Looking for folk music recommendations - please help!

daddyjt
daddyjt Posts: 3,087
in Music & Movies
My son has a birthday coming up, and I’d like to get him some new (to him) folk music. He loves the likes of Burt Yanch, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, and even Bob Dylan. Preferably not tilting too heavily towards country, and since he’s a budding audio enthusiast, quality recording is pretty important (digital, not vinyl).

I would greatly appreciate any of you sharing personal experience with great sounding folk music, in order that I may be able to surprise him on his birthday…

Thanks in advance!
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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  • Osarion
    Osarion Posts: 192
    The Wailin Jenny's album 40 days is good, and after Cara Luft went solo, two albums of hers I would recommend are Tempting the Storm and Darlingford. They each have other albums but these are the only ones I'm familiar with.
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,623
    edited December 2025
    <3

    Janis Ian
    https://youtu.be/66pLa89UnEQ

    https://youtu.be/A5OcI2Z-Vk8



    Harry Chapin
    He sang some of my alltime favorites!
    Post edited by Tony M on
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.

    “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
    --Mark Twain.

    “If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.” - Steven Wright
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,019
    edited December 2025
    well, I couldn't find the group I was looking for, but while I was searching, I turned up these from the late Robert Resnik's All the Traditions.
    https://youtu.be/jk14ju7hDNw?si=VSbQNIL5nlHBrn1p
    https://youtu.be/Bwp0Skuin5Q?si=tsI3dCAHVXyILOzF
    https://youtu.be/SW9VxWFj1Ns?si=ynjnX6iLDluyQA6v
    https://youtu.be/D9z2QtqHMvI?si=ifDpRlm2odQJkH8X
    https://youtu.be/owl6pZc0zlI?si=9bOhy9V_dmA-xWFN
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,019
    edited December 2025
    oh! I found what I was looking for! :)
    @daddyjt, do you or your son know "The Goldebriars"?
    I'd never heard of, nor heard, them until quite recently.
    Here's a taste:
    https://youtu.be/g51u0Nuc7fk?si=VOxaaGVRMERqli65
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  • agingboomer
    agingboomer Posts: 276
    Pentangle
    John Renbourn
    Fairport Convention
    Ian Matthews (also Matthews Southern Comfort and Plainsong)
    Kate and Ann McGarrigle
    Ian and Sylvia
    John Prine
    Loudon Wainwright III
    Joni Mitchell
    Townes Van Zandt
    Steeleye Span
    John Martyn
    John Hartford
    John Fahey
    The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.—Martin Luther King Jr.
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,623
    edited December 2025
    Harry Chapin Performs "Taxi": Remastered & Long Unseen Underground News Broadcast 4/26/72

    https://youtu.be/lm-gasyPEQw


    Harry Chapin - Cat's In The Cradle (1974)
    https://youtu.be/RWdTWuZAA7A
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.

    “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
    --Mark Twain.

    “If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.” - Steven Wright
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,357
    edited December 2025
    I find 'folk' music somewhat difficult to define, but I do like most music that seems to fall into the overall genre. Lots of good suggestions already given, but I'll add a few more for consideration.

    Classic folk:
    - Joan Baez
    - Woody Guthrie
    - Arlo Guthrie
    - Simon & Garfunkel
    - The Mamas & The Papas
    - Peter, Paul and Mary
    - America
    - The Band
    - Fairport Convention
    - Donovan (a British contemporary of Dylan)
    - Cat Stevens (in later years, both he and Donovan delved heavily into Eastern religion/thought)
    - Dan Fogelberg (crosses a bit over into pop, but very similar to James Taylor IMO)

