In English, the term contemporary folk music may be used to distinguish this genre from “real” folk music, which is called traditional folk music. Although “traditional” and “contemporary” varieties often share the same term “folk music”, they, too, are performed by the same artists, and both are included in the same kinds of musical festivals.

Traditionally folk music was performed and was part of the culture of various communities (regional, ethnic, racial) and was not a product specifically composed and produced for mass consumption. In the mid-twentieth century, however, as a result of folk revivals, it began to penetrate into popular culture. As a result, combinations of folk and popular music began to appear. Thanks to the development of radio and recording, both musicians themselves and listeners in New York City could experience the regional music of the Gulf States, and Seattle residents could experience the fiddle tunes and dances of the Appalachian region.

One of the first artists to promote folk music to mass audiences was American performer Woody Guthrie, who sang folk songs in the 1930s and 1940s. In doing so, some of the songs were also written by him. Among Guthrie’s friends and followers, folklore collector, performer, and composer Pete Seeger became famous. This period of rising interest in American folk music is sometimes called the first wave of American folk revival.

Folk music began to mix actively with mainstream pop music as the baby boomer generation-men born after World War II-many of whom grew up listening to compilations of folk music like the Anthology of American Folk Music reached adulthood. This rise in interest in folk music in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s is sometimes called the second wave of American folk-rivalry. The music born of folk-rywave music, by its nature, was popular music, but with meaningful lyrics on social themes.

Thus, in the mid-20th century, a genre of popular music with the same name developed on the basis of folk music – folk music (English “folk music”). One of the first famous folk music performers was the American singer and composer Bob Dylan. He demonstrated how it was possible to compose modern songs based on elements of traditional music, but at the same time highlight the characteristic events and mores of the current time in them. In the popular press, Dylan and his contemporaries and fellow artists such as Judy Collins, Tom Rush, Joan Baez, Phil Oakes, and many others were called “folk musicians,” though serious folklorists did not consider them as such. As a result, in the United States, the image of the singer-songwriter strumming on a guitar and singing in a nasal voice about morbid topics formed a common stereotype of what folk music was.

The peak of folk music’s popularity came in the mid-1960s, when such singer-songwriters as Richie Havens, Joni Mitchell, Melanie, and a variety of groups appeared on the pop scene, using elements of folk music in their compositions. A classic example of such music is the song “El Condor Pasa” by the duo Simon & Garfunkel. Folk music of that period was characterized by the social subtext of the songs. For a short period (from about 1958 to 1965), such music ranked high on the music pop charts in the United States and Britain. The hits were mostly created not by “the people,” but by professional or semi-professional musicians, and the songs were often “diluted” with modern elements of folk songs or self-composed compositions stylized after them.

In Britain, folk revival produced a generation of singer-songwriters such as Donovan, Bert Jensch, Ralph MacTell and Roy Harper who achieved success in the 1960s. Canada produced the internationally successful Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Buffy St. Mary’s. The period from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s saw big changes in music, politics, and lifestyle. Folk music was evolving and diversifying. The main changes involved the most recognized artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, The Seekers and Peter, Paul and Mary and were expressed in their creation of new mixed styles with rock and pop music. Canadian performers Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn and Joni Mitchell also moved into mixed styles and were very popular in the US. All of this led to sub-genres and hybrid styles – folk-rock, electric-folk, and many others – beginning to emerge within folk music.

The term contemporary folk music was introduced in English to designate the variety of popular music that emerged during and after the revivals and began to be widely referred to as “folk music” (although in the classical sense it was not). Directly folk music began to be called traditional folk music. However, despite the obvious differences between the “traditional” and “contemporary” varieties, they are often referred to by the same term folk music, are performed by the same artists, the music events dedicated to “folk” music are often common to both, and even individual songs may incorporate elements of both.

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