- Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (born May 3, 1919), almost universally known as Pete Seeger, is a folk singer, political activist, and author. As a member of the Weavers, he had a string of hits, including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. He was formerly a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America and a major contributor to folk and pioneer of protest music in the 1950s and the 1960s. - Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow cowrote (With Leonard Lipton) the group's most famous song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon." Yarrow's parents were Jewish, born in the Ukraine; the family name was changed from Yaroshevitz to Yarrow after immigrating to Providence, Rhode Island. Yarrow received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Cornell University in 1959. - Christine Lavin
Christine Lavin (b. January 2, 1952) is a New York City-based singer, songwriter, and promoter of contemporary folk music. She has recorded numerous solo albums, and has also recorded with other female folk artists under the name Four Bitchin' Babes. She has also put together several compilation albums of contemporary folk artists, including "On a Winter's Night". She is known for her sense of humor, which is expressed in both her music and her onstage performances. - John Gorka
John Gorka (born 1958, Newark, New Jersey) is a contemporary American folk musician. Upon the release of his first album in 1987, "Rolling Stone" magazine dubbed him "the voice of 'new folk'." - Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin (born January 10, 1956 in Vermillion, South Dakota) is a Grammy Award winning American musician. - Richard Shindell
Richard Shindell (born 1960, Lakehurst, New Jersey) is an American folk singer. He currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina with his wife and their children. Shindell's songwriting often involves storytelling from a first-person point of view: from an INS officer and illegal immigrant in "Fishing", to a World War II soldier in "Sparrow's Point", to a Confederate drummerboy in "Arrowhead", to a Spanish grandmother in "Abuelita", to a power broker in "Confession". - David Wilcox
David Patrick Wilcox (born 1958) is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter. Wilcox was born in Mentor, Ohio. He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1976 where he started learning guitar. He later transferred to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina in 1981 and graduated in 1985. Within two years he had released his first album, and by 1989 he had signed with A&M Records, a major label. - Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett (born in Klein (unincorporated), Harris County, Texas on November 1, 1957) is an American singer-songwriter. - Steve Forbert
Steve Forbert (b. 1954, Meridian, Mississippi) is an American popular singer. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard chart in 1980. The song, although "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard" on the sleeve of the album "Jackrabbit Slim," is not about Supremes singer Ballard who died in 1976. "Forbert admits that Ballard became a timely connection for "Romeo's Tune", written about a girl from Meridian. - Tom Paxton
Thomas R. Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is a well-known American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years. His songs have experienced enduring appeal, including modern standards such as "The Last Thing on My Mind", "Bottle of Wine", "Whose Garden Was This", "The Marvelous Toy", and "Ramblin' Boy". Paxton's songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Doc Watson, Sandy Denny, Dolly Parton, … - Vance Gilbert
Vance Gilbert (born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American folk singer/songwriter. He started out as a jazz singer, then switched to folk music, performing on the open mike circuit in Boston. His career took off when he toured with Shawn Colvin. He has recorded eight albums, including "Side of the Road", a duo album with friend Ellis Paul. His first three albums appeared on Philo/Rounder Records. - Suzanne Vega
Suzanne Vega (born Suzanne Nadine Vega, 11 July 1959, Santa Monica, California) is an American songwriter and singer known for her highly literate lyrics and eclectic folk-inspired music. - John McCutcheon
Wisconsin native John McCutcheon (born August 14, 1952) is an American folk music singer and multi-instrumentalist who has produced over twenty-five albums since the 1970s. He is a graduate of Saint John's University in Minnesota, and now resides in Charlottesville, Virginia. While in his 20s, McCutcheon travelled to Appalachia and learned from some of the legendary greats of traditional folk music, such as Roscoe Holcomb, I.D. Stamper, and Tommy Hunter. - Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles, "Fast Car," "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution," "Baby Can I Hold You," and "Give Me One Reason." She is a multi-platinum and multi-Grammy Award-winning artist. - Lucy Kaplansky
