Psychedelic folk

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Music genre

title: "Psychedelic folk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["psychedelic-folk", "contemporary-folk-genres", "psychedelic-music", "american-styles-of-music"] description: "Music genre" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_folk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Music genre ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox music genre"]

Field	Value
name	Psychedelic folk
other_names	* Acid folk
* freak folk{{cite web	last1
stylistic_origins	* Psychedelia
cultural_origins	Mid to late-1960s, United States and United Kingdom
derivatives	* New Weird America
title	The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Popular Music
last	Partridge
first	Christopher
last2	Moberg
first2	Marcus
year	2017
publisher	Bloomsbury Academic
location	London
isbn	978-1474237338
page	301
language	en
}}{{cite book	last
subgenres	* Freak folk
other_topics	* Anti-folk
::

| name = Psychedelic folk | other_names = * Acid folk

freak folk | stylistic_origins = * Psychedelia
folk | cultural_origins = Mid to late-1960s, United States and United Kingdom | derivatives = * New Weird America
Wyrd folk{{cite book |title=The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Popular Music |last=Partridge |first=Christopher |last2=Moberg |first2=Marcus |year=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |isbn=978-1474237338 |page=301 |language=en | subgenres = * Freak folk | other_topics = * Anti-folk
neofolk
list of artists
indie folk
free folk
folk punk
neo-psychedelia
psychedelic pop
psychedelic soul

Psychedelic folk (also known as acid folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelia.

Characteristics and terminology

Psychedelic folk generally favors acoustic instrumentation although it often incorporates other instrumentation. Chanting, early music and various non-Western folk music influences are often found in psych folk. Much like its rock counterpart, psychedelic folk is often known for a peculiar, trance-like, and atmospheric sound, often drawing on musical improvisation and Asian influences.

Acid folk

The term acid folk was coined in late 1969 by Australian journalist Lillian Roxon to describe the music of Pearls Before Swine. In her Rock Encyclopedia, she explained:

In Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk (2010), author Jeanette Leech states that the term "acid folk" was a "perfect summation" of the music of Pearls Before Swine and similar acts:

The term was nonetheless not used widely until some time after it was coined. Tom Rapp of Pearls Before Swine commented that "acid folk as a label is fine in that it implies borderlessness."

History

1960s: Peak years

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Donovan_(1965).jpg" caption="[[Donovan]] in 1965"] ::

The first musical use of the term psychedelic is thought to have been by the New York–based folk group The Holy Modal Rounders on their version of Lead Belly's "Hesitation Blues" in 1964. Guitarist John Fahey recorded several songs in the early 1960s that experimented with unusual recording techniques, including backward tapes, and novel instrumental accompaniment. | last = Unterberger | first = Richie | author-link = Richie Unterberger | title = The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions — Album Review | work = Allmusic | publisher = Rovi Corp. | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/vol-4-the-great-san-bernardino-birthday-party-mw0000103865 | access-date = July 25, 2013

Musicians with several groups that became identified with psychedelic rock began as folk musicians, such as those with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Beau Brummels from San Francisco; the Byrds, Love, Kaleidoscope, and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy from Los Angeles; Pearls Before Swine from Florida; and Jake and the Family Jewels, and Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys from New York. The Serpent Power was a psychedelic rock group with a strong folk influence. The Byrds was the most important American folk-rock band to incorporate psychedelia in their sound and themes.

In the UK, folk artists who were particularly significant included Marc Bolan, with his hippy duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, who used unusual instrumentation and tape effects, typified by the album Unicorn (1969), and Scottish performers such as Donovan, who combined influences of American artists like Bob Dylan with references to flower power, and the Incredible String Band, who from 1967 incorporated a range of influences into their acoustic-based music, including medieval and eastern instruments. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, solo acts such as Syd Barrett and Nick Drake began to incorporate psychedelic influences into folk music with albums such as Barrett's The Madcap Laughs and Drake's Five Leaves Left. Underground artists such as Simon Finn would later be referred to as "acid folk".

By the late 1960s, the influence of psychedelic and acid folk could be felt in pop music. Pop records would sometimes include one or two psychedelic or acid folk tracks, like "Flowers in the Air" on Sally Eaton's Farewell American Tour (1970).

