A traditional singer, also known as a source singer, is someone who has learned

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s in the oral tradition, usually from older people within their community. From around the beginning of the twentieth century, song collectors such as

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

went to rural areas to collect traditional songs. Later,

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

and

James Madison Carpenter James Madison Carpenter, born in 1888 in Blacklands, Mississippi, near Booneville, in Prentiss County, was a Methodist minister and scholar of American and British folklore. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the U ...

, followed by

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

and Peter Kennedy, made

field recording Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...

s of traditional singers. Many old ballads, including the famous

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''T ...

, were found within the oral tradition in the twentieth century.

List of traditional singers

(Arranged by nation and year of birth)

England

* The

Copper Family The Copper Family are a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied English folk song. Originally from Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England, the nucleus of the family now live in the neighbouring village of Peacehaven. The family first ...

nowiki/>Sussex.html"_;"title="Sussex.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex">Sussex.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex*Henry_Burstow.html" ;"title="Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex.html" ;"title="Sussex.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex">Sussex.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex*Henry Burstow">Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex.html" ;"title="Sussex.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex">Sussex.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Sussex">nowiki/>Sussex*Henry Burstow (1826-1916) [Sussex] *Joseph Taylor (folk singer), Joseph Taylor (1833-1910) [Lincolnshire] *Emma Overd (1838-1928) [Somerset] *Lucy White (1848-1923) [Somerset] *Sam Bennett (folk musician), Sam Bennett (1865-1951) nowiki/>Warwickshire.html"_;"title="Warwickshire.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Warwickshire">nowiki/>Warwickshire">Warwickshire.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Warwickshire">nowiki/>Warwickshire*Pop_Maynard.html" ;"title="Warwickshire">nowiki/>Warwickshire.html" ;"title="Warwickshire.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Warwickshire">nowiki/>Warwickshire">Warwickshire.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Warwickshire">nowiki/>Warwickshire*Pop Maynard">George "Pop" Maynard (1872-1962) [Sussex] * Sam Larner (1878-1965) [Norfolk] *Cecilia Costello (1884-1976) [West Midlands (region), West Midlands / Ireland] *Harry Cox (1885-1971) [Norfolk] *Bob Roberts (folksinger), Bob Roberts (1907-1982) nowiki/>Dorset.html"_;"title="Dorset.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset">Dorset.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset*Walter_Pardon.html" ;"title="Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset.html" ;"title="Dorset.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset">Dorset.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset*Walter Pardon">Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset.html" ;"title="Dorset.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset">Dorset.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Dorset">nowiki/>Dorset*Walter Pardon (1914-1996) [Norfolk] * Fred Jordan (singer), Fred Jordan (1922-2002) [Shropshire] * Frank Hinchliffe (1923-1995) [Yorkshire]

Scotland

* Bell Duncan (1849-1934)

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

] *John Strachan (singer), John Strachan (1875-1958) berdeenshire*Jimmy MacBeath (1894–1972) berdeenshire*

Belle Stewart Belle Stewart, born Isobella McGregor, (18 July 1906 – 4 September 1997) was a Scottish Traveller traditional singer. Her biography, ''Queen Amang the Heather: the Life of Belle Stewart'', was written by her daughter, Sheila Stewart, and publis ...

(1906-1997) nowiki/>Perthshire.html" ;"title="Perthshire.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Perthshire">nowiki/>Perthshire">Perthshire.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Perthshire">nowiki/>Perthshire*Jeannie Robertson (1908-1975) berdeenshire*Duncan Williamson (1928-2007) [Argyll] *Flora MacNeil (1928-2015) nowiki/>Outer_Hebrides.html" ;"title="Outer_Hebrides.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Outer Hebrides">nowiki/>Outer Hebrides">Outer_Hebrides.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Outer Hebrides">nowiki/>Outer Hebrides*Lizzie Higgins (1929-1993) berdeenshire* Kenna Campbell (1937-) [Inner Hebrides] * Sheila Stewart (1937-2014) nowiki/>Perthshire.html" ;"title="Perthshire.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Perthshire">nowiki/>Perthshire">Perthshire.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Perthshire">nowiki/>Perthshire

Ireland

''See traditional Irish singers''

Wales

* Phil Tanner "The Gower Nightingale", Phil Tanner (1862-1950)

USA

* Wallin Family [Appalachia] *Jane Hicks Gentry (1863-1925) ppalachia*

Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians." Biography ...

(1882-1973) ppalachia*

Ollie Gilbert Ollie Gilbert (1892–1980) was a folk musician from the Ozarks in Arkansas. She sometimes performed as "Auntie Ollie". Max Hunter recorded her singing more than 300 folk songs. She was from the Mountain View area. In 1964, she and Jimmie Driftw ...

(1892–1980) nowiki/>Ozarks.html"_;"title="Ozarks.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks">Ozarks.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks*_Clarence_Ashley.html" ;"title="Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks.html" ;"title="Ozarks.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks">Ozarks.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks* Clarence Ashley">Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks.html" ;"title="Ozarks.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks">Ozarks.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Ozarks">nowiki/>Ozarks* Clarence Ashley (1895-1967) ppalachia*Horton Barker (1889-1973) ppalachia*Texas Gladden (1895-1966) ppalachia* Nimrod Workman (1895-1994) ppalachia* Almeda Riddle (1898-1986) zarks*

Dillard Chandler Dillard Chandler (April 16, 1907 – January 24, 1992) was an American Appalachian Folk singer from Madison County, North Carolina. His a cappella performances on compilation albums were recorded by folklorist and musicologist John Cohen. ...

(1907-1992) ppalachia*

Frank Proffitt Frank Noah Proffitt (June 1, 1913 – November 24, 1965) was an Appalachian old time banjoist who preserved the song " Tom Dooley" in the form we know it today and was a key figure in inspiring musicians of the 1960s and 1970s to play the trad ...

(1913-1965) ppalachia*

Jean Ritchie Jean Ruth Ritchie (December 8, 1922 – June 1, 2015) was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way (orally ...

(1922-2015) ppalachia*

Sheila Kay Adams Sheila Kay Adams is an American storyteller, author, and musician from the Sodom Laurel community in Madison County, North Carolina. Background A seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and claw-hammer banjo player, Sheila Kay Adams w ...

(1953- ) ppalachia

Canada

* O. J. Abbott (1872-1962) * LaRena Clark (1904-1991)

Australia

Duke Tritton Harold Percival Croydon "Duke" Tritton (1886-1965) was an Australian poet, folk singer and shearer. His best-known poem, ''The Sandy Hollow Line'', described the hardships of unemployed workers who were given 'sustenance' or 'susso' work such a ...

(1886-1965) *

Sally Sloane Sally Sloane (3 October 1894 – 20 September 1982) (birth name Eunice Evelyn Frost) was possibly the most important Australian " source musician" (carrier of Australian-Irish traditional music and song) to have been recorded during the Australian ...

(1894-1982)

References

{{reflist

External links

Tradition bearer
Folk music