GENRE » FOLK ROCK

Tom Robinson

Thomas Giles Robinson is a British singer-songwriter, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits 'Glad to Be Gay', '2-4-6-8 Motorway', and 'Don't Take No for an Answer', with his Tom Robinson Band. He later peaked at No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart with his solo single 'War Baby'.

Richie Havens

Richard Pierce Havens was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul, and rhythm and blues. He had an intense and rhythmic guitar style, and played soulful covers of pop and folk songs. He was the opening act at Woodstock.

Pegi Young

Margaret Mary 'Pegi' Young was an American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist.

Andrew Gold

Andrew Maurice Gold was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold played on scores of records by other artists, most notably Linda Ronstadt's, and had his own success with the U.S. top 40 hits 'Lonely Boy' (1977) and 'Thank You for Being a Friend' (1978), as well as the UK top five hit 'Never Let Her Slip Away' (1978). In the 1980s, he had further international chart success as one half of Wax, a collaboration with 10cc's Graham Gouldman.

Tracy Chapman

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.

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John Garcia was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for being a principal songwriter, the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band the Grateful Dead, of which he was a founding member and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 1960s. Although he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader of the band.

Marcelo Camelo

Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra. O'Connor achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a new arrangement of Prince's song 'Nothing Compares 2 U.'

Bruce Cockburn

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.

John Lombardo

Damien Rice

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.

Jonathan Coulton

Jonathan William Coulton, often called 'JoCo' by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are 'Code Monkey', 'Re: Your Brains', 'Still Alive' and 'Want You Gone'. He has been the house musician for NPR weekly puzzle quiz show Ask Me Another since 2012.

Newton Faulkner

Raul Seixas

Raul Santos Seixas was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer. He is sometimes called the 'Father of Brazilian Rock' and 'Maluco Beleza', the last one roughly translated as 'Groovy Nutcase'. He was born in Salvador (Bahia), Brazil, and died of pancreatitis in São Paulo. Every year on Seixas' birthday, legions of fans, including thousands of impersonators, throw a parade in his honor in downtown São Paulo.

Lou Reed

Lewis Allan Reed was an American musician, singer, songwriter and poet. He was the guitarist, singer and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. The Velvet Underground was not a commercial success during its existence, but became regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of underground and alternative rock music. Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic and transgressive lyrics, and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career.

Mikel Laboa

John Sebastian

John Benson Sebastian is an American singer/songwriter, guitarist, harmonicist, and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, as well as for his impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and a US No. 1 hit in 1976, 'Welcome Back'.

Devendra Banhart

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.

Nancy Wilson

Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson is an American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and film composer. She rose to fame alongside her older sister, singer Ann Wilson, as a guitarist and backing vocalist in the rock band Heart.

Michael Kiwanuka

Michael Samuel Kiwanuka is a British singer-songwriter and record producer who is signed with Polydor Records. His 2012 debut album, Home Again, went gold in the United Kingdom and his second album, Love & Hate, debuted in 2016 at number one. He has been nominated for numerous honours, including the Brit Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, BBC Music Awards, and The Grammy Awards. In January 2012, he won the BBC's Sound of 2012, and in September 2020, he won the Mercury Prize.

Boris Grebenshchikov

Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered the 'founding fathers' of Russian rock music. Due as much to his personal contribution as to the lasting success of his main effort, the band Aquarium, he is a household name in Russia and much of the former Soviet Union. Grebenshchikov is frequently referred to as BG, after his initials. He is often called the 'Grandfather of Russian Rock'.

James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Marty Balin

Martyn Jerel Buchwald, known as Marty Balin, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the founder/leader and one of the lead singers and songwriters of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

Phil Ochs

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.

Ben Harper

Benjamin Chase Harper is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances, and activism. He has released twelve regular studio albums, mostly through Virgin Records and has toured internationally.

Shannon Wright

Daniel Lanois

Daniel Roland Lanois is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.

Mark Kozelek

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Since the beginning of his solo career with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has released many critically acclaimed and important albums, such as After the Gold Rush, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Harvest.

Serena Ryder

Serena Lauren Ryder is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad 'Weak in the Knees' in 2007 and has released eight studio albums.

Dave Swarbrick

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.

Robbie Robertson

Jaime Royal 'Robbie' Robertson, OC, is a Canadian musician, songwriter, film composer, producer, actor, and author. Robertson is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for The Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist.

Jim Croce

James Joseph 'Jim' Croce was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After he formed a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen his fortunes turned in the early 1970s. His breakthrough came in 1972; his third album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, produced three charting singles, including 'Time in a Bottle', which reached No. 1 after his death. The follow-up album, Life and Times, contained the song 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown', which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.

William Tyler

William Armistead Tyler is an American musician and guitarist who plays 'cosmic country,' folk, indie folk, and pop rock. His debut studio album, Behold the Spirit, was released on November 22, 2010. Adam Bednarik produced the album with Tyler on Tompkins Square Records. He has since released three additional solo albums.

Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. His self-titled debut album, Jake Bugg, some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 2012 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. His second album, Shangri La, was released in November 2013 and his third, largely self-produced album On My One, in June 2016. His fourth album Hearts That Strain, a largely acoustic effort, produced by Dan Auerbach, was released in September 2017.

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist. Her self-titled debut album Melissa Etheridge was released in 1988 and became an underground success. The album peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200, and its lead single, 'Bring Me Some Water', garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. In 1993, Etheridge won her first Grammy award for her single 'Ain't It Heavy' from her third album, Never Enough. Later that year, she released what would become her mainstream breakthrough album, Yes I Am. Its tracks 'I'm the Only One' and 'Come to My Window' both reached the top 30 in the United States, and the latter earned Etheridge her second Grammy award. Yes I Am peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, and spent 138 weeks on the chart, earning an RIAA certification of 6× Platinum, her largest selling album to date.

Jerry Donahue

Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.

Emily Saliers

Jesse Colin Young

Perry Miller, known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, is an American singer and songwriter. He was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s group the Youngbloods. After their dissolution in 1972, Young embarked on a solo career, releasing a series of successful albums through Warner Bros. Records, including Song for Juli (1973), Light Shine (1974), Songbird (1975) and the live album On the Road (1976). Young continued to release music in the 1980s with Elektra Records and Cypress Records, before deciding to release music through his personal label, Ridgetop Music, in 1993. After the Mount Vision Fire in 1995, Young relocated with his family to a coffee plantation in Hawaii, periodically releasing music. Young was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012, and decided to retire from music. He began performing again in 2016 with his son Tristan, releasing a new album Dreamers in 2019 through BMG.

Ben Howard

Benjamin John Howard is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP Games in the Dark (2008) was followed by two more EPs, These Waters (2009) and Old Pine (2010). Signed to Island Records, his debut studio album came in 2011 titled Every Kingdom. The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Howard later released two more EPs, Ben Howard Live (2011) and The Burgh Island E.P. (2012).