{{Short description|Music genre}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Anti-folk | other_names = Antifolk | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|Contemporary folk|punk rock}} | cultural_origins = Mid-1980s, United States | other_topics = *Folk punk *freak folk *indie folk *neofolk *free folk }}

'''Anti-folk''' (sometimes spelled '''antifolk''') is a genre of folk music that emerged in the 1980s in New York City. It was founded by the musician, author, and comedian Lach, as a reaction to the commercialization of folk music. It is characterized by its amateur sound, DIY ethos, and often humorous, rebellious, or satirical lyrics. Antifolk music was made to diverge from, and sometimes mock, the perceived seriousness of the era's mainstream music scene,<ref name="Petrusich2008">{{cite book|author=Amanda Petrusich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgWco-s-Zp4C&q=%22hybrid%20that%20mocked%20the%20mushiness%22&pg=PT153|title=It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music|date=August 19, 2008|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-1-4299-5755-7|pages=153–157}}</ref> while often still being protest music aimed at social change.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/anti-folk-ma0000004417|title=Anti-Folk Music Genre Overview {{!}} AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=August 21, 2017}}</ref><ref>[https://www.popmatters.com/folk-punk-three-chords-and-truth Folk Punk, Rogue Folk, Anti-Folk: Three Chords and the Truth|PopMatters]</ref> The latter element especially overlaps with folk punk.

==History== ===In the United States=== Antifolk was introduced by artists who were unable to obtain gigs at established folk venues in Greenwich Village such as Folk City and The Speakeasy.<ref name=Bessman1994>{{cite magazine |last1=Bessman |first1=J. |title=Rising singer/songwriters redefine folk in the '90s |magazine=Billboard |date=July 16, 1994 |volume=106 |issue=29 |pages=1, 36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwgEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Rising%20singer%2Fsongwriters%20redefine%20folk%20in%20the%20'90s%22 |access-date=June 2, 2018}} (article in on pages 1 and 36)</ref> In the mid-1980s, singer-songwriter Lach started The Fort,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.supersweet.org/main.aspx?atype=2&aname=Music_The_Anti-Folk_Movement&con=2&sc1=0&sc2=90 | title = The Anti-Folk Movement | access-date = October 24, 2013 | last = Howlett | first = Isaac | work = Supersweet Zoo}}</ref> an after-hours club on NYC's Rivington Street on the Lower East Side.<ref name="Kihn">{{cite magazine|title=A Scene Is Made|last=Kihn|first=Martin|date=September 12, 1994|magazine=New York Magazine|location=New York City|volume=27|number=36|pages=68–70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MeQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68|access-date=July 23, 2020}}</ref> The Fort's opening coincided with the New York Folk Festival. Because of this, Lach dubbed his event the New York Antifolk Festival.<ref name="light">{{cite news |url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/arts/music/11folk.html |title=How Does It Feel, Antifolkies, to Have a Home, Not Be Unknown? |first= Alan |last=Light |newspaper=The New York Times |date= August 11, 2006}}</ref> Other early proponents of the movement included the Washington Squares, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Brenda Kahn, Paleface, Beck, Hamell on Trial, Michelle Shocked, Zane Campbell, John S. Hall,<ref name="Bessman1994" /><ref name="Kimpel2006">{{cite book |last=Kimpel |first=Dan |title=How They Made It: True Stories of How Music's Biggest Stars Went from Start to Stardom! |url=https://archive.org/details/howtheymadeittru0000kimp |url-access=registration |quote=Anti-Folk John S. Hall. |year=2006 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-634-07642-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/howtheymadeittru0000kimp/page/7 7]}}</ref> Roger Manning,<ref>{{cite news | first = Ben | last = Krieger | title = NYC Anti-Folk Scene | date = February 10, 2009 | url = http://www.thedelimagazine.com/FeatureView.php?artist=antifolk | work = The Deli | access-date = October 24, 2013 | archive-date = April 5, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230405000628/http://www.thedelimagazine.com/FeatureView.php?artist=antifolk | url-status = dead }}</ref> Kirk Kelly,<ref>{{cite news | first = Steve | last = Hochman | title = Bicoastal Anti-Folk of Kirk Kelly at Gaslight | date = January 10, 1989 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-10-ca-43-story.html | work = Los Angeles Times | access-date = October 24, 2013}}</ref> and Block.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The original Fort was shut down in 1985 by the police, and because of this the club moved locations several times, including East Village bars Sophie's and Chameleon, before settling in the back room of the SideWalk Cafe starting in 1993.<ref name="Kihn"/><ref name="light"/> The New York Antifolk Festival was held annually at the SideWalk Cafe until its closure in 2019 (long outlasting the original Folk Festival).<ref>{{cite news |first=James C. Jr. |last=McKinley |title=Staying Undefined at the Antifolk Festival, and That's Fine |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/antifolk-festival-2011/ |date=September 23, 2011 |access-date=June 22, 2012}}</ref> Events have also taken place in the band shells in Tompkins Square Park and Central Park.<ref name="light"/> While living in San Francisco in the early 1990s, Lach helped establish a West Coast anti-folk movement at the Sacred Grounds Coffee House.<ref name="Kihn"/>

