Folk music is a growing, popular genre of music that can easily be mistaken for country, or even indie music. But it’s not right: folk music is a genre that should be supported and loved on its own terms without any bias against it. Everyone and their mom knows at least one or two folk music artists who have a mainstay in their daily playlist. Along with this wide range of interest, folk music can also relate to the fall season more than any other time of year. From the falling leaves mixing with the beat of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” album, to a bonfire with Zach Bryan’s “Revival” echoing in your mind.

Folk Festivities: The most interesting part of folk music is how different it can be to other folk songs, for example, folk songs can be more country based while others can be more preppy and fast paced. Not many sound similar, yet it all meshes together without issue. Examples of these folk artists are:

• Zach Bryan, a more recently popular musician who grew in popularity from Instagram and TikTok song snippets, soon leading to an average of 27.5M monthly listeners.
• Taylor Swift is one of the most popular artists in history, and although she can dabble in alternative rock, she also produces indie folk music, such as her albums “evermore” and “folklore.” Swift also racks up a staggering 101.1M monthly listeners, meaning that even if they are mostly tuning in for her pop and country hits, there’s a good chance they’re vibing to some of her folk hits as well.
• The Lumineers who got their start around 2012 with their self-titled first album. The band kicked into stardom with their songs “Ho Hey,” “Flowers in your hair” and “Stubborn Love.” The Lumineers average 22.9M monthly listeners.

The view between villages: “I think what makes it [folk music] the most special is because of its earthy and unique tone,” said senior Hannah Gibson. “I also enjoy the themes it talks about the most like lost loves, finding yourself, quality time. The music really connects me back to my roots. It’s a familiar feeling I get when I listen to it.”

Kahan’t handle it: The most recent uprise in folk fame has been Noah Kahan’s take off into social media stardom. Noah Kahan began his work in the music industry in 2017; however, his music didn’t take off until a post-COVID song titled “Stick Season” released in early 2022, which then led to his most popular album that shares the same name of the 2022 hit. Kahan currently has 19.1M monthly listeners. Noah Kahan is also erupting into a big hit feature name, being featured in one of Zach Bryan’s newest EPs. 

• “I first heard about Noah (Kahan) when I was listening to a playlist made by spotify while doing my homework,” said Gibson. “The first song I heard ‘Stick Season’ and I didn’t really like it all that much until I realized that it was stuck in my head all the time. I decided I had to listen to the whole album and fell in love with it.”

Trees, leaves, and music machines: A big theme in folk music is its representation of nature and wildlife, using lyrics that refer to forests, autumn and fall-based references (cold weather, falling leaves, etc.). A glance at album covers only reinforces the imagery depicted in so many lyrics of the genre. 

Poems and closing time: Most folk music has a unique sense of lyricism due to most singers that write their songs with a poetic backdrop. In Zach Bryan’s two most recent albums, a recorded spoken-word poem is included in the album. Through that poem we can see where the symbols or lyricism stem from. Phrases such as “Greens and Browns remind me of the mountainsides” or “the sun was collapsing” relay the more earthy tone with references to mountains, forests, or suns. That more-grounded tone tends to have the heaviest lyrics that weigh on the listener.

Growing Sideways: “The lyrics that hit me the most are ‘I’m terrified I might not have met me, if my engine works perfect on empty, I guess I’ll drive,” said senior Logan Spencer. “It encapsulates being scared of being a bad person as well as being burnt out, but still managing to move forward with no point in personal growth or change at that point. ‘Growing sideways’ is just a great song from start to finish.”

Why does it matter?: Folk music, as a whole, is a growing genre with new festivals coming up such as “Iron Blossom” or “Highwater” that rely solely on folk based bands and music. These festivals are rising to a point that can and will rival our own CCMF (Carolina Country Music Festival). It’s time to take hold on the growing genre and introduce yourself into an ever growing community of folk listeners.

Collaboration Station: With the recent successes of the folk industry, there has been a surge of collaboration amongst the community, with big names like Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan being put together on one song. Another example of this is when Taylor Swift featured Bon Iver on one of her songs. The folk scene isn’t just seeing collaborations on individual music tracks; the fans are starting to be pleasantly surprised when other folk artists join concerts without any heads up. When Hozier invites Noah Kahan as a special guest, the internet goes wild with videos, conversations and speculations of future mixed songs.

Space and Time: Folk music, in a sense, is beginning to change the music industry as a whole; while it may be an older genre, its recent rise in popularity is beginning to change the entire medium as a whole. Where bluegrass music was once only played at bonfires and by trios of old men with beards, now fans anxiously await pre-sale tickets with $135 as a starting price. Acoustics, poetic lyrics, and a lack of auto-tune are marking a brand new era that has taken the music world by storm.