Tag Archives: Folk Music

Leonard Cohen Returns to the Stage after 15 Years

I suppose folk singer Leonard Cohen figured that in his golden years, he could take it easy. After all, he had had a very successful musical career. Lou Reed said Cohen was in “the highest and most influential echelon of songwriters.” The Canadian Cohen won the Juno Award both for vocals and songwriting, a Grammy for album of the year, and has been inducted into both the Canadian and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (This image, by Cory Doctorow, is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License.) But, at the age of 74, he is touring again. Cohen … Continue reading →

Folk Singer Odetta Holmes Dies at 77

Folk singer and civil rights activist Odetta Holmes, known professionally as Odetta, died this week of heart disease at the age of 77. Odetta influenced a generation of singers such as Janis Joplin, Tracy Chapman, Janis Ian, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez with her folk, blues, and gospel classics. Dylan was quoted as saying, “The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. From Odetta, I went to Harry Belafonte, the Kingston Trio, little by little uncovering more as I went along.” By the way, I missed my change to blog about the October 1, 2008 passing … Continue reading →

Anti-War Songs

I realized the other day, when I read a headline that death metal band Six Feet Under had released a new protest song titled “Amerika the Brutal” (about lead singer Chris Barnes’ cousin who fought in Iraq) that I have always loved protest songs. That is not to say that I myself am a protester. I almost always support the government in its actions and I most definitely support the troops. I did not realize it that many of the folk songs I grew up with during the Sixties and early Seventies were actually protest songs. My parents had Kingston … Continue reading →