Anti-folk

Anti-folk (sometimes antifolk or unfolk) is a music genre that seeks to subvert the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next. Nonetheless, the music tends to sound raw or experimental; it also generally mocks perceived seriousness and pretension in the established mainstream music scene. Artists of the anti-folk genre tend to often observe the "rules" of music, but deliberately break them.

History

In the United States

Anti-folk was introduced by artists who were unable to gain gigs at established folk venues in Greenwich Village, including Folk City and The Speakeasy. Soon after, singer-songwriter Lach started The Fort, an after-hours club, on the Lower East Side. The Fort's opening coincided with the New York Folk Festival, so Lach dubbed his own event the New York Antifolk Festival. Other early proponents of the movement included The Washington Squares,Cindy Lee Berryhill, Brenda Kahn, Paleface, Beck, Hamell on Trial, Michelle Shocked, Zane Campbell, and John S. Hall.Roger Manning,Kirk Kelly,Sander Hicks, and Block were also early anti-folk artists.