# Indie folk

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Alternative genre of folk music

Indie folk Other names Alternative folk Stylistic origins Alternative rock[1] 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](/source/Alternative_rock) genre of music that arose in the 1990s among musicians from [indie rock](/source/Indie_rock) scenes influenced by [folk music](/source/Contemporary_folk_music).

## Characteristics

The staff of *[Paste Magazine](/source/Paste_(magazine))* said in 2020: "No music genre is particularly easy to define, but “indie folk” is about as nebulous as they come."[2] Indie folk hybridizes the [acoustic guitar](/source/Acoustic_guitar) melodies of [traditional folk music](/source/Folk_music#Traditional_folk_music) with contemporary instrumentation. The lyrical style commonly includes raw emotional experiences, social commentary and an introspective lens.[3] 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.[4]

## Influences

### 1960s–1970s

[John Lennon](/source/John_Lennon) and [Bob Dylan](/source/Bob_Dylan) have been cited as influences for indie folk, with [Phoebe Bridgers](/source/Phoebe_Bridgers) stating, "I love John Lennon... He’s been such an icon for so many people who are my heroes, like [Elliott Smith](/source/Elliott_Smith) and [Daniel Johnston](/source/Daniel_Johnston)".[5] Additionally, [The Velvet Underground](/source/The_Velvet_Underground) influenced the genre with their raw and [experimental music](/source/Experimental_music), which had a profound impact on all alternative and indie genres.[6] Other influences include [Elvis Costello](/source/Elvis_Costello), [Leonard Cohen](/source/Leonard_Cohen), [Neil Young](/source/Neil_Young),[7] [Simon and Garfunkel](/source/Simon_%26_Garfunkel), [The Byrds](/source/The_Byrds), [Nico](/source/Nico), and [Joni Mitchell](/source/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](/source/Ani_DiFranco) and [Dan Bern](/source/Dan_Bern), and acoustic artists such as Elliott Smith and [Will Oldham](/source/Will_Oldham).[1][8] In the following decade, labels such as [Saddle Creek](/source/Saddle_Creek_Records), [Barsuk](/source/Barsuk_Records), Ramseur, and [Sub Pop](/source/Sub_Pop) helped to provide support to indie folk,[8] with artists such as [Fleet Foxes](/source/Fleet_Foxes) breaking into the [pop charts](/source/Record_chart) with albums such as *[Helplessness Blues](/source/Helplessness_Blues)*.[9][10][11][12][13]

Fleet Foxes

In the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom), artists such as [Ben Howard](/source/Ben_Howard)[14][15][16][17] and [Mumford & Sons](/source/Mumford_%26_Sons)[18][19][20] emerged, with the latter band promoting the music style through their Gentlemen of the Road touring festivals.[21][22][23] The success of acts like Mumford & Sons led some music journalists like [Popjustice's](/source/Popjustice) [Peter Robinson](/source/Peter_Robinson_(journalist)) labelling this new British music scene as The New Boring or Beige Pop.[24][25][26][20] 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.[27] However, most of the time, "stomp clap hey" and similar terms are used in a derogatory way, with the release of [Kyle Gordon](/source/Kyle_Gordon)'s "We Will Never Die" (recorded under the pseudonym of Kody Redwing and the Broken Hearts) popularizing hatred of 2010s indie folk.

