu stands…
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The Lone Bellow ‘Half Moon Light’ (2020)
The Lone Bellow’s vocal melodies have never failed to delight, and their 2020 effort Half Moon Light is no exception. This album marked a turning point from a pure folk-country sound into more of a psychedelic gospel sound, doubling down on their eclectic influences that reach deep into a bag of tricks and come out with a…
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Nathaniel Rateliff ‘And It’s Still Alright’ (2020)
Nathaniel Rateliff is one of my favorite contemporary singers. His voice has a real richness on the low end and when he decides too really let loose the power he delivers almost sounds unhinged. I also love his weird articulation of certain words– I don’t know this for sure, but I’m pretty sure Rateliff purposefully…
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Tracy Chapman ‘Tracy Chapman’ (1988)
Tracy Chapman began 1987 busking on the streets of Boston. She ended 1989 with three Grammy wins, a multi-platinum record, and over one million records sold in the first two weeks of this album’s release. It’s an incredible story, and one that set the stage for the singer-songwriter revolution that swarmed the United States during…
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Cassino ‘Sounds of Salvation’ (2007)
Cassino’s lead singer Nick Torres is one of my favorite lyricists of all-time, both from his stint in pop-punk band Northstar and his subsequent folk rock project Cassino. Torres and childhood friend Tyler Odom actually formed Cassino after Northstar broke up in the mid-2000’s, putting down their overdriven guitars for a subtler indie/folk sound. And…
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David Gray ‘White Ladder’ (1998)
White Ladder was self-financed and self-recorded in David Gray’s London flat. Considering the album went triple platinum, earned a Grammy nomination, and remains to this day the 28th highest selling album in the United Kingdom, it’s an incredible accomplishment. That intimate approach to the writing and recording process can be felt in every corner of…
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Linda Ronstadt ‘Simple Dreams’ (1977)
Linda Ronstadt is one of the most well-rounded singers in history, effortlessly spanning genres. Throughout her 45-year career she effortlessly put out pop, rock-n-roll, folk, opera, and ranchera albums, covering an incredible range of styles. Simple Dreams is the highest selling album of her career, and probably the one she is most recognized for as…
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Jim Croce ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim’ (1972)
Jim Croce’s tragic death in an airplane accident at the age of 30 years old tragically cut short the life of one of folk music’s most interesting artists. I’ve always felt that the swag Croce brought to his melodies, lyrics, and arrangements separated himself from his early 70’s folk contemporaries in a really unique way.…
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CAAMP ‘CAAMP’ (2016)
I have a lot of soft spots in music. One of those soft spots is undoubtedly dark folk music that describes broken characters in search of better days who, despite their best efforts, either unwittingly fall back into bad habits or self sabotage on their path to redemption. In other words, CAAMP’s 2016 self-titled debut…
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