This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #131 (August/September 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

New Psych Folk

Part Two: Wilder and Weirder

by Lahri Bond

In the last issue we took a look at a new genre of folk music that goes by many names: In the United States it's been called "psych folk" (psychedelic folk), "neofolk," and "new weird-America" (NWA), while the European press has bantered around the terms folk," "weird folk," "freakfolk," and "twisted folk." Regardless of the labels, the basic tenets of the faith include deep love and respect for, and musical references to, 60s British folk legends such as Fairport Convention, Pentangle, the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan, and Donovan, as well as psychedelic bands including King Crimson, T-Rex, Gong, and Pink Floyd. American influences are more scarce, but extend to Pearls Before Swine, the Fugs, and the so-called "Takoma School" of fingerstyle guitarists (John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke).

Some of the most-recent and well-known proponents of psych folk that we looked at last time included Devendra Banhart, Espers, Joanna Newsom, Fern Knight, Vetiver, and Sharron Krauss. This time 'round, we continue our search.

Artists covered in Part Two:

• Iron & Wine
• Lou Rhodes
• Rio en Medio
• Glenn Jones
• Paula Frazer and Tarnation
• Arborea
• Amy Duncan
• The Memory Band

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #131 (August/September 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Copyright ©2007 Dirty Linen, Ltd, Baltimore, MD