RR 2011/384The Early Years of Folk Music: Fifty Founders of the Tradition

This book focuses on the history of folk music in general, and biographies of 50 of its foremost musicians and scholars specifically. In the introduction, the author provides a succinct history of folk music, from ancient times to the present, with an emphasis on American folk music. The majority of the book comprises biographies of various important singers, scholars, musicians, and ethnomusicologists who are considered “founders” of the folk music tradition.

The book is divided into five parts: Historical Figures, American Pioneers, Political Connections, Folk Around the World, and The Pre‐Folk Boom Era. Each biography is a short presentation on...