Kim's Folk Music Blog

For ten years, Pete Francis was in the band Dispatch—one of the most succesful independent bands of all time. Now, though, he's stepping out with another solo album, showcasing an ... Read More

The biggest, longest folk festival in the land kicks off less than a month from now, with its revered New Folk contest and its two weeks of nonstop music. Literally. ... Read More

The son of revered folklorist John Lomax, Alan started out recording the songs of prisoners in the south, and later worked at the Library of Congress as a folklorist with ... Read More

Last night, I headed into downtown Seattle to see what Ani DiFranco had up her sleeves this time. Having been to my fair share of Ani DiFranco concerts, I certainly ... Read More

Woody Guthrie was one of the most prolific songwriters and gifted story-tellers in the history of American folk music. He wrote literally thousands of songs in his 55 years—many of ... Read More

The Weepies' last album, Say I Am You was a lovely collection of songs about newfound love and self discovery. Now, a couple of years later, on Hideaway, the duo ... Read More

Tomorrow (April 22, 2008) is Earth Day—a day to celebrate the beauty and bounty of nature, and a reminder of the preciousness of our natural habitat. Now that "global warming" ... Read More

The Wilders' latest album, Someone's Got to Pay is one of the best songbook/concept albums since Susan Werner's The Gospel Truth last year. Starting with the notion of a murder ... Read More

Merlefest 2008 will be held the weekend of April 24-27 in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, marking the quasi-official beginning of folk festival season. Hooray!! If you're headed to one of the ... Read More

April is National Poetry Month, which means it's as good a time as any to take a look at the great poets of American folk music. From its inception, folk ... Read More

There have been numerous collections released through the years of songs and recordings paying tribute to, and telling the stories of coal miners, their families, and their work. This collection ... Read More

Not Kate Walsh from Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice...the other Kate Walsh. The British singer/songwriter with the knack for beautiful, heartbreaking narrative tunes ala Joni Mitchell or Ray LaMontagne. She's an up-and-comer ... Read More

Aimee Mann started out in a punk-rock band in the early 1980s, then rose to stardom as part of the pop group 'Til Tuesday. After that group broke up, she ... Read More

Because, why not? He's done pretty much everything else there is to do, from film to theatre to blues, folk, rock, gospel, and country music. He's won all kinds of ... Read More

Chris Thile is, almost inarguably, one of the most gifted artists to ever touch the mandolin in the history of American music. His arrangements are intense, intricate and, often, faster ... Read More

Well, not many people voted, but I think it's fair to say this list of the Top 25 Bluegrass Artists of All Time is pretty comprehensive. From Bill Monroe to ... Read More

The New York Times has a new blog called Measure for Measure, which I discovered today. The first installment was made last week by Andrew Bird. Yesterday, Suzanne Vega presented ... Read More

Sisters Donna Simpson and Vikki Thorn have been making music together for years and, judging from their latest album, SunDirtWater, it's starting to pay off. Together with their long-time collaborator ... Read More