folk | Musicosity

folk

Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) started taking piano lessons at a very early age and played for a couple of years, but switched to the harp at seven. Her approach to the harp, from the percussive aspects of her playing to her chord changes, was also influenced by West African and Venezuelan harp music, which she began studying at a folk music camp she attended in her early teens. At the same time, she also listened to more vocal-based folk, punk, and jazz like Karen Dalton, Texas Gladden, Patti Smith, and Billie Holiday.

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Rev Hammer

Rev Hammer regards his music not so much as a passport to fame and fortune but as a ticket to ride. He learned to play guitar and sing at the same time and wisely thought busking was the best way to get to a standard where he could play publicly. Rev spent 18 months busking in the streets before he dared stand on a stage. Rev's debut album "Industrial Sound and Magic" was recorded in a cow shed in Essex on a budget of nothing but, given that that the backing band (which gave its services for free) was The Levellers, this offbeat album has opened up intriguing windows of opportunity.

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Kim Doo Soo

Kim Doo Soo (???) is a modern Korean folk musician, who was only famous in deep underground scene. But in recent years, his 4th. album "Free Spirit" gained high expectation, and became more & more famous. His vocal & music style are very unique.

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John Matthias

As we stagger onwards into the 21st century, musical genres begin to meld and mutate with increasingly random, and occasionally inspiring results. A number of artists have spent the last few years blending digital sound with acoustic, traditional forms with experimental structures and good ol' fashioned songwriting with the liberating dynamics of 'dance' music in all its myriad forms. Few have done it with the grace, beauty or soul of John Matthias.

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Emily Wells

Emily Wells creates music by blending her many influences. She is a classically trained violinist with a penchant for hip hop production. Live, Wells creates a lush layer of "symphonies" by looping and live sampling everything from her violin and voice, to her many toys and electronics. She performs both solo, and as a trio with drummer Sam Halterman and bassist Joey Reina, who also appear on her records.

Read more about Emily Wells on Last.fm.

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Preston Reed

http://www.prestonreed.com/ Preston Reed learned guitar as a child on his father's guitar and had a short stint at classical guitar with a too-severe teacher. When he was 16 his interest was rekindled by Jorma Kaukonen's acoustic guitar-playing in Hot Tuna. He took the guitar again and began to compose his own songs in the style of Leo Kottke and John Fahey. His first public gig was at Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., in concert with Allen Ginsberg.

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Maria Byrne

Maria is an Irish singer-songwriter, originally from Cork and based for the last few years in London. She has turned her hand to a range of occupations over the years including a year-long stint welding hairline cracks in Rolls Royce Jet Engines. Discovering that she was much happier singing and writing songs based on conversations she heard on buses, she taught herself to play guitar and took off to London in search of opportunity and a decent cup of tea. Since then she has played all over the capital and is releasing her debut EP 'Jack' in April 2009.

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Ophelia

There is more than one artist with the name Ophelia: 1. Ophelia are a metal band hailing from Chelmsford, Essex. Formed in late 2008, the band immediately started writing material and playing gigs in the local area. The spring of 2009 saw the band recording their debut E.P. at CDS Studios in Essex. By summer artwork and design had been finished, and the band raised money for CD replication throughout the autumn using a ‘presale scheme' that allowed fans to preorder and pay for the E.P. before it came out, ensuring them a signed copy.

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