http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Folk_Summary.html Have you ever been disappointed about the use mass media does of music? Let me tell you that not everything is lost. Folk music is a genre that maintains the authenticity of music as a way of expression that many cultures have used to show their belonging to certain values, traditions and cultures. This feature is what makes folk music so important and special. And it is exactly for this reason that artists such as Ani DiFranco, Buffalo Springfield, Derroll Adams, Grey DeLisle, Joan Baez, Iris DeMent, and Michael Monroe work very hard to preserve and revive this type of music. en-us http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9577.html Fri, 28 Apr 2006 02:30:21 CST Joan Chandos Baez (born on January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York), also known as Joan Baez, is an American folk music singer often called “The queen of the protest song”. She has a very powerful high pitched voice near to a soprano, and with a controlled vibrato that lets her power the drama in the lyrics of her songs. Joan Baez is the most important figure in the protest song from the sixties. However, her repertoire also includes the purely traditional, the country, and the pop-rock.

Daughter of a Mexican physician and a literature professor, sister of Physicist John Baez, Joan’s career begins in Boston, where she had a great success with ther performing in the Newport Folk Festival of 1959. As a result, she recorded “Joan Baez” her debut album in October, 1960 for the label Vanguard.

Between 1962 and 1964, Baez was the popular face of folk music, participating in tours and festivals, and singing in political ceremonies such as the March on Washington in 1963 for civil rights. Akin to other folk performers, Baez was influenced by the Beatles in the United States and the folk-rock of Bob Dylan.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Joan Baez focused on pop-rock and started to write her own songs, which ultimately produced her best selling album, Diamonds andamp; Rust (1975), followed by Gulf Winds (1976), an album entirely written by her. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9521.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:23:55 CST Jim Croce (born James Joseph Croce) was a folk singer and songwriter born on January 10, 1943. His family was Catholic, but he converted to Judaism after marrying the former Ingrid Jacobson. Jim Croce graduated from Upper Darby High School on June 9, 1960 and then entered Villanova University, where he became interested in music.

Croce formed several bands during his time in the University with whom he performed at cafés and restaurants. Their music style at the time was inspired by artists such as Ian and Sylvia, Woody Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, and Joan Baez. Later, Croce met guitarist Maury Muehleisen, a talented musician who heavily influenced his music.

In 1972, Jim Croce signed to ABC Records and released the albums “You Don’t Mess around with Jim” and “Life andamp; Times”. His first album reached the first position on the charts of 1974 with the singles “You Don’t Mess around with Jim” and “Time in a Bottle”. Jim Croce’s best selling single was “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, which sold two million copies and was number 1 in 1973’s US charts.

Jim Croce died on September 20, 1973 in a plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana, just a day from releasing his third album. Apparently, the pilot suffered from a heart attack in mid-air and caused the plane to crash. Croce is buried in the Haym Saloman Memorial Park cemetery in Frazer, Pennsylvania. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9493.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:07:00 CST Grey DeLisle is a folk music singer and songwriter of Hispanic and Irish descent born on August 12, 1972 in Fort Ord, California. Because of the rough situation of her home when Grey was still a child, she was mostly raised by her grandmother. Grey’s father left home and her mother was a drug addict, so she spent most of her time with her grandmother, Eva Flores Ruth, who was a salsa vocalist that made performances together with “The Mambo King”, Tito Puente.

Grey DeLisle used to listen to goth bands a lot, like the Cure, despite the fact that her mother, a born-again Pentecostal, prohibited her from listening to secular music. Later, DeLisle began to sing old gospel tunes and became interested in folk music. So far DeLisle has released four albums of goth-inspired folk music, Americana songs, and a couple of gospel-inspired tunes as well.

Grey DeLisle is also one of the most beloved and respected voice actresses in the United States. On the advice of a close friend, Grey DeLisle immersed in the world of stand-up comedy when she was a teenager. DeLisle had a knack for imitating voices and she gave it a shot to voice acting for the first time with the English version of the Japanese cartoon “Crayon Shin-chan”, acting the voice of Cosmo and Uma. Her voice has also appeared in many computer games, including the Baldur’s Gate series, and Escape from Monkey Island, as well as many Star Wars games. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9426.html Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:18:45 CST Four Bitchin’ Babes is a folk band from the United States composed of four female singers and songwriters (although members have come and gone so the members have not always been the same). The current members of the band are Deirdre Flint, Sally Fingerett, Debi Smith, and Nancy Moran.

Four Bitchin’ Babes was founded by Christine Lavin in 1990. After her success with On a Winter’s Night, a compilation album she produced, she toured around the United States with a number of artists who appeared in the album: Patty Larkin, Sally Fingerett, and Megon McDonough. After their performance at The Birchmere, Lavin decided to record a live album, Buy Me, Bring Me, Take Me, Don't Mess My Hair: Life According to Four Bitchin' Babes Volume I (1990). The group continued their tour and soon released their second album: Buy Me, Bring Me, Take Me, Don't Mess My Hair: Life According to Four Bitchin' Babes Volume II (1993). Since then, Four Bitchin’ Babes has released 5 more albums.

Four Bitchin’ Babes performs mostly satirical, humorous and light-hearted songs which are written by each of the members of the band and mock modern life from a mature female point of view. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9406.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:57:44 CST Devendra Banhart is a psych folk singer and songwriter born on May 30th in Houston, Texas and raised in Venezuela. Devendra’s first label was Young God Records, with which he released his first albums. Currently, Devendra is signed to XL Recordings, and under this label his most recent CD was released.

