Artist	Song
Mumford & Sons	Little Lion Man
from Sigh No More (2010)
Fleet Foxes	Helplessness Blues
from Helplessness Blues (2011)
Joanna Newsom	Good Intentions Paving Co.
from Have One On Me (2010)
Bon Iver	Blood Bank
from Blood Bank - EP (2009)
Laura Marling	Rambling Man
from I Speak Because I Can (2011)
The Wailin' Jennys	Bright Morning Stars
from Bright Morning Stars (2011)
The Unthanks	Here’s the Tender Coming
from Here’s the Tender Coming (2010)
The Civil Wars	Poison & Wine
from Barton Hollow (2011)
Alexi Murdoch	Through the Dark
from Towards the Sun (2011)
Cary Brothers	Belong
from Under Control (Bonus Track Version) (2010)
Abigail Washburn	Bright Morning Stars
from City of Refuge (2011)
Bellowhead	New York Girls
from Hedonism (2010)
The Tallest Man On Earth	The Wild Hunt
from The Wild Hunt (Bonus Track Version) (2010)
William Fitzsimmons	Beautiful Girl
from Beautiful Girl - Single (2011)
Jessica Lea Mayfield	Blue Skies Again
from Tell Me (2011)
The Cave Singers	Swim Club
from No Witch (2011)
J. Tillman	A Seat At the Table
from Singing Ax (2010)
Steve Martin	The Crow
from The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo (2010)
Kurt Vile	Smoke Ring for My Halo
from Smoke Ring for My Halo (Bonus Track Version) (2011)
Black Prairie	Red Rocking Chair
from Feast of the Hunters' Moon (2010)
Carolina Chocolate Drops	Hit 'Em Up Style
from Genuine Negro Jig (2010)
Twilight Hotel	Mahogany Veneer
from When the Wolves Go Blind (2011)
Alela Diane	White As Diamonds
from To Be Still (2009)
City and Colour	The Girl
from Bring Me Your Love (2008)
Amanda Shires	Mineral Wells
from West Cross Timbers (2009)
Caitlin Rose	Coming Up
from Own Side Now (2011)
Lucy Wainwright Roche	Once In
from Lucy (2010)
Greg Holden	Choking On the Concrete
from A Word In Edgeways (2010)
Lost In the Trees	Walk Around the Lake
from All Alone In an Empty House (2010)
James Vincent McMorrow	And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop
from Early In the Morning (Bonus Version) (2011)
Emily Jane White	Never Dead
from Victorian America (2010)
Agnes Obel	Riverside
from Philharmonics (2010)
Joy Kills Sorrow	Kill My Sorrow
from Darkness Sure Becomes This City (2010)
The Bad Shepherds	Anarchy In the UK
from By Hook or By Crook (2010)
The Gentle Good	Llosgi Pontydd
from Tethered for the Storm (2011)
Angus & Julia Stone	Big Jet Plane
from Down the Way (Bonus Track Version) (2010)
Breabach	The Desperate Battle
from The Desperate Battle of the Birds (2010)
Sean Rowe	Night
from Magic (2011)
The Head and the Heart	Lost In My Mind
from The Head and the Heart (2011)
Runrig	Every River
from 50 Great Songs (2010)
Vandaveer	A Mighty Leviathan of Old
from Divide & Conquer (2009)
The David Wax Museum	When You Are Still
from Carpenter Bird (2009)
Tommy Santee Klaws	In Formation
from Rakes (2010)

Comment:

If you think the most important part of the folk music story lies in the past, check out today's fastest-rising folk artists and have your head turned right around. The finely wrought melodies and thoughtful lyrics that have always been part of the folk world stand out as strong as ever in the songs of its hottest modern torchbearers. The strands of so many other styles find their way into today's folk sounds that it can be tough to keep track, so here's where you can hone in on the latest developments. From the explosive acoustic energy of England’s Mumford & Sons (“Little Lion Man”) to the sublime vocal tapestries of Seattle-based Fleet Foxes (“Helplessness Blues”), from Abigail Washburn to William Fitzsimmons, this is the place to put your finger on the pulse of folk as it's heard in the here-and-now.

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