Like Matthew McConaughey said in the first season of True Detective, time is a flat circle, and nowhere is that more apparent than just how many things from the 1920s are coming back today. First and foremost of these, of course, is the massive revival of folk music that's occurred over the past decade and change.

It isn't just an increased interest in old-school folk either, although the success of the Taylor Swift's folklore vein, there have been some incredible artists pushing the boundaries of the genre, proving that despite centuries of history behind it, folk music will always remain a timely and relevant genre.

1 Noah Kahan

Active From 2017 to Present

Since the release of his debut single "Hurt Somebody" in 2017, Canadian folk-pop star Noah Kahan has been consistently putting out fantastic, soulful, and personal music. His 2022 album Stick Season netted him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, and the expanded rerelease, Stick Season (Forever), included incredible new versions of several of the album's best songs as duets with other folk and pop stars, such as Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, and Hozier.

2 The Moldy Peaches

Active From 1994 to 2004, 2007 to 2008, 2022 to Present

The Moldy Peaches, the anti-folk duo founded by indie darlings Kimya Dawson and Adam Green, were massively influential to the folk scene when they were first performing and recording in the late '90s and early 2000s, culminating with the inclusion of several of their songs on the soundtrack for the 2007 hit film Juno. Although the band went on hiatus after that, they reunited in 2023 and have returned to performing their unique brand of unconventionally twee and anti-establishment music.

3 Paris Paloma

Active From 2020 – Present

Paris Paloma was only 23 when she burst out onto the scene with her 2023 hit "Labour," a powerful and striking anthem about the sexism and domestic labor inequity faced by women worldwide that hit a million streams on Spotify within 24 hours of its release. The end of 2024 saw Paloma release her first full album, Cacophony, which contained a rerecorded version of "Labour," as well as contribute the song "The Rider" to the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

4 Blackbird Raum

Active From 2004 to 2016, 2019 to Present

Few bands genuinely embraced the truly unhinged potential of anarcho-folk the way Blackbird Raum did. I had the luck of attending UC Santa Cruz at the time of the release of Purse-Siene, their first album, and saw them perform on street corners numerous times. I was always deeply impressed at their ability to combine nominally atonal instruments like washboards and musical saws into a coherent, brilliant, and often scathing musical style.

Hopefully their next project, whether live or from the studio, will continue to display Blackbird Raums' trademark eco-anarchic fury.

The years since 2007 have seen Blackbird Raum further refine and develop their sound, and after a hiatus in the late 2010s, they released the EP come into your power in 2023. Time's ing hasn't diluted their fury in the least, and while the band hasn't performed live since 2016, hopefully their next project, whether live or from the studio, will continue to display Blackbird Raums' trademark eco-anarchic fury.

5 Hozier

Active From 2013 to Present

the soundtrack for St. Patrick's Day drinking binges.

6 The Amazing Devil

Active From 2015 to Present

The Amazing Devil have been on a hiatus since the release of 2021's album Ruin due to Joey Batey's commitments to Netflix's The Witcher, where he plays the delightfully foppish bard Jaskier. Still, it's only a matter of time before Batey and his co-conspirator Madeleine Hyland return to making, as Batey once described it in an interview with Boys By Girls, music "sad people can listen to at train stations."

There's no question that their next release, whenever it comes, will continue on in their tradition of dynamic and theatrical folk.

With a sound that reminds me of the Dresden Dolls (but without any of that band's extensive on- and off-stage baggage), The Amazing Devil are a truly bewitching band and there's no question that their next release, whenever it comes, will continue on in their tradition of dynamic and theatrical folk. In the meantime, Batey's first novel, It's Not a Cult, which will tell the story of a band that in no way has any reflection on his own experiences as a musician, is set to release in September 2025.

7 Brandi Carlile

Active From 2005 to Present

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Brandi Carlile's debut self-titled album, and it also marks the release of her eighth album, the Elton John collab Who Believes in Angels? Along the way, Carlile has racked up an impressive 11 Grammy Awards, two Emmys, and even an Oscar nomination.

Her latest collaboration with Elton John shows that she's not content to just hang out in her comfort zone or rest on her laurels.

Carlile's entire career has showcased her incredible musical talents, as she's explored her own identity alongside her musical style, and her latest collaboration with Elton John shows that she's not content to just hang out in her comfort zone or rest on her laurels. As one of the preeminent queer icons in folk music, Brandi Carlile will hopefully continue pushing the envelope for decades to come.

8 Poor Man's Poison

Active From 2009 to 2014, 2019 to Present

Poor Man's Poison's first incarnation made a solid splash. Forming in 2009, the band churned out three studio albums and won the title of Best New Act in Country Music at the 2013 Texaco Country Showdown in Nashville, Tennessee, before going on hiatus. In 2019, they came back swinging, switching their focus to digital singles with the viral hit "Hell's Comin' With Me." Their releases since have all been phenomenal examples of vitriolic working-class stomp 'n holler music, and the band's new spinoff project, the dark cabaret-styled Dr. Villain, has augmented their showmanship.

9 Phoebe Bridgers

Active From 2014 to Present

Aside from her work in recent years with indie supergroup boygenius, which netted four Grammy wins in 2024, Phoebe Bridgers has become a star in her own right with her signature blend of acoustic melancholy and dry wit. She's also collaborated on tracks with artists from SZA to The National, proving her folk style synthesizes beautifully with all sorts of other genres. While recent years have mostly seen her focus on releases with boygenius, 2025 may well be the year another Phoebe Bridgers solo record becomes a Grammy contender.

10 The Dead South

Active From 2012 to Present

If you had told me even just a few years ago that a folk-bluegrass group who had released a cover of System of a Down's "Chop Suey" was going to headline the Grand Ole Opry, I wouldn't have believed it, but The Dead South did just that in November 2024. It was a fitting culmination for the band, whose journey started with their 2013 self-released EP The Ocean Went Mad and We Were To Blame. Now that they've played country music's biggest stage, it'll be exciting to see what comes next for bluegrass music's most punk quartet.