{{short description|Alternative genre of folk music}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Indie folk | other_names = Alternative folk | stylistic_origins = * Alternative rock<ref name="about.com"/> * folk * indie rock | cultural_origins = 1990s | subgenres = Stomp and holler | regional_scenes = Senja (genre) | other_topics = * Folk pop * folk punk * folk rock * neofolk * progressive folk * psychedelic folk }} '''Indie folk''' (also called '''alternative folk''') is an alternative genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music.
== Characteristics == The staff of ''Paste Magazine'' said in 2020: "No music genre is particularly easy to define, but “indie folk” is about as nebulous as they come."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 100 Best Indie Folk Albums of All Time |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/indie-folk-albums |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The lyrical style commonly includes raw emotional experiences, social commentary and an introspective lens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indie Folk Characteristics: The Harmonious Blend of Authenticity and Innovation |url=https://eliottglinnaudio.com/blog/indie-folk-characteristics-the-harmonious-blend-of-authenticity-and-innovation |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Eliott Glinn Audio |language=en}}</ref> The genre blends the ethos and experimental nature of indie music with the storytelling of folk music. Instruments frequently used in the genre include guitars, banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-06 |title=Indie Folk Music: The Soulful Sound of Authenticity - Music Magazine |url=https://noahgundersenmusic.com/indie-folk-music/ |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=noahgundersenmusic.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Influences ==
=== 1960s–1970s === John Lennon and Bob Dylan have been cited as influences for indie folk, with Phoebe Bridgers stating, "I love John Lennon... He’s been such an icon for so many people who are my heroes, like Elliott Smith and Daniel Johnston".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martoccio |first=Angie |date=2020-05-27 |title=Laughter, Tears, and Harmony: How Phoebe Bridgers Made 'Punisher' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/phoebe-bridgers-punisher-interview-1002273/ |access-date=2025-12-30 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, The Velvet Underground influenced the genre with their raw and experimental music, which had a profound impact on all alternative and indie genres.<ref>{{Cite web |title=sweet adeline {{!}} the delicate sound of an explosion |url=http://www.sweetadeline.net/interview98.html |access-date=2025-12-30 |website=www.sweetadeline.net}}</ref> Other influences include Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blog |first=N. M. E. |date=2010-10-26 |title=Elliott Smith Archive Interview - 'There Has To Be Darkness In My Songs' |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/elliott-smith-archive-interview-there-has-to-be-darkness-in-my-songs-782397 |access-date=2025-12-30 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref> Simon and Garfunkel, The Byrds, Nico, and Joni Mitchell.
== History == The genre has its earliest origins in 1990s folk artists who displayed alternative rock influences in their music, such as Ani DiFranco and Dan Bern, and acoustic artists such as Elliott Smith and Will Oldham.<ref name="about.com">{{cite news | url = http://folkmusic.about.com/od/folkmusic101/p/IndieFolk.htm | title = What Is New Folk? A Genre Profile | author = Michael Keefe | work = About.com | access-date = 2008-07-07 | archive-date = 2016-09-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160929000607/http://folkmusic.about.com/od/folkmusic101/p/IndieFolk.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="AllMusic">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/indie-folk-ma0000012149|title=Indie Folk Music Genre Overview {{!}} AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=2018-07-01}}</ref> In the following decade, labels such as Saddle Creek, Barsuk, Ramseur, and Sub Pop helped to provide support to indie folk,<ref name="AllMusic" /> with artists such as Fleet Foxes breaking into the pop charts with albums such as ''Helplessness Blues''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indulgexpress.com/culture/music/2020/sep/26/american-indie-band-fleet-foxes-drops-its-latest-album-shore-28443.html|title=American indie band Fleet Foxes drops its latest album Shore|website=Indulgexpress.com|date=26 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://musictalkers.com/reviews/7450-review-shore-heralds-the-welcome-return-of-indie-folk-heavyweights-fleet-foxes|title=Review: Shore Heralds the Welcome Return of Indie Folk Heavyweights Fleet Foxes|website=Musictalkers.com|date=2 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/podcast/fleet-foxes-and-sufjan-stevens-understated-new-albums/|title=The Quiet Return of Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens|website=Pitchfork|date=25 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.albumoftheyear.org/genre/16-indie-folk/all/|title=The Best Indie Folk Albums of All Time|website=Album