Folk
This section gathers album stories, birthdays, and anniversaries from folk artists and songwriters, along with vinyl reissue news as titles return to print. Folk has a long history of careful preservation on record: archival labels such as Smithsonian Folkways have spent decades documenting traditional and singer-songwriter recordings specifically for release on LP, treating the format as a way to keep field recordings and acoustic albums in circulation rather than letting them disappear. Expect stories about the people behind specific songs and albums, and why a reissue of an older folk record still matters to listeners.
124 STORIES
Why Did Mercedes Sosa Sing When the Guns Were Out?
In the city of La Plata, a concert was underway. On stage stood Mercedes Sosa, the Argentine folk singer known to millions as la Negra, a nickname that came fro…
· 3 min read
How Did Woody Guthrie Become the Dust Bowl Troubadour?
Woody Guthrie earned the nickname Dust Bowl Troubadour from his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads. The songs were drawn from the hardest years of the Great Depression.
· 4 min read
Eddie Cochran: The Rock and Roll Life Cut Short at 21
Eddie Cochran died at 21 after a 1960 taxi crash in Chippenham, England, leaving behind 'Summertime Blues' and a career that had barely begun.
· 4 min read
How Dylan's Box Set Turned a Misprint into a Mystery
Bob Dylan's 2007 compilation Dylan shipped in a vinyl-style deluxe box set. Its liner notes dated 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere' to 1967, though the recording was from 1971.
· 3 min read
Don McLean's Eight-Minute, 36-Second Gamble
Don McLean recorded an eight-minute, thirty-six-second song on May 26 in New York, a gamble that became the longest track ever to top the American chart.
· 4 min read
Nebraska: The Bedroom Tape That Changed Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, recorded alone on a four-track in a Colts Neck bedroom, was released as the final album on September 30, 1982. Its stark sound still feels like a dare.
· 3 min read
Gene Autry: Why a Telegraph Job Led to 640 Recordings
Gene Autry, born in 1907, went from a fired railroad telegraph operator to 640 recordings and 100 million records sold. He later owned the California Angels.
· 5 min read
Why did TAYANNA walk away from the accordion at eight?
TAYANNA, born Tetiana Reshetniak in Chernivtsi in 1984, abandoned the accordion at eight and built a career in electronic music, folk rock, and soft rock.
· 4 min read
Why did Julien Baker's Sprained Ankle resonate so deeply?
Julien Baker's 2015 debut Sprained Ankle turned a nineteen-year-old's confession into a quiet anthem. It mapped faith, addiction, and mental illness with structural precision.
· 5 min read
Jerry Lee Lewis: The Killer Who Shook Rock 'n' Roll
A piano stool kicked across the stage, a boot heel hammering the keys, a voice that sounded like it was trying to escape a burning building. That was Jerry Lee …
· 4 min read
Nolwenn Leroy Is 44 and Still Singing in Four Languages
Nolwenn Leroy, born in Brittany in 1982, became a French folk-pop star after winning Star Academy. Her album Bretonne sold over a million copies.
· 3 min read
How Kris Kristofferson Made Country Music Get Honest
Kris Kristofferson traded an Army captain's uniform for a songwriter's honesty. He helped launch the outlaw country movement of the 1970s with songs like 'Me and Bobby McGee.'
· 4 min read
Víctor Jara: The 44 Bullets That Made a Symbol
Víctor Jara, born in 1932, rose from child labor in Chilean fields to become a leading figure of Nueva canción chilena before his murder in 1973.
· 5 min read
Barbara Dickson: How a Scottish Folk Voice Went Pop
Barbara Dickson, born on 27 September 1947, moved from Scottish folk clubs to the West End stage and an Olivier Award, collecting chart hits along the way.
· 4 min read
Leonard Cohen: The Album That Buried Phil Spector's Chaos
Leonard Cohen's 1979 album Recent Songs marked his deliberate retreat from the chaos of Phil Spector's production. Released on Columbia Records, it returned to acoustic folk.
· 4 min read
Prairie Wind: How a Brain Aneurysm Shaped Neil Young's Album
Neil Young's twenty-eighth studio album, Prairie Wind, was written after a brain aneurysm diagnosis. It was released on September 27, 2005, through Reprise Records.
· 3 min read
Mitski's Graduation Project Became a Global Soundtrack
A college senior in upstate New York sits in a practice room, layering guitar feedback over a melody she wrote for a grade. The assignment was a senior project …
· 4 min read
Why Did Marty Balin Leave Jefferson Airplane in 1971?
A kid from suburban Ohio singing folk harmonies in a San Francisco club hardly screams acid rock architect. Yet Marty Balin — born Martin Jerel Buchwald on Janu…
· 4 min read
Why Olivia Newton-John owned both 1974 and 1981
Olivia Newton-John, born in 1948, topped country charts in 1974 and then got banned from radio for 'Physical' in 1981, mapping an era of pop music.
· 4 min read
Rosalía: The Catalan Experiment That Rewrote Flamenco
Rosalía Vila Tobella, born in 1992 near Barcelona, moved from flamenco study to global pop, releasing Los ángeles in 2017 and El mal querer in 2018.
· 4 min read
How Andy Williams turned 43 albums into a television empire
Howard Andrew Williams built a television empire from 43 albums and 45 million record sales. The voice began in an Iowa church choir.
· 4 min read
Why Julio Iglesias sold 300 million records
A 1963 car crash ended a young goalkeeper's career at Real Madrid. The hospital guitar it brought him launched Julio Iglesias toward selling more than 300 million records.
· 3 min read
Ani DiFranco: How a 19-Year-Old Built a Folk Empire Alone
Ani DiFranco, born in 1970, built Righteous Babe Records at nineteen and turned independent folk music into a career that reached Broadway.
· 5 min read
Neil Young: How the 2006 Americana Honor Defined a Rebel
In September 2006, Neil Young received Artist of the Year at the Americana Honors and Awards, just after releasing the protest album Living With War.
· 5 min read