While taking a stroll down Madison Lane on a Saturday afternoon, it is almost impossible to avoid the sound of student bands’ melodies flooding into Mad Bowl. Stepping into a fraternity’s yard, one is bound to see hundreds of students crowding around a homemade, wooden stage belting lyrics of folksy songs by Tyler Childers, Mt. Joy and Zach Bryan. But what is it about these artists' songs that entices students so thoroughly?
Folk music is a genre that takes on different forms depending on the country and culture of interest. American folk, for example, is a genre distinguished by its acoustic and simple appeal, often with uncomplicated chord progressions and lyrics that encompass themes of love, social justice and humble living.
Recently, contemporary folk artists have seen a surge in their streaming numbers, with artists who turn to the acoustic sounds and authentic lyrics rocketing to the top of the charts. Particularly Generation Z has been drawn to concerts by artists who write about a simple life. However, this trend is nothing new, but rather a reemergence of a cycle that appears throughout history. Generations of Americans, including the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers, have fallen into this folk music trance — in fact, a folk revival seems to be akin to an eclipse that comes once every few decades.
While many students’ favorite contemporary folk artists such as Caamp, Noah Kahan and Hozier sound different from traditional American folk beginnings, their dedication to minimalist sounds and soul-touching lyrics introduce the genre’s beauties to a new generation of University students.
Assoc. Prof. Jack Hamilton, who teaches in both the media studies and American studies departments, is a cultural historian who studies sound and popular culture. He has researched the history of folk resurgences in American history and says that folk has been revived several times throughout the 1900s.
“There was a folk revival in the early 20th century that was largely centered around academic study of folk musical traditions and sort of the beginning of Americans in the field of what we now sort of call Ethnomusicology,” Hamilton said. “The second stage was in the 1930s where there’s a lot of left political activity in the United States during the aftermath of the great depression.”
Today’s folk revival has similar correlations in its causal factors to that of the 1930s. Folk songs at the time resonated with the American people due to their ability to apply to the common American man, according to Hamilton. Classics such as Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” which speaks to national unity and “John Henry,” popularized by Lead Belly, about railroad workers' struggle with big business, reflected the every-day struggles of working-class Americans.
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time where a nation has experienced a devastating crisis together, there is a similar appeal of nationalism with today’s folk artists. A recent favorite on streaming services is Tyler Childers' "Feathered Indians,” which is a frequent favorite of University cover bands. The song’s lyrics paint a picture of the realities of the common man while calling back to symbolism that echoes the American West.
Second-year College student Annabel Brawn said she is a frequent front-rower at University student bands’ sets and describes her generation’s connection to folk music as art that brings serenity to a world that often feels distressed.
“Folk helps us realize the value of the smallest, most beautiful parts of who we are. For me, folk music reminds me of living with my friends, the sights of Virginia, the feeling I have when I see someone I love,” Brawn said. “It is the recognition of those intimate moments that we get from folk music that can help our generation have faith in good during such uncertain periods.”
This capability of folk music to unite loved ones during times of turmoil made an appearance during the Cold War. This era of folk revivals occurred in the mid-20th century, when a group of older folk songs were recorded for the first time on an album known as “The Anthology of American Folk Music.” According to Hamilton, this influential album defined what makes folk music and brought the genre music to the forefront of the musical landscape. Its influence continued to be felt in the following decade, which is considered the fourth folk revival.
“That ‘Anthology of American Folk Music’ is incredibly important to what is called the fourth stage of American folk revival,” Hamilton said. “[This] is basically the folk revival of the late 50s and 1960s which produced Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Bill Oakes — all these very famous artists.”
Much of the mid-1900s folk revival was influenced by the Cold War, as rapid technological advancements and the looming threat of nuclear warfare left progressive youth yearning for art that evoked a simpler, more grounded era. Folk songs like Pete Seeger’s, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” a nostalgic hymn about life pre-Vietnam War or Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” captured a generation’s yearning for a simpler world.
Popular songs today offer the same magnetism. With artificial intelligence being around every corner and the omnipresence of social media, many people feel anxious about technology and long for an uncomplicated sanctuary.
Take, for example, Noah Kahan. Over acoustic melodies, his work is about living in Vermont and consistently references his modest upbringing. Second-year College student Elise Bowen describes her years of being a Noah Kahan fan and the way his music has brought her tranquility.
“Noah Kahan’s music especially just feels raw, like he’s writing to write about human experiences and not just write a viral song, in that way I think it has really helped my mental health,” Bowen said.
With his clever lyricism Kahan transports his listeners to his nostalgic memories — in doing so, he offers a world of security, away from the difficult complexities of today.
Folk music has an ability to collectively represent both a humble life and modest beginnings that correspond to the United States’ core values of freedom, self-reliance and individualism, which is why the genre has yet to go out of style.
Backstage at a folk festival in 1967, well into the fourth folk revival, Johnny Cash was quoted saying, “The backbone of the music industry, the very soul of music, is folk music. Always have been and I think always will be.”
Folk music’s lasting presence creates melodies that unite listeners from all generations — capturing the true American spirit in its discussion of hard work and staying true to one’s roots.
The essence of this ethos shines through on the glory of a Saturday at the University as students blissfully scream their hearts out to their favorite folk tune. The next time you see such a sight, take care not to forget where that joy derives from and know that it is here for generations to come.
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