Folk punk

A genre of music that combines – yup – elements of folk and punk rock music.

While lots of artists and groups have started rockin' folk-punk lately, much credit has to go to the kids at Plan-it-X Records (www.plan-it-x.com) in Bloomington, IN for helping popularize the sound. Tons of excellent folk-punk bands are either currently on the label or have previously had some connection to it. Among these are the band Against Me! – perhaps the best known band to dabble in the genre – though lately they've headed towards playing more tradition punk rock and (arguably) moved away from the d.i.y. (do it yourself) ethic that seems to define the genre.

Other towns with a significant folk punk scene are Athens, Ga and Pensacola, Fl (which is the birth place of Against Me!).

Like much punk music in general, folk-punk tends to be quite political... most often on the radical left side of the spectrum.

Other artists/bands worth checking out that do this sort of stuff include Erik Petersen/Mischief Brew (www.fistolo.com): Madeline Adams (madelinesongs.com): The Heroic Livers: Carrie Nations: Defiance, Ohio (defianceohio.terrorware.com); and some of the artists involved in the Riotfolk Collective (www.riotfolk.org).

A symbol commonly used by the folk punk music is the anarchy heart. This is simmilar to the anarchy symbol except that instead of the A being set in a circle it is set within a heart. This is a southern punk phenomenon which may have originated in northern florida.