1970s: Decline

In the mid-1970s, psychedelia fell out of fashion and those folk groups that had not already moved into different areas had largely disbanded. In Britain, folk groups also tended to electrify, as did acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, which became the electric combo T. Rex. This was a continuation of a process by which progressive folk had considerable impact on mainstream rock.

Since 1990s: Revival

Independent and underground folk artists in the late 1990s led to a revival of psychedelic folk with the New Weird America movement. Also, Animal Collective's early albums identify closely with freak folk as does their collaboration with veteran British folk artist Vashti Bunyan, and The Microphones/Mount Eerie, who combine naturalistic elements with lo-fi and psychedelia. Both artists received significant exposure in the indie music scene following critical acclaim from review site Pitchfork Media and soon more artists began experimenting with the genre, including OCS, Quilt, Grizzly Bear, Devendra Banhart, Rodrigo Amarante, Ben Howard and Grouper.

In 2022, Uncut magazine published a CD called Blackwaterside: Sounds of the New Weird Albion, featuring artists including Jim Ghedi, Henry Parker, Jon Wilks, Sam Lee, and Cath Tyler. This led to the publication of an extensive exploration of Britain's new "weird folk" in Japanese music magazine Ele-King. The lead article looked at artists including Nick Hart, Burd Ellen, Elspeth Anne, Frankie Archer, Shovel Dance Collective and Angeline Morrison.

Related genres

Freak folk

Main article: Freak folk

Freak folk is a loosely defined subgenre of psychedelic folk associated with the 2000s New Weird America movement and used to describe the work of artists such as Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and Adem.

List of artists

Main article: List of psychedelic folk artists

References

Bibliography

References

"Rough Trade Shops - Psych Folk 2010".
Reynolds, Simon. (24 May 2011). "Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop". Soft Skull Press.
(January 13, 2013). "Panda Bear Releases New Album: The Evolution of Noah Lennox in 10 Songs".
Van Waes. (February 10, 2014). "A Brief Overview of Psych-Folk and Acid Folk, from 60s until the present".
Roxon, Lillian. (1971). "Rock Encyclopedia". Grosset & Dunlap.
Hicks (2000), pp 59–60.
Heller, Jason. (2014-01-27). "John Fahey".
Auslander (2006), pp. 76.
Unterberger (2002), pp. 183–230.
DeRogatis (2003), p. 120.
"Five Leaves Left review". Allmusic.
(2005). "Signal to Noise". Signal to Noise New Music Foundation.
Folk Horror Revival, Folk Horror Revival. (28 May 2018). "Folk Horror Revival: Harvest Hymns. Volume I – Twisted Roots". Lulu.com.
Sweers (2005), pp. 40.
Macan (1997), pp. 134–5.
[https://singout.org/2018/07/09/lady-of-carlisle/ "Lady of Carlisle" and the New, Weird America-Sing Out! New Weird America] {{Webarchive. link. (April 21, 2019 Retrieved 13 May 2021)
(September 13, 2005). "Splendid Magazine reviews Animal Collective (featuring Vashti Bunyan): Prospect Hummer". Splendid.
"Splendid E-zine reviews: The Microphones". Splendid.
(May 2, 2004). "Animal Collective: Sung Tongs". Pitchfork Media.
(May 15, 2005). "Animal Collective / Vashti Bunyan: Prospect Hummer EP". Pitchfork Media.
(September 10, 2001). "The Microphones: The Glow, Pt. 2". Pitchfork Media.
(February 11, 2005). "Grizzly Bear Feeds on Psych-Folk". [[The Harvard Crimson]].
(December 2008). "Grouper – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill review". [[Mojo (magazine).
(2022-02-18). "Inside Uncut's new visionary folk CD".
"ele-king vol.29".
Hadfield, James. (2022-07-03). "Exploring the re-emergence of 'Weird Folk'".
Boisvert, Lauren. (2024-11-22). "Microgenres 101: The Pioneers of Freak Folk and New Weird America".
Petrusich, Amanda. "Espers: II".

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