of The Year}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/fleet-foxes-crack-billboard-200-chart-at-no-4/|title=Fleet Foxes crack Billboard 200 chart at No. 4|date=May 20, 2011|website=The Seattle Times}}</ref> thumb|Fleet Foxes In the United Kingdom, artists such as Ben Howard<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nbhap.com/stories/ben-howard-noonday-dream-story|title=NBHAP Story | Ben Howard doesn't want to be your indie-folk sweetheart|website=Nbhap.com|date=June 12, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/ben-howard/|title=Ben Howard - Devonian Folk Artist & Guitarist Of Note|website=Udiscovermusic.com|date=February 3, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/music/21174|title=Ben Howard's Collections From The Whiteout|website=Varsity Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/ben-howard-new-boring-or-next-big-thing-8515457.html|title=Ben Howard: the new boring or the next big thing?|date=March 2, 2013|website=The Independent}}</ref> and Mumford & Sons<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mumford-sons-mn0001072350|title=Mumford & Sons | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links|website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/11/14/18094398/mumford-sons-delta-review|title=Mumford & Sons Are Harder to Hate, but Sound Less Like Themselves|website=Theringer.com|date=14 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/do-they-actually-suck-nickelback-and-mumford-and-sons/|title=Do They Actually Suck? Nickelback and Mumford & Sons|website=Vice.com|date=13 May 2014 }}</ref> emerged, with the latter band promoting the music style through their Gentlemen of the Road touring festivals.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/about-gotr/ |title=What We do - Gentlemen of the Road |access-date=2021-07-07 |archive-date=2021-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419161950/https://www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/about-gotr/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mumfordandsons.com/news/2013-gentlemen-of-the-road-stopovers-announced/|title=2013 Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers announced|website=Mumfordandsons.com|date=5 February 2013 |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1537950/mumford-sons-plot-2013-gentlemen-of-the-road-stopovers|title=Mumford & Sons Plot 2013 'Gentlemen of the Road' Stopovers|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> The success of acts like Mumford & Sons led some music journalists like Popjustice's Peter Robinson labelling this new British music scene as The New Boring or Beige Pop.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/08/adele-new-boring-ed-sheeran|title=Sorry, Adele, but Someone Like You has ushered in The New Boring|date=October 7, 2011|website=the Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flavorwire.com/416858/why-did-we-bother-hating-a-band-as-boring-as-mumford-sons|title=Why Did We Bother Hating a Band as Boring as Mumford & Sons?|first=Tom|last=Hawking|website=Flavorwire.com|date=24 September 2013 |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-return-of-real-folk-the-bands-consigning-mumford-sons-and-nufolk-to-the-past-b1204246.html|title=The return of real folk: The bands consigning Mumford & Sons and nu-folk to the past|date=October 24, 2020|website=The Independent}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> A decade later, the terms "stomp and holler," "stomp clap hey," and "hoedown pop" were coined to refer retrospectively, sometimes with endearment, to such bands.<ref>{{cite web | last=Jennings | first=Rebecca | date=18 October 2023 | url=https://www.vox.com/culture/23920808/noah-kahan-vermont-dial-drunk-stick-season-tiktok | title=Are we ready for the return of 'stomp clap hey' music? | work=Vox | publisher=Vox Media | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204153705/https://www.vox.com/culture/23920808/noah-kahan-vermont-dial-drunk-stick-season-tiktok | archivedate=December 4, 2023}}</ref> However, most of the time, "stomp clap hey" and similar terms are used in a derogatory way, with the release of Kyle Gordon's "We Will Never Die" (recorded under the pseudonym of Kody Redwing and the Broken Hearts) popularizing hatred of 2010s indie folk.
thumb|Phoebe Bridgers In the late 2010s and in the 2020s, artists such as Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker revived interest in the genre with Swift's ''Folklore'' and ''Evermore,'' as well as Bridgers' ''Punisher'' and Baker's ''Sprained Ankle'', ''Turn Out the Lights'', and ''Little Oblivions''. Bridgers cites Elliott Smith as a foundational influence on her sound.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/04/16/834971727/phoebe-bridgers-elliott-smith-figure-8-20th-anniversary|title=Learning From Elliott Smith, 20 Years After 'Figure 8'|website=NPR|last=Zoladz|first=Lindsay|date=16 April 2020|access-date=4 August 2021|language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Folk music}} {{Alternative rock}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indie folk}} Category:Alternative rock genres Category:American styles of music Category:British styles of music Category:Rock music genres Category:Indie folk Category:Indie rock