Lucy Kaplansky (born 1960) is an American folk musician based in New York City. Kaplansky also has a PhD in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University. Kaplansky was originally from Chicago, but at the age of 18, decided not to go to college, and moved to New York City. She became involved in the city's folk music scene, particularly around Greenwich Village, where she played with, among others, Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin and Richard Shindell. - Ellis Paul
Ellis Paul (born January 14, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born Paul Plissey in Aroostook County, Maine, Paul is a key figure in what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, a literate, provocative and urbanely romantic folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s. His pop music songs have appeared in movies and on television, … - Cliff Eberhardt
Cliff Eberhardt is an American folk singer/songwriter who currently lives in the Pioneer Valley, in Massachusetts. His songs have been covered by Richie Havens, Buffy St. Marie, Erasure, Lucy Kaplansky and Cry Cry Cry. His albums have appeared on Shanachie Records, Windham Hill, and Red House Records. - Dave van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk (June 30 1936 - February 10 2002) was a folk singer born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York City, and was nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street." He was best known as an important figure in New York City during the acoustic blues revival of the 1960s, but his work ranged from old English ballads to Bertolt Brecht, rock, New Orleans jazz, and swing. He became known for performing instrumental ragtime guitar music, … - Oscar Brand
Oscar Brand (born February 7, 1920, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a folk singer and songwriter. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums. He has played alongside such legends of American folk music as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. He currently resides in Great Neck, New York. He has been hosting the radio show "Oscar Brand's Folksong Festival" every Saturday at 10 pm, … - Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams (born December 23, 1958) is a singer/songwriter, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, but for the length of her career a resident of Southern California. Many of her songs detail the events, characters and sensations of a small-town or rural Southern upbringing ("Main Road," "Crazy Mary," "Polish Those Shoes"), and she also finds inspiration in nature ("Century Plant," "Weeds," "Why Look at the Moon"), … - Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked (born Karen Michelle Johnston, 24 February 1962, in Dallas, Texas) is a U.S. singer-songwriter whose music and performances are influenced by her Texas roots, her political activism, and a self-assured style that her first major label producer likened to troubadours such as Joni Mitchell, Spider John Koerner, and Dave Van Ronk. - Geoff Bartley
Geoff Bartley is an American acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter whose musical style combines roots, blues, jazz, and traditional folk. He began performing in 1969 and lives in the Boston area. He can be seen every Monday night hosting an open mic night at The Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. - Tom Russell
Thomas George "Tom" Russell (born in 1946 in Los Angeles) is an American singer-songwriter. Although most identified with the country music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, Tex-Mex and the cowboy music of the American West. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Dave Alvin, Suzy Bogguss and more. - Cheryl Wheeler
Cheryl Wheeler (born July 10, 1951) is an American singer/songwriter of contemporary folk music, based in New England. Her songs range in tone from silly to serious. Frequent topics are love relationships, descriptions of places or events, and profiles of people. She is listed as one of the top Contemporary Singer-Songwriters by the AllMusic Guide. Wheeler was born in Timonium, Maryland. She performed at clubs in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore area. - Hugh Blumenfeld
Hugh Blumenfeld is an American folk music performer from Connecticut. He was born in New York City in 1958, graduated with degrees in Biology and Humanities from M.I.T. in 1980, and got a Masters in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1981. He was influential in the Greenwich Village music scene in the 1980s, … - Happy Traum
Happy Traum (born Harry Peter Traum, 1939, The Bronx, New York City) is an American folk musician who started playing music in the Fifties. Happy began playing guitar and 5-string banjo as a teenager. He attended the High School of Music and Art, where he took up music and was drawn into the folk music boom of the late 1950s. He is a former guitar student of the legendary folk and blues musician Brownie McGhee, … - Roger Manning
Roger Manning is a New York City based singer-songwriter who plays an aggressive acoustic style of music. Manning, along with a small handful of other artists composed the original New York City anti-folk scene. Since 2001, Manning has made a living as a web designer in New York. His most recent, third album was released in 1995. - Richard Meyer
