Greenwich Village-based Frank Christian is one of contemporary folk music's virtuosic guitar players. His heartfelt melodies have strengthened performances and/or recordings by Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Dave Van Ronk and the Smithereens. Christian is equally skilled as a songwriter and vocalist. His tune "Three... [+] Read More

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I'm a poet, I'm a painter, I'm a midnight snacker. I write my music in the sun....I sing what I cannot paint, and I paint what I cannot sing. I just try to show a little bit of the heaven I try to glimpse from down here...

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Cat Stevens, born Steven Demetre Georgiou, was the son of a Swedish mother and a Greek father who ran a restaurant in London. He became interested in folk music and rock & roll in his teens while attending Hammersmith College and in 1965 began performing under the name Steve Adams. Mike Hurst, a former member of the folk-pop group the... [+] Read More

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We don't play pop music, we don't write music for art's sake, we don't represent any movements, we're not hip, we're not cutting edge, we don't dress to be cool. We do manage ourselves, we write our own songs, we do our own recordings, we shoot our own videos, we design our own covers. We made our own website. We're not generally negative... [+] Read More

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Born in NYC, a lover of words and music, Isabel started singing at 6 and took to the piano in her teens. A poetry-fan, she's been touched by poetry writers ranging from Suzanne Vega to Pablo Neruda. After going to Cornell U. & Mannes College of Music, Isabel joined New York's music scene as a back-up singer for a veteran rock band, The... [+] Read More

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When people use the term "singer/songwriter" (often modified by the word "sensitive") in praise or in criticism, they're thinking of James Taylor. In the early '70s, when he appeared with his introspective songs, acoustic guitar, and calm, understated singing style, he mirrored a generation's emotional exhaustion after tumultuous times. Just as... [+] Read More

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When people use the term "singer/songwriter" (often modified by the word "sensitive") in praise or in criticism, they're thinking of James Taylor. In the early '70s, when he appeared with his introspective songs, acoustic guitar, and calm, understated singing style, he mirrored a generation's emotional exhaustion after tumultuous times. Just as... [+] Read More

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When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century. Uncompromising and iconoclastic, Mitchell confounded expectations at every turn; restlessly innovative, her music evolved from deeply personal folk stylings into pop, jazz, avant-garde, and even world music,... [+] Read More

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Laura Nyro was one of pop music's true originals: A brilliant and innovative composer, her songs found greater commercial success in the hands of other performers, but her own records -- intricate, haunting works highlighting her singularly powerful vocal phrasing, evocative lyrics, and alchemical fusion of gospel, soul, folk, and jazz... [+] Read More

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Raised only a few streets from the legendary Van Morrison (though admittedly several decades later), Laura Stevenson is finally receiving recognition in the Northern Irish music scene. Her 2004 EP “Down” and this year’s “Live at the Rotterdam” have already been heard on the airwaves of several local stations and, having recently won a showcase... [+] Read More

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The roots rock band Lone Justice was formed in Los Angeles by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee. The half-sister of Bryan MacLean, a member of the seminal psychedelic outfit Love, McKee's involvement in the L.A. club scene dated back to her infancy; at the age of three, she joined MacLean at a performance at the famed... [+] Read More

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Lyle Lovett was one of the most distinctive and original singer/songwriters to emerge during the '80s. Though he was initially labeled as a country singer, the tag never quite fit him. Lovett had more in common with '70s singer/songwriters like Guy Clark, Jesse Winchester, Randy Newman, and Townes Van Zandt, combining a talent for incisive,... [+] Read More

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Born 29 years ago in Alabama, the ethereal-voiced Maria Taylor won over her first fans at age 15 as part of the Birmingham duo Little Red Rocket, a pop/rock group that brought comparisons to Belly. When that outfit, which issued two CDs -- 1997's Who Did You Pay and 2000's It's in the Sound -- disbanded after getting lost in the shuffle that was... [+] Read More

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According to her own, undoubtedly semi-fictional account, Michelle Shocked was born Michelle Johnston in Dallas, TX, in 1962, where she spent her early childhood traveling around army bases. In 1977, she ran away from her Mormon fundamentalist mother to live with her father who introduced her to country bluesmen Big Bill Broonzy and Leadbelly,... [+] Read More

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Randy Newman was an anomaly among early-'70s singer/songwriters. Though he was slightly influenced by Bob Dylan, his music owed more to New Orleans R&B and traditional pop than folk. Newman developed an idiosyncratic style that alternated between sweeping, cinematic pop and rolling R&B, which were tied together by his nasty sense of humor. Where... [+] Read More

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Vocalist, singer/songwriter, and guitarist Syd Straw first made a name for herself as part of the Golden Palominos, a band led by Anton Fier that enjoyed a cult following in the 1980s. Her Capricorn Records debut, War and Peace, was released in 1996, and since then her unique blend of folk-rock and blues-rock have found a home with Triple A... [+] Read More

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Tanita Tikaram made a splash on both sides of the Atlantic at a mere 19 years of age with her dramatic, singer/songwriter-influenced lyrics. The offspring of Malaysian and Fijian parents, Tikaram moved to England at age 12 and began writing songs as a teenager. She played her first gig at 17 in London after a favorable response to her demo tape... [+] Read More

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Everyone knows that California's Bay Area is full of brilliant “techie geeks” and incredible indie musicians, but we rarely think of these two different worlds colliding. That's about to change with the emergence of Vanessa Van Spall , a powerful confessional singer-songwriter who deferred her lifelong goal of making music to enter... [+] Read More

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