It isn’t all ‘hey-nonny-nonny’, you know. The word ‘folk’ now covers a multitude of styles, from traditional songs played on old instruments to roustabout rock-tinged music. There’s a definite transatlantic difference – British and American folk-influenced music each has a unique flavour. In modern times, folk has crossed over much more noticeably than in previous decades – Mumford & Son, Fleet Foxes and the Shins are just three acts who have taken folk-influenced and acoustic music in different directions. Here are 30 questions covering folk and folk-inspired artists past and present, traditional and modern, acoustic and fully amped-up.
Answers: here
1 Richard Thompson started out as the guitarist in which sixties folk rock band? Who was the band’s fiddle player from 1969 until 1984?
2 Who briefly replaced Shane MacGowan as lead singer with the Pogues when MacGowan was sacked in 1990? Who took over in 1991, holding the role until the band’s break-up in 1996?
3 First recorded in 1969, ‘Streets of London’ became a UK hit five years later. Who wrote it? And who released an anarchic punk version of the song as their debut single in 1981?
4 Mermaid Avenue featured new settings of (mostly unpublished) lyrics by which songwriter? Which alt.country band teamed up with Billy Bragg on the project?
5 The UK’s biggest folk festival is held every year at Cherry Hinton Hall near which major city? Where do Fairport Convention host an annual festival every August?
6 Laura Marling was once briefly a member of which folk rock band fronted by Charlie Fink, then her boyfriend? Who played percussion on Marling’s first two solo albums?
7 World Party is led by which musician and songwriter? Which band did he leave in 1986 to form the group?
8 Father John Misty is the alter ego for which contemporary indie folk artist? In which band was he previously the drummer?
9 Released in 1975, Diamonds and Rust was an album of mainly covers by which American singer-songwriter, best known for her output in the sixties? Who apparently was the subject of the title track, one of three songs on the album that she wrote herself?
10 Whose 1990 song ‘I Useta Lover’ is one of the biggest-selling singles in Irish history? In the song, what does the singer do in church one Christmas Eve to try and impress his girl?
11 Barton Hollow is the debut album by which modern folk duo? Their second album, released in 2013, features a pared-back cover of ‘Disarm’ by which nineties grunge band?
12 Whose 2011 album You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks features John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on a few tracks? How much did this artist begin with, according to the title of his 2008 album, and how much has he still got?
13 The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm are typically poetic album titles from which Canadian singer-songwriter? In her late sixties and early seventies heyday, she had one UK Top 20 single – what was it?
14 Who is the leader of the Waterboys? Which poet, a huge influence, was the inspiration for the band’s 2011 album?
15 Blue Horse, Chinatown and Hello Love were the three albums made by which Canadian folk trio? Which member of the band released a solo album in 2014 called Indian Ocean, which featured Al Green’s guitarist Mabon ‘Teenie’ Hodges?
16 Which 1988 song from her eponymous debut LP gave Tracy Chapman her only UK Top 10 single? Her performance at which London concert gave the song a huge leg up the charts?
17 Which Oxford indie folk band take their name from a town in the Hebrides? What’s the title of their 2010 debut album, a UK Top 20 hit?
18 Which TV theme tune gave Irish folk band Clannad their British commercial breakthrough when it entered the Top 10 in 1983? Legend gave the band their first British Top 20 album the following year – for which TV series did it serve as the soundtrack?
19 I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight was the first album co-credited to which husband-and-wife folk duo? What’s the title of the final album they recorded together, released in 1982 at a time when their relationship was falling apart?
20 ‘Tell her to make me a cambric shirt’ is a line from which famous traditional song? Who released it as the first single from their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme?
21 Where were Christy Moore’s 1994 and 2006 live albums recorded? Which song, the title track of a 1984 album and something of a signature tune, did he play live on stage with Coldplay in 2011?
22 The First of a Million Kisses is the only album recorded by which British folk pop group? The band launched the career of which enduring Scottish singer-songwriter?
23 In 2015, at the age of 66, Richard Thompson entered the UK top 10 for the first time with which album? Which alt.country star, the singer and guitarist with Wilco, produced the record?
24 A memorial to which singer-songwriter, who died in relative obscurity at the age of 26 in 1974, can be found at Tamworth-in-Arden in Warwickshire? What’s the name of his second album, released in 1971, which has seen him posthumously recognised as a major figure in acoustic music?
25 Which Portland, Oregon band are named after an unsuccessful military uprising in Russia in the 1820s? What’s the name of their 2011 album, their first American number one?
26 Maddy Prior has been the singer of which folk band for the majority of their 47-year lifespan? What became their only UK Top 10 hit in 1975?
27 The Rails consist of James Walbourne and his wife Kami, the daughter of which folk-rock legends? Which other modern folk star played fiddle on their 2014 debut album Fair Warning?
28 Who wrote ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ for his wife-to-be, Peggy Seeger? Which pop singer was his daughter?
29 Championed by BBC Radio 2, which singer’s albums Regardless and Ghosts and Graffiti have both made the UK Top 40? Her 2011 album, Don’t Stop Singing, featured the singer setting words by which late folk rock singer to new melodies?
30 Liam Ó Maonlaí and Fiachna Ó Braonáin are the two former buskers who formed which successful folk-rock band? Taken from their 1988 debut album People, which Top 20 single helped popularise the band in Britain?