Roots & Folk
Songs older than the radio.
Old-time, Appalachian, gospel, country blues, string-band — the rivers this music drinks from. Today's keepers: Gillian Welch, Sierra Ferrell, Pokey LaFarge, Iris DeMent, Rhiannon Giddens.
Names worth knowing
USA · 1953 — present
Lucinda Williams
Louisiana made audible.
USA · 1988 — present
Sierra Ferrell
Sings like she found the songs in a creek bed.
USA · 1967 — present
Gillian Welch
American primitive, on purpose.
USA · 1983 — present
Pokey LaFarge
Western swing, ragtime, and string-band soul.
USA · 1992 — present
Billy Strings
Bluegrass at the speed of a freight train.
USA · 1993 — present
Molly Tuttle
First woman to win IBMA Guitar Player of the Year — twice.
USA · 1979 — present
Allison Russell
Banjo, French, English, and a backbone of soul.
USA · 1977 — present
Rhiannon Giddens
The historian-musician of American roots.
United Kingdom · 1983 — present
Yola
Bristol-born country soul that floors every room.
Norway · 1968 — present
Bjørn Berge
Acoustic blues guitarist who tours the world from Haugesund.
Ireland · 1982 — present
Lisa O'Neill
Cavan voice carrying the old Irish-American thread.
Ireland · 2000 — present
Lankum
Dublin's drone-folk band reshaping the tradition.