Devendra Banhart is one of the most famous artists that came out in the New Weird America movement that includes artists such as Animal Collective, Faun Fables, Jack Rose, Viking Moses, the MV+EE Medicine Show, Jana Hunter, We the Royal, Six Organs of Admittance, Currituck Co., and numerous others. Devendra Banhart is also part of the folk band Vetiver.

Banhart’s music consists mostly of guitar melodies and the topics in his lyrics are often related to nature and surrealism. He is compared by some to disparate musicians such as Daniel Johnston, Marc Bolan, John Fahey, and Billie Holiday. Also, Banhart is one of the younger artists who rediscovered the music of folk singer Vashti Bunyan.

So far, Devendra Banhart has released a total of six albums, The Charles C. Leary (2002), Oh Me Oh My… (2002), The Black Babies (2003), Rejoicing in the Hands (2004), Niño Rojo (2004), and his most recent release, Cripple Crow (2005). http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9353.html Tue, 25 Apr 2006 10:22:52 CST Crosby, Stills andamp; Nash (and Young) is an American rock-folk band established in 1968 in Southern California. The band, which is also known as CSN, was often compared to the Beatles because of its high popularity, especially in the United States. In its origins, the group was formed by Graham Nash, David Crosby, and S. Stills. Graham Nash used to play with The Hollies, a British rock and roll band, and David Crosby was the founder of the Byrds. Later, Neil Young from the disbanded Buffalo Springfield joined the team.
 
The group started when Neil Young didn’t show up at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 with Buffalo Springfield. David Crosby was called as a substitute by Stills and they knew each other. After Crosby was dismissed from the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield disbanded, Stills and Crosby started meeting each other and talking. Then, when the Hollies were on a tour in California, Crosby met Graham Nash, and the group started working together as Crosby, Stills andamp; Nash.

Since 1969, Crosby, Stills andamp; Nash (and Young) have released 15 albums in addition to several solos by each member of the band. Their best known songs include “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” from the album Crosby, Stills andamp; Nash, “Woodstock” and “Our House” from Déjà Vu, and “Southern Cross” from Daylight Again. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9155.html Mon, 24 Apr 2006 04:55:42 CST Buffalo Springfield is a folk-rock group that although existed only for a short time, achieved to influence many other bands with their original music. The group was also the springboard for the careers of Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Jim Messina, and Richie Furay. The band struggled to stick together for roughly 25 months since their formation in April 1966. However, a chain of disruptions and bickering together with the pressure of the music business ultimately caused the disintegration of the band. Three albums were released during this time under the name of Buffalo Springfield, but the band also left a legacy that involves several demo recordings, live recordings, and studio outtakes.

It all began when Stephen Stills and Neil Young knew each other in Fort William, Ontario. Stills was on a tour with The Company, an off-shoot band of the Au Go-Go Singers, and Young was with a band he led since 1963, The Squires. Both, Stills and Young decided they wanted to work together, and almost a year later, when The Company disbanded, Stills traveled to the West Coast to find Young again and start the project they were longing to make with the aid of drummer Dewey Martin, who played with country artists such as The Dillards and Patsy Cline. The name of the band came from a steamroller parked outside Stills’ and Furay’s house. Their debut was at The Troubadour on April 11. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9050.html Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:33:02 CST Bob Dylan was born with the name Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24th, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. He is considered one of the most prolific and influencing composers and musicians of the twentieth century. Dylan has been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Born in Duluth, Bob Dylan moved with his family to a place near Hibbing, where his father had an electrical materials business. Being a merchant was not Bob’s dream and he soon found music. At the age of eight, Bob Dylan learned to play the piano by himself, and by 10 years old, he obtained a guitar. His dream was to become a rock ‘n’ roll hero and achieve a success comparable to that of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, or Jerry Lee Lewis.

Bob Dylan was particularly famous in the 1960s, when most of his best known work was produced. Dylan’s lyrics include topics such as politics, philosophy, literature, and social commentaries. This defied the existing pop music standards at that time, which made his music very appealing to the counterculture. The most predominant elements in the music of Bob Dylan are folk, country, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, Gaelic balladry, jazz, swing, and Broadway. http://www.vagmusic.com/articles/Genres_9012.html Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:30:31 CST Ani DiFranco, born Angela Marie Difranco on September 23rd, 1970, is a progressive singer from the United States. She was born in Buffalo, New York, and her parents were always fond of folk music. She began her musical career at the age of nine, when her guitar professor helped her perform her first concert.

Her initial influences were Suzanne Vega and Michelle Shocked, but she left music for a while to study ballet. However, at the age of 14, Ani DiFranco returned to the guitar and composition. A year later, Ani left her home to live in friend’s houses until her name was heard among the bands of Buffalo. In 1989, at the age of 18, she established her own music label, Righteous Babe Records, with scarce 50 dollars and recorded “Ani DiFranco”, which was released in 1990.

The music of Ani DiFranco is a mix of styles, a punk-folk of sorts, with a staccato style, often categorized as folk rock or alternative rock. Her virtuosity with the acoustic guitar is especially noticeable in the song “Out of Range” of the album of the same name. Her lyrics have also received reverence due to their sophistication, alliteration, and word games in general, which are an essential component in Ani’s songs. Irony and metaphors also play an important role within most of Ani’s lyrics.