Other artists to have achieved a notable level of success who have been considered anti-folk include Jeffrey Lewis, Regina Spektor and the Moldy Peaches.<ref>{{cite news|author=Caroline Sullivan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/20/jeffrey-lewis-peter-stampfel-review |title=Jeffrey Lewis – review &#124; Music |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=September 15, 2021}}</ref><ref name="crud">{{cite web| url=http://www.2-4-7-music.com/newsitems/aug01/moldypeaches.asp | title=Moldy Peaches Interview – Anti-Folk For Dummies. | publisher=CRUD Magazine |date=October 15, 2001|access-date=September 15, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Gothamist Oral">{{cite web|url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/so-weird-but-amazing-an-oral-history-of-sidewalk-cafe-antifolk|title='So Weird But Amazing': An Oral History Of Sidewalk Cafe & Antifolk|first=Jake|last=Offenhartz|date=February 27, 2019|website=The Gothamist|accessdate=September 16, 2021}}</ref>

===In Britain===

In the 2000s the term was adopted in Britain, particularly in the London underground scene, with acts including David Cronenberg's Wife and The Bobby McGee's.<ref>{{cite web|last=Parkin |first=Chris |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/1971/Secret_scenes-Antifolk.html |title=Secret scenes: Antifolk |publisher=Timeout.com |date=September 12, 2006 |access-date=July 29, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223212718/https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/secret-scenes-antifolk |archive-date=February 23, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The UK antifolk scene, largely centred in London and Brighton, has established its own identity, which was written about in a six-page feature in the September 2007 issue of ''Plan B'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://everetttrue.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/25-antifolk.pdf |title=Plan B |last=Everett True |first=Thom Dowse |date=September 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821170007/https://everetttrue.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/25-antifolk.pdf |archive-date=August 21, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2004 the lo-fi musician Filthy Pedro started seasonal anti-folk festivals, which he promoted with Tom Mayne of the band David Cronenberg's Wife.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=True |first1=Everett |title=The opposite of attraction |journal=Plan B |pages=54–59}}</ref> An anti-folk scene in Brighton, curated primarily by Mertle, was quick to follow that of London.

Other key figures within the UK anti-folk community include Dan Treacy of Television Personalities, Jack Hayter, Milk Kan, Extradition Order, Benjamin Shaw, Lucy Joplin, Candythief, JJ Crash, Larry Pickleman and Paul Hawkins.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Emmy the Great and Laura Marling were added to the roster of antifolk artists as they play antifolk music with mocking lyrics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emmy The Great: The 'Anti-Folk' Takeover |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101031578 |website=National Public Radio |access-date=April 10, 2021 |date=February 23, 2009}}</ref> Kate Nash started her music career playing anti-folk-style shows, including a concert promoted by Larry Pickleman and Mertle in Brighton.<ref name="moshimoshimusic.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.moshimoshimusic.com/artists/kate-nash |title=Moshi Moshi Records &#124; Artists: Kate Nash |publisher=Moshimoshimusic.com |access-date=June 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720032214/http://www.moshimoshimusic.com/artists/kate-nash |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Dan Willson, who performs under the name Withered Hand, is an Edinburgh-based musician often considered part of the genre. His first studio album, ''Good News'', was released in 2009.<ref name="Withered Hand">{{cite web|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/withered-hand-new-gods-147760|title=Withered Hand – New Gods|website=The Line of Best Fit|first=Finnbar|last=Bermingham|date=March 10, 2014|access-date=September 15, 2021}}</ref>

Welsh antifolk artist Mr Duke has gained some popularity in Wales, and Crywank, an antifolk project from Manchester, surfaced in 2009.

==See also== * Anticomp Folkilation * Psychedelic folk

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web |last1=Kihn |first1=Martin |title=A Scene Is Made |url=http://www.martinkihn.com/scan/ny/lach.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714043817/http://www.martinkihn.com/scan/ny/lach.pdf |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |date=September 12, 1994 |work=New York Magazine |pages=68–70}} * [http://www.antifolk.com ''Antifolk.com'' The most updated Antifolk website, covering the movement across the world] * [http://www.antifolk.net ''Antifolk.net'' The New York Antifolk website, started by Lach to promote the scene] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175006/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/35556 ''Morning Star'' article on Anti-folk] * [http://www.timeout.com/london/features/1971.html ''Time Out London'' feature on Anti-folk] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080110180859/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2007/08/hugs_and_kisses_5.php ''Village Voice'' article on UK Anti-folk] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071121061737/http://festivals.musicomh.com/swn-2007-1_1107.htm musicomh.com's Review of Anti-folk night at Sŵn Fest, Cardiff 2007] * [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/02/01/feature/this-hillbilly-madman-is-country-music-royalty-so-why-havent-you-heard-of-him/ Washington Post article about Zane Campbell's part in Anti-folk]

{{Folk music}} {{punk}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Folk}} Category:Anti-folk music Category:American styles of music Category:Punk rock genres Category:1980s in music Category:1990s in music Category:2000s in music Category:2010s in music