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  • Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten (1893 - 1987)
    Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten (1895-1987), best known for her timeless song "Freight Train," built her musical legacy on a firm foundation of late 19th- and early 20th-century African-American instrumental ...
  • Frithiof Johansson (1885 - 1963)
    Anders Fritjof Johansson , född 20 oktober 1885 i Gullabo församling , Kalmar län, död 27 oktober 1963 i Gullabo församling, Kalmar län, var en svensk folkmusiker. Biografi Frithiof Johansson föddes ...
  • Photo by Richard Huber. CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Melanie_in_M%C3%BCnchen_(2009).JPG
    Melanie (1947 - 2024)
    Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk (born February 3, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter.[1] Known professionally as Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday", "What Have The...
  • Frank Fulton Burley (1922 - 2007)
    Fulton Burley (June 12, 1922 – May 7, 2007) was a Canadian performer, most widely known for his work in Disneyland. Born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Fulton came to the ...
  • Terry Kirkman (1939 - 2023)
    Terry Kirkman , singer, songwriter and founding member of the 1960s folk-rock band the Association, has died. He was 83. The musician died Saturday at his home in Montclair, his wife Heidi Berinstein ...

Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century but is often applied to music that is older than that. Some types of folk music are also called world music.

Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers; another is music that has been transmitted and evolved by a process of oral transmission or performed by custom over a long period of time.

Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is sometimes called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times, but the term folk music has typically not been applied to the new music created during those revivals. This type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. While contemporary folk music is a genre generally distinct from traditional folk music, in English it shares the same name, and it often shares the same performers and venues as traditional folk music. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two.