Gary Louris is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson. Louris is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, pop sound.
Jandek is an American lo-fi music project centered around Sterling Smith, though the pseudonym is often used to refer to Smith directly in the context of this work. Their output is distributed by Corwood Industries, a Houston, Texas record label which is also operated by Smith.
Judith Marjorie Collins is a Grammy Award-winning American singer and songwriter with a career spanning over 60 years. She is known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records for her social activism, and for the clarity of her voice. Collins has released 28 studio albums, 4 live albums, numerous compilation albums and 4 holiday albums.
Liam Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, who are regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They recorded 55 albums, achieved global sales of millions and appeared in sold-out concerts at such prominent venues as Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, known for her hits 'Fast Car' and 'Give Me One Reason', along with other singles 'Talkin' 'bout a Revolution', 'Baby Can I Hold You', and 'Crossroads'. She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award–winning artist.
Bruce Douglas Cockburn is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, politics, and Christianity.
Damien Rice is an Irish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed some success with two released singles, 'The World is Dead' and 'Weatherman,' which did moderately well in Ireland. However, an anticipated studio album floundered because of record company politics. After leaving the band, Rice worked as a farmer in Tuscany and busked throughout Europe before returning to Ireland in 2001 and beginning a solo career. The rest of Juniper went on to perform under the name Bell X1.
Matthew Stephen Ward is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 1999, primarily through independent label Merge Records. In addition to his solo work, he is a member of indie pop duo She & Him and folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, and also participates in recording, producing, and playing with multiple other artists.
Linda Maria Ronstadt is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, and Latin. She has earned 10 Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, and an ALMA Award. Many of her albums have been certified gold, platinum or multiplatinum in the United States and internationally. She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award. She was awarded the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Recording Academy in 2011 and also awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy in 2016. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2014. On July 28, 2014, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. In 2019, she received a star jointly with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their work as the group Trio. Ronstadt was among five honorees who received the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements.
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer-songwriter who sang rock, soul and blues music. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and 'electric' stage presence.
Asaf Avidan is an Israeli singer-songwriter. From 2006 to 2011, he was part of the group Asaf Avidan & the Mojos, independently releasing three studio albums. The Reckoning, their debut record, was certified Gold in Israel and became one of the best-selling independent albums in the country. After disbanding in 2011, a 2012 remix of Asaf Avidan & the Mojos' single 'Reckoning Song' (2008) by German disc jockey Wankelmut — retitled into One Day / Reckoning Song — attained widespread commercial success throughout Europe. It topped the charts in several countries and was certified Gold and Platinum. In 2012, Avidan started a solo career, eventually releasing three studio albums to moderate success in European countries.
Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace. After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie 'Prince' Billy as the name for most of his work.
Dorothy Snowden 'Dar' Williams is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker has described Williams as 'one of America's very best singer-songwriters.'
Edward Christopher Sheeran is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, actor, and businessman. After first recording music in 2004, he began gaining attention through YouTube. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project. He signed with Asylum Records the same year.
Gordon Haskell was an English musician and songwriter. A pop, rock, jazz, country and blues vocalist, guitarist, and bassist, he was a school friend of King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, the two first working together in Fripp's mid-1960s teenage group the League of Gentlemen. Haskell first gained recognition as bass player for the British band The Fleur de Lys, and subsequently spent a short period in King Crimson, singing one of the songs on their second album and both singing and playing bass on their third album. After departing from King Crimson, he continued his musical career as a solo musician, finally gaining international recognition in 2001 with his hit song 'How Wonderful You Are', followed by his platinum-selling album Harry's Bar.
Devendra Obi Banhart is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas, and raised by his mother in Venezuela. As a teenager, he moved to California, and in 1998 began studying at the San Francisco Art Institute, dropping out in 2000 to pursue a musical career. In 2002, Banhart released his debut album The Charles C. Leary and continued to create music from then on, working with record labels Young God Records and XL Recordings.
Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Referred to as the 'Queen of Pop', she is regarded as one of the most significant figures in popular culture. Madonna is noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She is also known for pushing the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music while remaining completely in charge of every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both critical acclaim and controversy. Madonna is often cited as an influence by other artists.
Leonard Albert Kravitz is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads.
Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is noteworthy as a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.
Amos Lee is an American singer-songwriter whose musical style encompasses folk, rock, and soul. He was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English. After working as a schoolteacher and bartender he began to pursue a career in music. His manager Bill Eib, an artist manager and new artist development agent, submitted a demo recording to Blue Note Records which resulted in a recording contract and association with singer Norah Jones.
Philip David Ochs December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and distinctive voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and 1970s and released eight albums.
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic and electric backing. He now plays only acoustic to protect his hearing. He is known for his wide-eyed, unaffected, and childlike outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, is influenced by music from around the world.
Daniel Roland Lanois is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.
David Anthony Rice, known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Jaromír Nohavica or Jarek Nohavica is a Czech recording artist, songwriter, lyricist and poet.
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer and songwriter.
John Edward Prine was an American country folk singer-songwriter. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death, and was known for an often humorous style of original music that has elements of protest and social commentary.
David Cyril Eric Swarbrick was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second British folk revival, contributing to some of the most important groups and projects of the 1960s, and he became a much sought-after session musician, which led him throughout his career to work with many of the major figures in folk and folk rock music.
Gregory Walter Graffin is an American singer, songwriter, and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and only constant member of punk rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1979. He embarked on a solo career in 1997, when he released the album American Lesion. His follow-up album, Cold as the Clay, was released nine years later. His newest solo work is Millport, released in 2017.
Lianne Charlotte Barnes, known professionally as Lianne La Havas, is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for whom she sang backing vocals. In 2010, La Havas signed to Warner Bros. Records, spending two years developing her songwriting, before releasing any music. La Havas' debut studio album, Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), was released to positive reviews from critics and earned her a nomination for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll and awards for the iTunes Album of The Year 2012.
Nina Maria Nastasia is an American folk singer-songwriter. A native of Los Angeles, she first came to prominence in New York City in 2000 after Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel began giving her debut album, Dogs, airplay. The album earned Nastasia a cult following, and was re-released in 2004. Her fifth studio album release, You Follow Me (2007), was a collaboration with Australian drummer Jim White of Dirty Three.
Emmylou Harris is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mark Linkous was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of Sparklehorse. He was also known for his collaborations with such notable artists as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel Johnston, Radiohead, Black Francis, Julian Casablancas, Nina Persson, David Lynch, Fennesz, Danger Mouse, and Sage Francis.
Amandine Bourgeois is a French singer. She was the winner of the sixth edition of the French version of the Pop Idol series Nouvelle Star in 2008. On 26 July 2014, Bourgeois participated in the television game show Fort Boyard.