Richard Meyer (born 1952) is an American folk singer-songwriter, writer, painter, and set designer. Meyer was active in the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the 1980s and '90s and did much to promote other artists. As one of the leaders of a musicians cooperative in the Village he handled booking at the SpeakEasy and edited "Fast Folk Musical Magazine" (1986-1997). He has since written reviews for various media such as the "All Music Guide". - Julie Gold
Julie Gold is a singer/songwriter. She is known for writing the song "From a Distance", which was made famous by other artists, including Nanci Griffith and Bette Midler. From 1990 to 1994, she was a member of Four Bitchin' Babes, along with Christine Lavin, Megon McDonough, and Sally Fingerett. Julie Gold is originally from Philadelphia; she graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1974. - Louise Taylor
Louise Taylor is an American folk singer/songwriter from Vermont. She left home at age 15, hitchhiking and busking her way around the United States and settling in Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico, for six months at age 20. Her song "Blue Norther" chronicles her experiences working as a waitress in a cantina there, and her encounters with the local fishermen. - Rod MacDonald
Rod MacDonald (born on August 17, 1948 in Southington, Connecticut) is an American folk singer/songwriter. His songs have been covered by Dave Van Ronk, Christine Lavin, Four Bitchin' Babes and Garnet Rogers. He attended the University of Virginia (graduating in 1970 with a degree in history) and Columbia Law School, but during his final year in law school, decided to pursue a career in music after graduating in 1973. - David Massengill
David Massengill (born in 1951 in Bristol, Tennessee) is an American folk singer/songwriter. He describes his songwriting style as "stories I tell about friends and family... or stories I made up about friends and family." - Barbara Kessler
Barbara Kessler is an American folk-rock singer/songwriter. She began her career performing in clubs on Cape Cod and driving an ice cream truck, then began performing at open mikes in Boston, and continues to be part of the Boston folk scene. Perhaps her best known composition is "Deep Country", which first appeared on 1994's live "Stranger to this Land". - Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay "Suzy" Bogguss is an American country music singer and one of the most acclaimed female country singers of the 1980s and 90s. Her résumé includes the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist, the Country Music Association's Horizon Award, six top ten singles, one platinum album, and three gold albums. After taking a brief recording hiatus in the mid-1990s to start a family with her husband, songwriter Doug Crider, … - Chris Smither
Chris Smither (born November 11, 1944 in Miami, Florida) is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and philosophers. His family lived in Ecuador and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas before settling in New Orleans when Chris was three-years old. He grew up in New Orleans, and lived briefly in Paris where he and his twin sister attended French public school. - Jack Hardy
Jack Studebaker Hardy is a singer-songwriter and playwright who has been influential in the Greenwich Village folk music scene for decades. He has been cited as a major influence by Suzanne Vega and many others who emerged from that scene in the 1980s. He was also the founder of the Songwriters' Exchange at the Cornelia Street Cafe and was the first editor of "Fast Folk Musical Magazine". Hardy is a graduate of the Pomfret School in Connecticut. - Greg Brown
Greg Brown is a folk musician from Iowa, USA. His "Iowa Waltz" has been (unsuccessfully) proposed to replace the state song of Iowa. - Lynn Miles
Lynn Miles (born Sweetsburg, Quebec) is an Ottawa-based singer-songwriter. Her album, "Slightly Haunted" was one of the best-received folk releases of 1996, garnering praise in the "New York Times" and "Billboard". Her music is subtle, lyrical and tender, often with more than a trace of melancholy. Her third album, "Night in a Strange Town", features a range of styles, but all incorporate strong, unique lyrics with her plaintive vocals. - David Mallett
David Mallett is a singer-songwriter best known for his authorship of the popular tune "Garden Song," made famous by Arlo Guthrie. He has recorded for independent record labels for most of his career. A resident of Maine for most of his life, in the early 1990s he relocated to Nashville, and released a few albums with the folk and blues label Vanguard. He has since moved back to Maine. - Michael Peter Smith
Michael Peter Smith is a Chicago, U.S.-based singer/songwriter. "Rolling Stone Magazine" once called him "The greatest songwriter in the English language". He has been singing and composing since the 1960s, and his rich and challenging songs have been recorded by more than 30 performers. He is best known for writing "The Dutchman," which was popularized by Steve Goodman and also recorded by Tom Russell, John McDermott, Gamble Rogers, Jerry Jeff Walker, …
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