What the heck is the singer/songwriter genre?
On the way to Mint’s last concert at Yuyintang last Saturday night, a friend asked the question, “What in the world did they start this the singer/songwriter genre?” His question was met with a few seconds of silence before a host of sarcastic responses filled the air. My response was, “Well, it must of been when Brittany Spears started performing.”
But from what I gather, those artists who get put into the singer/songwriter genre have music that can sound folky, even bluegrass, and almost always requires a decent guitar. Perhaps you can depict them with a guitar slung across their back, traveling from a performance at a stadium venue to one at a coffee bar. That’s the other thing too, that singer/songwriters are almost like hidden treasures, not meant to be popular nor polished. In fact, that’s the attraction of them, in that they’re imperfect, unlike most contemporary pop music which requires big time processing to make them sound perfect. Okay, it’s not that singer/songwriters can’t have polished productions, it’s just that they shouldn’t give off that feeling.
Onto names. Joni Mitchell fits into this category. I like Over the Rhine. Know any new singer/songwriters you can recommend?
More info on the singer-songwriter genre can be found here.
