Who are your favorite folk bands?

I really love Defiance, Ohio. Everything they have done is downloadable for free. It is more Punk/Folk. Not as folksy as they normally are but here is a video.

Oh, Susquehanna! is by far my favorite song by them.

I really like Mumford and Sons, not sure if they are strictly considered folk, it is like modern folk, you can hear them here.

My favorite aussie folk artist is John Williamson. And this is my favorite of his. You really need an interpreter to explain it to you. Have a listen and see what you think! You can hear some of his touching and/or beautiful songs on youtube also. I like this one because it is so silly.

Kate Rusby is a favourite if mine.

My top five are:

1— The Alamanac Singers
2— Ani DiFranco
3— Ben Harper
4— Bob Dylan
5— Cat Stevens

I like Hermitage Green

The Weavers , which is old school.
Peter Paul and Mary
the Kingston Trio

By the way, you should watch A Mighty Wind if you get a chance. Keep in mind this clip is the same group as Spinal Tap

I don’t know if Neofolk counts, but
Death in June
Rome
Sol Invictus
and some german folk punk

I’m not sure if any of these are really considered folk, some are more country or bluegrass, but anyhow:

Father John Misty
Avett Brothers
Carolina Chocolate Drops (this is one of my favorite songs of all time!!!!!!)

Most of the stuff from the Folksmen. They were featured in the mockumentary “A Mighty Wind” in 2003, and it’s true that most of their stuff is parody or satire, but it’s still well done – and funny.

Ah, I just saw that @filmfann beat me to mentioning them.

Thanks for the link to Defiance, Ohio, @johnpowell. They are pretty good. I’ll be downloading – and contributing – there soon.

I don’t really know what constitutes “folk”, to be honest.

But I like a lot of indie / country stuff:
Chuck Brodsky
Richard Shindell
Shawn Mullins
Lumineers
Metric (their acoustic stuff, especially)
Stan Rogers, and his brother Garnet, who has taken his Canadian maritime / country mantle since Stan’s premature death
Iris Dement
Bon Iver / Justin Vernon (I’d say a guy who wintered alone in the Wisconsin countryside to nurse a broken heart – and compose the songs to do it with – could count as “folk”) “Wisconsin” is my favorite of many good songs from that album.
I like the two versions of “Where the Hell is Matt?” that I’ve seen so far. The accompanying music may not be “folk”, precisely, but a guy who dances with kids and strangers from around the world must be the very personification of the term.

John McCutcheon. No, not a band, but the song is definitely “folksy”.

Check out Emma Cloney She’s got her third album (CD) in production in the studio. Look for samples of her folk music on https://soundcloud.com/emma-cloney.

Always been a big fan of Donovan

More a folk-rock band but I love The Levellers here’s their song Julie and here is an amazing live performance from Glastonbury from their heyday One Way

These guys are more folk-punk but again are a huge favourite of mine New Model Army

New Model Army – Vagabonds

Whoa, how did I leave out Leo Kottke? The man is a guitar genius, and often unexpectedly funny as hell.

And how have I not heard about Josh Ritter until recently? He’s only a few years older than my son, too… he’s a freaking kid! But good in this genre (whatever it is).