Folk Punk Facts

Origins and early development

The earliest known relationship between rebellious folk music and the ethos that would later define punk rock is described in the article as beginning with Woody Guthrie, who sang about anti-fascism and conditions faced by working-class people starting in the 1930s. The 1960s New York folk revival led by artists like Bob Dylan produced early precursors including David Peel, the Godz, the Holy Modal Rounders and the Fugs. In the late 1970s Patrik Fitzgerald combined punk rock imagery with acoustic guitar and vocals, and in the early 1980s bands such as Violent Femmes and the Pogues popularized a fusion of folk and punk in the United States and England respectively.

Evolution or diversification

During the 1980s a number of punk and hardcore bands incorporated acoustic tracks and folkier sounds, with examples cited including the Dead Milkmen and Articles of Faith. The Meat Puppets' 1984 album Meat Puppets II is noted for shifting toward a punk-inflected folk-country style. In the UK, groups such as Men They Couldn't Hang, Oysterband and the Levellers developed distinct English variants of the fusion, and the article notes that subgenres including Celtic punk and gypsy punk later experienced commercial success.

Cultural or musical significance

Folk punk is linked with DIY punk scenes and performances in house venues and other nontraditional spaces. The genre achieved some mainstream success in the 1980s, exemplified by the Pogues' chart impact including three top ten albums in the UK and a number two single in 1987. The article also highlights a rich history of progressive and leftist political themes in the music, involving topics such as race, class, feminism, anti-fascism, animal rights, queerness and anarchism.