Much like many other people of our generation, I often find myself listening to music during most of the day. I listen on the way to class, while doing homework, hanging out in the dorm, going for a run, falling asleep and if I’m being honest, sometimes when I’m in class. Music has become a huge part of my life and I find that I have a soundtrack for almost every event or mood. My taste ranges from the likes of Kendrick Lamar to Nat King Cole, all the way to The Avett Brothers. However, no matter how much music I listen to, I always find that I fall back on indie folk.
The acoustic guitar, soft yet chilling vocals and stories about getting up and leaving to find a new life hit a certain spot in my soul that truly soothes all my anxieties. You see, I enjoy country, hip hop, rock, lo-fi, classical and pop music, and I am nearly certain that you enjoy at least some of these genres as well. However, I would argue that indie folk should be everyone’s favorite genre of music.
Whether you are more of a sad song, or happy song person, whether you like your music a little faster or prefer it go slow, indie folk has it all, usually even one band has all of this. One example that I would highly recommend you check out is Caamp. They have songs ranging from love fading away from two people to a person growing up and finding out who they are. Indie folk is versatile and encompasses different topics and moods that truly allow for anyone to find at least a few songs, albums or artists that they can genuinely enjoy.
This can easily be seen as a hot take. Who am I to tell people what their favorite genre of music should be? I recognize this is one opinion, but for those of you who like other genres better, I offer this. If you were to name one part of what you like of other genres, I am nearly certain that I can find the same aspect in indie folk music. If you listen to hip hop or rap because of the lyrical talents of the artists, I assure you that I can find similar lyrical talent in different indie folk artists. If you enjoy country music because of the twang, or acoustic guitar than you will enjoy the vocals and instrumentals that are found in artists such as Caamp, The Lumineers and Penny and Sparrow.
No matter how you feel about any genre of music, I would highly recommend that you expand your taste and check out not just indie folk, but others genres like garage rock, blugrass, zydeco and anyother genere you have never heard before.Expanding music taste is a great way to indirectly branch out from what you would normally do. New music can help you connect with different people who have different, ideas, beliefs and backgrounds than yourself. I would more than happily give you plenty of recommendations if you do not know where to start. No matter what, you should expand your music taste, because music is truly one thing that can bring us together.