    Modern folk (which can crossover into 'Americana' and/or 'Indie' and/or 'Roots'):
    - Brandi Carlile (perhaps the best female folk vocalist in recent years this century)
    - Nickel Creek (neuvo bluegrass)
    - Alison Kraus & Union Station (also new bluegrass)
    - Avett Brothers
    - Bon Iver
    - Cowboy Junkies (in a very mellow sense)
    - Crooked Still (again, in a new bluegrass sense)
    - The Duhks
    - Gregory Alan Isakov (he really does a tight-rope between folk, and just indie music)
    - Jason Isbell
    - Larkin Poe (similar to The Wailin' Jennys, but with a serious rock/blues slant)
    - The Tragically Hip
    - The Wood Brothers (last, but CERTAINLY not least IMO; a modern, simple, three-man band with a lot of soul; give a listen to "Luckiest Man", and see if you like them)

    P.S. Chris Stapleton has been a bit of an enigma for music genres. Country Music didn't initially embrace him, but when he blew-up in popularity, they took him in. I consider his music Americana/Roots, with a definite Blues accent. Also, the duet group of The Civil Wars also deserves recognition in the folk genre IMO.
    Post edited by jdjohn on
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,357
    Sorry, not sorry, but need to add Watchhouse to the list of artists here. "Daylight" is their most popular song, but "Wildfire" speaks to me more.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 3,087
    Thanks for all the great recommendations folks - you really came through. I have a half dozen CDs that will be delivered in time for his birthday next weekend. I took a broad selection from what you all threw out there.

    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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  • hoosier21
    hoosier21 Posts: 4,418
    Late to the party.

    The world has just lost this guy, but he is/was one of my favorites.

    Not sure his style is what you are asking for as far as "folk", but you can find this concert on youtube to give it a try, before getting the CD.

    Todd Snider Live - The Storyteller
    https://youtu.be/kMRCw6dG0G4?si=PehJI9zgPWjJDu_O

    Dodd - Battery Preamp
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    Where is the remote? Where is the $%#$% remote!

    "I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like the most of us have...very hard to explain why you're mad, even if you're not mad..."
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  • skrol
    skrol Posts: 3,451
    David Wilcox, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Dar Williams, Pete Seeger to name a few.
    Stan

    Main 2ch:
    Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.

    HT:
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    Other stuff:
    Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,019
    skrol wrote: »
    David Wilcox, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Dar Williams, Pete Seeger to name a few.

    Speaking of some of those (and a couple of their nontrivial peers), John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt, Lucy Kaplansky, and Patty Larkin are on an "On a Winter's Night" reunion (so to speak) tour even now. :) They're in Burlington, VT (or thereabouts) this month sometime, if memory serves.
    Patty Larkin is terrific, still one of my very favorite-ests. :p
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  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 7,556
    edited January 10
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    skrol wrote: »
    David Wilcox, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Dar Williams, Pete Seeger to name a few.

    Speaking of some of those (and a couple of their nontrivial peers), John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt, Lucy Kaplansky, and Patty Larkin are on an "On a Winter's Night" reunion (so to speak) tour even now. :) They're in Burlington, VT (or thereabouts) this month sometime, if memory serves.
    Patty Larkin is terrific, still one of my very favorite-ests. :p

    Bellows Falls (A.K.A. "Fellows Balls") on January 8th. That's about 30 miles south of you.

    https://www.johngorka.com/tour-dates/past-shows/
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,019
    Huh! That's probably what I heard and misremembered.
    Been to the opera house in Bellows Falls several times.
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  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,915
    One of my all time favorites: Mandolin Orange or their new name Watchhouse.
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
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    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)

    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 3,087
    So only four of the discs I ordered showed up by his birthday, but man - some great titles here! He and I have had a couple listening sessions with this new material so far.

    The Wailin’ Jennys is fantastic - it’s hard to believe that it’s a live recording. The way those gals harmonize is wonderful, and I especially appreciate the lack of sibilance with so many female voices AND a live recording on top of that.

    Cara Luft may actually end up being a reference disc for me. The production value is on par with Alison Krauss ( and that’s high praise), and the music is very nicely done.

    John Renbourn was perhaps the closest thing to what he actually listens to, and he loved it.

    John Hartford was a little too country for either of us, but we are going to revisit it in the future.

    Thanks again for all the recommendations guys - we both really appreciate it!


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    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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