Anyone into folk or bluegrass? Trying to find some bands, new to the genre.
By folk, do you mean just American folk, or folk from
anywhere?
For American folk, I like:
- Gileah: The Golden Planes (her later albums were less folky and more pop-rock)
- Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans. Or, for completely bonkers folk fused with progressive rock and featuring every instrument under the sun, check out the album Michigan.
- Havalina Rail Co.: Havalina Rail Co. (The album America also has a bunch of folk songs, sandwiched in between songs from every other American genre, ever. America is super out of print but I could send you a digital copy if you're interested.)
- Doug Burr: On Promenade.
- 16 Horsepower: Folklore (I love pretty much everything 16HP and their spiritual successor Woven Hand have done, but Folklore is the closest they've come to doing a normal folk album.)
Smithsonian Folkways also has an extensive collection of folk music recordings. Browse their website and you're sure to find some interesting stuff.
I don't listen to much bluegrass, but
Alison Krauss And Union Station is pretty much the most famous band and they're pretty good. (Alison Krauss also recorded an album with Robert Plant called
Raising Sand. It was sorta-folk, sorta-rock, it was produced by T Bone Burnett, and
holy balls is it amazing.) Getting more obscure, I saw Dehlia Low play live once and they were really good.
You should also look up the soundtrack from
O Brother Where Art Thou. It had a bunch of great songs and great musicians, and it's probably the main reason for the current popularity of bluegrass.
edited 28th Jul '13 12:34:15 AM by MetaFour