The History of Singer - Songwriter Music

The singer songwriter genre is a sub genre of Folk Music. Many will protest how singer songwriters actually being converted and mixed into Pop genre, however it completely depends on the sub genre the artist is supporting.



Early Folk music was basically artists performing chants and poems which was usually accompanied by a classical instrument such as a Harp or a Piano. The Origins of Folk music date back to Northern America from the 1960s with artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger being one of the first artists to produce this genre of music. They first wrote songs focusing on social issues and on working class society, which greatly influenced Singer Songwriter artists.




By the later 1970s the original wave of Singer Songwriter genre had been largely adapted and altered to fit a more general pop and soft rock sound. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Kate Bush fit into this category. This allowed up and coming artists to still be classified as a singer songwriter, however still produce music to the mainstream 'pop' audience.



Within the decade of the 1980s, the Singer Songwriter genre started to become more and more popular and interestingly enough through female artists. Female artists such as Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffiths and Tori Amos all did well within this period, it's also interesting to note; they where all subverted into the idea of the pop side of the Singer Songwriting genre. The same occurred within the 1990s with strong musical artists such as Mariah Carey, Sarah Mclachlan, Alanis Morriset and Jewel all found strong fame from there musical art. Also in the 1990s artists such as Dace Matthews and Elliot Smith created a sub genre within the Singer Songwriter genre, this being Acoustic- Based. Artists such as Ray LaMontagne, Antony and the Johnsons and Damien Rice all became strong within this new sub genre in the later 2000s as it took a few years to fully establish as a genre where people will notice the type of sound and characteristics where developed for the Acoustic - Based artists and music. This is a quieter sound, with largely impressionistic and ambiguous lyrics which is why this sub genre can be seen as a type of art.