New Weird America is a 21st century style of music that primarily draws on psychedelic and folk music of the 1960s and 1970s.

Etymology

The term was coined by

David Keenan David Keenan (born April 1971) is a Scottish writer and author of four novels. Career He used to run the Glasgow record shop, distribution company and record label Volcanic Tongue. Journalism His work for ''The Wire'' (who he wrote for from ...

in the issue 234 (August 2003) of ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

'', following the Brattleboro Free Folk Festival organized by Matt Valentine and Ron J. Schneiderman. It is a play on

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

's phrase "Old Weird America" as described in his book '' Invisible Republic'', which deals with the lineage connecting the pre-World War II folk performers on Harry Smith's '' Anthology of American Folk Music'' to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and his milieu.

Free Folk

The Brattleboro Free Folk Festival was the summit gathering of the Free Folk scene that was largely centered in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut. The festival included

Dredd Foole Dan Ireton (born February, 1950, in Camden, New Jersey), known professionally as Dredd Foole, is a vocal improviser and songwriter based in New England whose various collaborative backing bands have been known as The Din. Mission of Burma Din ...

Sunburned Hand of the Man Sunburned Hand of the Man are an experimental rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. They are a loose collective known for their frequent line up changes and large discography released on a variety of labels including Eclipse Records, Thurston M ...

MV & EE MV & EE is a Vermont-based group of musicians focused around partners Matt "MV" Valentine and Erika "EE" Elder. Matt Valentine was in the neo-psychedelic group, The Tower Recordings and has also released music under his own name and the pseudonym ...

, all members of Charalambides in different configurations, Jack Rose,

Chris Corsano Chris Corsano is an American drummer, improviser, and composer. Career Alongside his solo work, Corsano has performed on over one hundred records with artists including Evan Parker, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs of Admittance, Dredd ...

, Joshua, and

Paul Flaherty Paul Andrew Flaherty (March 14, 1964 – March 16, 2006) was an American computer scientist. He was a renowned specialist in Internet protocols and the inventor of the AltaVista search engine. Biography Flaherty was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ...

–– most of whom operated out of the

Pioneer Valley The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden, Hampshire, and Frankli ...

area. The scene drew on a wide range of musical influences, which Keenan summed up as "acoustic roots to

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

, ritualistic performance,

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

, ecstatic jazz, hillbilly mountain music, psychedelia, archival blues and folk sides, Country funk and more." Adding, "ask any of these musicians where the initial energising spark for the New Weird America came from and they'll point you right back to

's epochal 1994 solo album, ''In Quest of Tense''." This largely underground scene, which also incorporated musicians from outside the region, including

Six Organs of Admittance Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk; however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and ...

and Charalambides, was generally referred to as Free Folk, as named by Matt Valentine. Wrote Keenan:

Freak Folk

A higher profile collection of American musicians emerged at roughly the same time as Keenan's article. Almost entirely unconnected from the Free Folk scene and supporting labels, this far more visible and commercially successful wave is commonly referred to as

Freak Folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Charac ...

. With influences more primarily centered on psychedelic rock and folk groups of the 1960s and 1970s, including American performers

Holy Modal Rounders The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who began performing together on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early 1960s. Their unique blend of folk music reviva ...

and English and Scottish groups, such as Pentangle,

Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially in the British ...

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

and

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

, this wave was spearheaded by Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and

Vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to '' Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such a ...

. Both scenes were widely referred to in the music press as "New Weird America."

References

{{Folk music American folk music Psychedelic music Psychedelic folk musicians Freak folk American rock music genres American styles of music