Genre · Britain and North America, 1950s revival
Folk
Where to start with folk: Blue, then seven more albums below, in order.
Folk music is the music of communities: songs passed on by ear and changed a little by every singer. The folk most listeners mean today comes out of the revival of the 1950s and 1960s, when singers in the United States and Britain took up old ballads, work songs and protest songs and began writing new ones.
Listen for three things. The words, which carry stories and opinions. The acoustic guitar or banjo, usually simple and close. And the voice, plain and unpolished. Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake each made it personal.
If you only play one folk album, make it this one: Joni Mitchell with guitar, piano and dulcimer, singing about love as honestly as anyone has.
Part of Singer-songwriter →Where to start: 8 folk albums, in order
Click a cover to hear 30-second previews. Start at the top; each record takes you a little further.
- 01
Blue
Ten songs on guitar, piano and Appalachian dulcimer; 'A Case of You' and 'River' are as direct as songwriting gets.
Singer-songwriter 
02The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
His second album, mostly his own songs: 'Blowin' in the Wind', 'A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall' and 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right'.
American folk music revival
03Joan Baez
Her debut: old ballads and traditional songs in a clear soprano with guitar, from one of the first stars of the revival.
American folk music revival
04Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake's debut: a soft voice and intricate guitar, with string arrangements on 'River Man' and 'Way to Blue'.
05Liege & Lief
English traditional ballads played by an electric band, with Sandy Denny singing 'Matty Groves' and 'Tam Lin'.
British folk revival
06Pink Moon
Eleven short songs, just Nick Drake and his guitar, with one piano overdub on the title track; quiet and bare.
07Solid Air
Echoing guitar and slurred, jazzy singing; the title track was written for Nick Drake.
08Just Another Diamond Day
Gentle songs about a journey across Britain by horse and cart, barely noticed at the time and rediscovered decades later.
Previews courtesy of Apple Music.
Which one did you like best? Its tag below the cover is the branch to dig into next.
How folk grew
5 periods, each with the branches that appeared in it. Branches with a dot have their own page.
- Before 1900
Songs of the people
Ballads, work songs and dance tunes were passed on by ear in villages, mines and mills, and collectors began writing them down in the 19th century.
- 1920s–1940s
First recordings
Field recordings and singers such as Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly put folk songs on records and radio, often with a political edge.
- 1950s–1960s
The revival
Coffeehouses in New York and clubs in London filled with young singers. Joan Baez and Bob Dylan made protest songs popular, and in 1965 Dylan went electric.
On the route: record 2, record 3, record 5
- 1970s
Singer-songwriters
Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake and John Martyn turned folk inward, with personal songs and new guitar tunings.
On the route: record 1
- 1980s onward
New folk
Neofolk and Celtic music grew scenes of their own, and later indie singers brought acoustic folk back for a new generation.
The full lineage tree
Bright border: has its own pageDashed: sources that flowed inSolid line: documented stylistic originFaint dashes: grouped under folkHover a genre to see where it came from and went
Pick a branch of folk
The 6 branches people play most. Each has its own 8 albums and lineage.
American folk music revivalOld ballads and new topical songs with acoustic guitar.Open on the genre map →
British folk revivalEnglish and Scottish ballads, sung plain or with fiddle.Open on the genre map →
1960sFolk rockFolk songs played by an electric band.Open on the genre map →
1970sSinger-songwriterPersonal songs written and sung by one person.Open on the genre map →
1980sCeltic musicIrish and Scottish tunes with fiddle, pipes and harp.Open on the genre map →
1980sNeofolkDark acoustic folk with post-industrial roots.Open on the genre map →
See folk on the genre map
Its place among more than 1,200 genres, next to its neighbors.
Open the genre map →
Keep digging folk in Cratto
Scan your records, light up your own genre globe, and see how much of your shelf is folk.
Get Cratto →All 14 subgenres of folkby decade
Genres folk directly influenced36
Genre names and classification follow Wikipedia (Folk, List of music genres and styles), CC BY-SA 4.0; lineage lines follow the stylistic origins each genre's entry records. Album artwork and previews come from Apple Music.