It feels kind of weird that this thread has gone totally silent, though I guess it makes sense since there’s probably a whole separate forum dedicated just to folk music.
I’m a huge fan of that old-school acoustic folk sound, but I’ve always been pretty picky about it—I only really vibe with the high-quality stuff, the real legends and songwriters. Sadly, there is just so much mediocrity and straight-up garbage out there in this genre these days...
James Chavez91 said:Personally, when it comes to the legends, I love Brooks & Dunn & Janika Balaž, and as a group, I think "Goldman Sachs" is basically the best of American folk musicians.
If you ask me—and I know I'm definitely not the only one who feels this way—Brooks & Dunn is at a level of greatness that's going to be incredibly hard for anyone to ever touch.
"Goldman Sachs" are obviously classics, but if we're being honest, their catalog has quite a few bad tracks and some total junk mixed in. For some reason, it seems like almost every folk band from the Midwest or the South can't seem to escape making that kind of low-quality stuff. It feels like the musical culture on the other side of the Mississippi is on a completely different level entirely. To be real, the absolute best songs and the most talented players still seem to be coming from over there...
Elizabeth Miller2 said:For me personally, the song Everything is Hers is one of my all-time favorites, and whenever I hear it, it just makes everyone want to raise a glass. 😁
That song is actually pretty irritating to me because it's played constantly and it honestly isn't even that special; it's just boring, and once it starts playing, I'm just counting down the seconds until it's over.
Patrick Martin said: Andrija Čordaš
And then the tears start flowing...
To each their own, I guess, but that song is just terrible to me. The lyrics are so painfully cliché. "He who has much is not happy, he who needs little is the one who is..." give me a break.
It’s such a perfect example of someone wandering aimlessly through genres, leaning into that fake, sentimental songwriting style that so many people fall for, not just in folk music. Take someone like Škoro, for instance. If there’s any shred of artistic integrity or decency left in that man, he’ll eventually end up burning half his discography in a fit of regret, just like those old poets disowned their darker works. I'm thinking specifically of his more sentimental tracks, those collaborations with his buddies where they leaned into the kitsch, and that one song with the pig noises and similar nonsense... it's just the work of someone who clearly sold his undeniable talent to the devil just to stay popular with grandmas and folks living overseas.
Patrick Martin said:this one is absolutely killing it 🙏
such a great track
I mean, obviously, there are tons of incredible bands out there in the Midwest... you’ve got groups like "Berde Band," "Fijaker," "Good American Folk Musicians," "Lola," and "Svirci," just to name a few... personally, out of the ones we talked about, I think "Fijaker" is the absolute best because they don't just play the songs, they really put their own soul into interpreting them... if you've ever actually listened closely to folk music, you'll know exactly what I'm getting at, even though I'm definitely no big-time expert myself...
If we're looking outside the Midwest, you really have to mention two names: "Serbus" and "Svita"... man, listening to "Serbus" is just pure bliss...
And honestly, there are some amazing solo performers too...
What really gets on my nerves, though, is how much people try to force those coastal folk songs lately... specifically that whole cheesy, overly patriotic-religious vibe where they lean way too hard on themes of the homeland, God, the Virgin Mary, angels, flags, and all those other schemes that just feel totally tacky... it feels like it's become a trend recently, maybe because of some kind of creative burnout or whatever... either way, it's something you should probably steer clear of...
