“Singer-songwriter” is used to define popular music artists who write and perform their own material, which is often self-accompanied generally on acoustic guitar or piano. Such an artist performs the roles of composer, lyricist, vocalist, sometimes instrumentalist, and often self-manager. According to AllMusic, singer-songwriters’ lyrics are often personal but veiled by elaborate metaphors and vague imagery, and their creative concern is to place emphasis on the song rather than their performance of it. Most records by such artists have a similarly straightforward and spare sound that placed emphasis on the song itself.
The term has also been used to describe songwriters in the rock, folk, country, and pop music genres including Henry Russell, Aristide Bruant, Hank Williams, and Buddy Holly. It came into popular usage in the 1960s onwards to describe songwriters who followed particular stylistic and thematic conventions, particularly lyrical introspection, confessional songwriting, mild musical arrangements, and an understated performing style. According to writer Larry David Smith, because it merged the roles of composer, writer, and singer, the popularity of the singer-songwriter reintroduced the Medieval troubadour tradition of “songs with public personalities” after the Tin Pan Alley era in American popular music.
Joseph Mosman is the latest wave of modern day indie-folk songwriters that emphasizes a warm tone, alternative soundscapes and meaningful lyrics. Mosman, originally from Illinois, is currently touring the South with a whole lot of heart.
by Xavier Xisto
Music is dying. Slowly, but it is. I don’t want to be one of those close-minded people who lives in the glorious pinnacle of the past, but we can all agree that the quality of the music industry has declined intensely since the second half of the past century. Today’s standards of what is labeled as art are worrying. Why do we live in such an artistic wasteland, you might ask?
by Ed Clarke
Hey, my name is Ed Clarke! I’m currently in the process of releasing 3 new music albums over the space of 3 months. A bit of a taxing project, but stick around to see the outcome! Make sure to follow my content if you’re interested in my artsy things!
by Emma Forman
If there was one song that I’ve written that sums up my whole life perfectly it is “As strange as fiction.” I’m sorry to admit that I’ve burned some bridges in life, especially when I was younger. And to be honest, this has probably been a factor that has held me back in music. I hope I have learned from this.
It is not uncommon for artists to create bodies of work surrounding one incident, such as a breakup; Adele’s 21, and Joni Mitchell’s Blue come to mind as examples of this very thing. Myself, I went through a heartbreaking experience over four years ago which created the agony I needed to inspire myself to pick up a guitar and begin writing in a big way. I believe that that pain was the push I needed to put me where I am today. I released my debut album two months ago.
Based out of Poughkeepsie, NY is Reaching Every Mountain, a solo singer-songwriter who experiments with many different styles, always trying to raise the bar with each release. With his latest release, the “Heart On Fire” EP, he feels as if he’s found the sound he has been chasing for what seems to be his almost 8-year writing career.
by Karuah
I always knew music was the path I wanted to devote my life to. Over the last few years of high school the constant batter of society with its expectations pushed me into believing that I needed to have a backup plan, a plan B. I was always pretty academic and loved learning whatever I could get my hands on. So with this plan B in mind, I followed the rest of the sheep and went to uni to do a Bachelor of Science at Sydney University. Even though I knew music was my passion.
by Patrick Wall of The Old College Try
The shortest version of this story is I drove 8 hours to watch my dad die and then wrote a song about other things. Also here is a picture of my mom’s dog and I. It seems to make that first sentence sting a little less.
by Ethereal
As I was born by the Baltic Sea, (and this is way before I found out that I am a Cancerian), I had always been intrigued by her beauty. As if she’s a rose made of sequins one minute and then a shape-shifting platform of liquid frequencies the next…
I have often found that maturity is among the greatest of virtues, for it is the juvenile who often sit and wonder why they are disliked.
I told this to a friend in late 2016. He later told me it changed his outlook on life quite a bit. Beforehand, he had been involved in some… less than savory activities, trying his hardest to hold onto his own childishness, as though it would somehow protect him from the real world. He told me that he thought about what I said, and thought enough to realize that he wanted to change.
I try my hardest to live by that. However, this has not been the only obstacle I’ve been faced with in my short life.