Phoebe Bridgers

In the late 2010s and in the 2020s, artists such as [Taylor Swift](/source/Taylor_Swift), [Phoebe Bridgers](/source/Phoebe_Bridgers), and [Julien Baker](/source/Julien_Baker) revived interest in the genre with Swift's *[Folklore](/source/Folklore_(Taylor_Swift_album))* and *[Evermore](/source/Evermore),* as well as Bridgers' *[Punisher](/source/Punisher_(album))* and Baker's *[Sprained Ankle](/source/Sprained_Ankle_(album))*, *[Turn Out the Lights](/source/Turn_Out_the_Lights_(album))*, and *[Little Oblivions](/source/Little_Oblivions)*. Bridgers cites Elliott Smith as a foundational influence on her sound.[28]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-about.com_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-about.com_1-1) Michael Keefe. ["What Is New Folk? A Genre Profile"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160929000607/http://folkmusic.about.com/od/folkmusic101/p/IndieFolk.htm). *[About.com](/source/About.com)*. Archived from [the original](http://folkmusic.about.com/od/folkmusic101/p/IndieFolk.htm) on 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2008-07-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["The 100 Best Indie Folk Albums of All Time"](https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/indie-folk-albums). *Paste Magazine*. Retrieved 2025-06-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Indie Folk Characteristics: The Harmonious Blend of Authenticity and Innovation"](https://eliottglinnaudio.com/blog/indie-folk-characteristics-the-harmonious-blend-of-authenticity-and-innovation). *Eliott Glinn Audio*. Retrieved 2025-03-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_4-0)** ["Indie Folk Music: The Soulful Sound of Authenticity - Music Magazine"](https://noahgundersenmusic.com/indie-folk-music/). *noahgundersenmusic.com*. 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2025-03-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Martoccio, Angie (2020-05-27). ["Laughter, Tears, and Harmony: How Phoebe Bridgers Made 'Punisher'"](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/phoebe-bridgers-punisher-interview-1002273/). *Rolling Stone*. Retrieved 2025-12-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["sweet adeline | the delicate sound of an explosion"](http://www.sweetadeline.net/interview98.html). *www.sweetadeline.net*. Retrieved 2025-12-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Blog, N. M. E. (2010-10-26). ["Elliott Smith Archive Interview - 'There Has To Be Darkness In My Songs'"](https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/elliott-smith-archive-interview-there-has-to-be-darkness-in-my-songs-782397). *NME*. Retrieved 2025-12-30.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AllMusic_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AllMusic_8-1) ["Indie Folk Music Genre Overview | AllMusic"](https://www.allmusic.com/style/indie-folk-ma0000012149). *AllMusic*. Retrieved 2018-07-01.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["American indie band Fleet Foxes drops its latest album Shore"](https://www.indulgexpress.com/culture/music/2020/sep/26/american-indie-band-fleet-foxes-drops-its-latest-album-shore-28443.html). *Indulgexpress.com*. 26 September 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Review: Shore Heralds the Welcome Return of Indie Folk Heavyweights Fleet Foxes"](https://musictalkers.com/reviews/7450-review-shore-heralds-the-welcome-return-of-indie-folk-heavyweights-fleet-foxes). *Musictalkers.com*. 2 October 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["The Quiet Return of Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens"](https://pitchfork.com/features/podcast/fleet-foxes-and-sufjan-stevens-understated-new-albums/). *Pitchfork*. 25 September 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["The Best Indie Folk Albums of All Time"](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/genre/16-indie-folk/all/). *Album of The Year*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Fleet Foxes crack Billboard 200 chart at No. 4"](https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/fleet-foxes-crack-billboard-200-chart-at-no-4/). *[The Seattle Times](/source/The_Seattle_Times)*. May 20, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["NBHAP Story | Ben Howard doesn't want to be your indie-folk sweetheart"](https://nbhap.com/stories/ben-howard-noonday-dream-story). *Nbhap.com*. June 12, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Ben Howard - Devonian Folk Artist & Guitarist Of Note"](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/ben-howard/). *Udiscovermusic.com*. February 3, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Ben Howard's Collections From The Whiteout"](https://www.varsity.co.uk/music/21174). *Varsity Online*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Ben Howard: the new boring or the next big thing?"](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/ben-howard-new-boring-or-next-big-thing-8515457.html). *The Independent*. March 2, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["Mumford & Sons | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mumford-sons-mn0001072350). *AllMusic*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Mumford & Sons Are Harder to Hate, but Sound Less Like Themselves"](https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/11/14/18094398/mumford-sons-delta-review). *Theringer.com*. 14 November 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto_20-1) ["Do They Actually Suck? Nickelback and Mumford & Sons"](https://www.vice.com/en/article/do-they-actually-suck-nickelback-and-mumford-and-sons/). *Vice.com*. 13 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["What We do - Gentlemen of the Road"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210419161950/https://www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/about-gotr/). Archived from [the original](https://www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/about-gotr/) on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-07-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["2013 Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers announced"](https://www.mumfordandsons.com/news/2013-gentlemen-of-the-road-stopovers-announced/). *Mumfordandsons.com*. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Mumford & Sons Plot 2013 'Gentlemen of the Road' Stopovers"](https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1537950/mumford-sons-plot-2013-gentlemen-of-the-road-stopovers). *Billboard*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["Sorry, Adele, but Someone Like You has ushered in The New Boring"](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/08/adele-new-boring-ed-sheeran). *the Guardian*. October 7, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Hawking, Tom (24 September 2013). ["Why Did We Bother Hating a Band as Boring as Mumford & Sons?"](https://www.flavorwire.com/416858/why-did-we-bother-hating-a-band-as-boring-as-mumford-sons). *Flavorwire.com*. Retrieved 9 June 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["The return of real folk: The bands consigning Mumford & Sons and nu-folk to the past"](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). *The Independent*. October 24, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Jennings, Rebecca (18 October 2023). ["Are we ready for the return of 'stomp clap hey' music?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20231204153705/https://www.vox.com/culture/23920808/noah-kahan-vermont-dial-drunk-stick-season-tiktok). *Vox*. Vox Media. Archived from [the original](https://www.vox.com/culture/23920808/noah-kahan-vermont-dial-drunk-stick-season-tiktok) on December 4, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Zoladz, Lindsay (16 April 2020). ["Learning From Elliott Smith, 20 Years After 'Figure 8'"](https://www.npr.org/2020/04/16/834971727/phoebe-bridgers-elliott-smith-figure-8-20th-anniversary). *NPR*. Retrieved 4 August 2021.

