Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine became friends in Canadian high school band. They now make up Dala, an accoustic folk pop duo who sing songs like the cutesy pop song Levi Blues, Alive about a hellish New Years Eve in an old cabin, Marilyn Monroe about coming of age, and the more serious Horses, a song dedicated to a paraplegic teenager. They have opened for Neko Case, Tom Cochrane, and Matthew Good and covered Neil Young.
posted by mccarty.tim on May 19, 2010 - 9 comments

Much-missed acoustic guitarist Isaac Guillory thrilled audiences around the UK, accumulating die-hard fans wherever he went. For those who never had the chance to see him perform, this extremely rare broadcast-quality footage of a classic 1991 concert (made available on YouTube by one of the cameramen who filmed it), is the next best thing. [more inside]
posted by tomcooke on Feb 2, 2010 - 6 comments

Sometimes called The Barnsley Nightingale, British folk singer Kate Rusby was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 1999, and has won four BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Her cover of The Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society" is the theme song for the TV show "Jam & Jerusalem." The Daily Telegraph called her "England's answer to Dolly Parton. Not in terms of the wigs and the sequins, but in her quaveringly sincere ability to tell a simple, downhome story in a song and make your heart ache for it." BBC says she performs "folk music for people who don't like folk music." [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Sep 10, 2009 - 23 comments

Folk/acoustic Friday: braving infatuation, heartbreak, pregnancy, Thatcherism, corporate drudgery and bad 90s hair, these artists come bearing gifts. [more inside]
posted by aihal on Apr 11, 2008 - 2 comments

This might lead you to learn to play guitar, to write poems, to sing, or just to watch and listen more intently. Kelly joe Phelps, from washington state, is one of the most beautiful musicians I've ever seen. He's got a great way to play traditionals and his originals are mesmerizing.
posted by nicolin on Sep 11, 2007 - 11 comments