v t e Folk music Music on the World Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage Types and subgenres By subject or function Ballads Child Murder Carols Christmas carol Koliadka Children's Dance music Drinking song Love song Protest song Anti-war song Sea shanties Sporting song War songs Work song Fusions American primitive guitar Anti-folk Bluegrass Country folk Dangdut Hipdut Koplo Filk music Folk baroque Folk jazz Folk-pop Folk rock Folk metal Celtic metal Medieval metal Folk punk Celtic punk Celtic rock Celtic metal Celtic punk Folktronica Indie folk Industrial folk Medieval folk rock Medieval metal Muiñeira Neofolk Nerd-folk Psychedelic folk Freak folk New Weird America Progressive folk Raï Skiffle Tamang Selo Vallenato Xẩm Regional traditions North America Central America Mexican Corrido Son calentano Son jarocho Son huasteco Tierra Caliente Yaqui Panamanian Indigenous North American Canadian Arapaho Blackfeet Dene Innu Inuit Iroquois Kiowa Kwakwaka'wakw Métis Navajo Pueblo Seminole Sioux Yaqui Yuman American Appalachian Old-time Folk revival (1950s–60s) Hawaiian New Mexico Red Dirt Tejano Western African-American Blues Jazz Dixieland Jug Ragtime Spirituals Country Americana Roots rock Bluegrass Country folk Country pop Country rock Honky-tonk Rockabilly Southern soul Western swing Canadian Canadian fiddle Indigenous Dene Innu Inuit Métis by ethnocultural group Celtic French by region Prairies Québécois Quebec fiddle Néo-trad Maritime Cape Breton fiddling Caribbean Cuban Haitian Kontradans Jamaican Mento Trinidadian and Tobagonian Cariso Chutney Chutney parang Chutney soca Kaiso Parang Soca South American Brazilian Chilean Venezuelan Gaita zuliana Oceanian Australian White Australian Indigenous Australian Cook Islander Easter Islander Maori Marshallese Papua New Guinean Samoan Solomon Islander Tahitian Tongan Tuvaluan Asian Bangladeshi Bhawaiya Bhutanese Central Asian Chinese Cantonese Hakka Jingnan Lâm-kóan Pak-kóan Teochew Zhongguo feng Filipino Bodabil Kundiman Manila sound Indian Kamrupi Lokgeet Rasiya Sanedo Indonesian Japanese Min'yō Korean Trot Mongolian Nepalese Pakistani Vietnamese Quan họ European Alpine Austrian Balkan Albanian Tallava Belarusian Bosnian and Herzegovinan Sevdalinka Starogradska muzika Breton Bulgarian Chalga Starogradska muzika Celtic Celtic fusion Celtic metal Celtic punk Celtic rock Croatian Starogradska muzika Czech Moravian Polka Danish Dutch English Hornpipe Jigs Morris dance Estonian Finnish French German Greek Laïko Rebetiko Tsifteteli Pontic Greek Hungarian Icelandic Irish Gaelic folk music Hornpipe Italian Jewish Klezmer Kosovan Tallava Latvian Lithuanian Maltese Montenegrin Macedonian Čalgija Starogradska muzika Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romani Romanian Romanian traditional music Lăutărească music Manele Russian Scottish Gaelic Serbian Balkan brass Starogradska muzika Turbo-folk Slovenian Spanish Swedish Swiss Turkish Anatolian blues Anatolian rock Arabesque Fantezi Tsifteteli Ukrainian Cossack Dumka Vesnianky Welsh Middle Eastern and North African Armenian Assyrian Azerbaijani Egyptian Fantezi Iranian Israeli Mizrahi music Pontic Greek Turkish Anatolian blues Anatolian rock Arabesque Tsifteteli Related articles 20th-century Western folk music Acoustic music Filk music Festivals Folk clubs Folk dance Instruments List Caribbean genres Folk musicians Celtic musicians Celtic metal bands Folk rock musicians Folk metal bands Psychedelic folk artists Collections Roud number Child Laws numbers Outlaw country Progressive rock Pub session Record labels Roots revival World music Worldbeat History of music

v t e Alternative rock Precursors Jangle pop New wave Punk rock Hardcore punk Post-hardcore Noise rock Proto-punk Art punk Post-punk New musick Gothic rock Deathrock Gothabilly Styles and fusion genres Alternative country Americana Gothic country Alternative dance Alternative metal Funk metal Grunge Bubblegrunge Post-grunge Soft grunge Industrial metal Neue Deutsche Härte Nu metal Post-metal Rap metal Alternative pop Blog rock Britpop Post-Britpop Chamber pop Christian Classic alternative Cloud rock Crank wave College rock Dark cabaret Dolewave Emo Emo pop Emo rap Emo revival Midwest emo Screamo Geek rock Wizard rock Grebo Indie rock Indie folk Indie pop Jangle pop Dunedin sound Paisley Underground Math rock New rave Slowcore Incelcore Industrial rock Industrial metal Iran Latin alternative Madchester Baggy Mangue bit Shitgaze Neo-psychedelia Dream pop Shoegaze Blackgaze Nu gaze Zoomergaze Grungegaze New wave of new wave Noise pop Pagan rock Post-punk revival Post-rock Post-metal Slacker rock SoundCloud indie Related topics Alternative Airplay Anorak C86 Campus radio Indie music Independent record label List of alternative rock artists List of indie rock musicians List of lo-fi musicians Lo-fi music Lollapalooza Outsider music Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Indie folk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_folk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_folk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.