Weekend Recs: American Folk Music
Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week.
With legends like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and recognizable songs like “This Land is Your Land” and “The Sound of Silence,” folk music has a lively, rich history in the U.S. Although folk music’s status today is nowhere near its popularity in the 1960s, it’s still a beloved genre. Even contemporary artists like Hozier pay homage to American folk and its influential figures. This weekend’s recs will dive into the folk genre a little deeper and help you explore everything it has to offer.

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Photo from Rowland Scherman on Wikimedia Commons
If you have 2 minutes and 7 seconds…and want to show some ‘Nova pride, listen to “Photographs and Memories” by Jim Croce, a Villanova alum and famous folk singer (among other genres).
If you have 4 minutes and 13 seconds…and are feeling sentimental, listen to “When I’m Gone” by Phil Ochs, one of my personal favorite folk songs. If you’re more into the protest song side of folk, Phil’s got plenty of those as well.
If you have 15 minutes…and need a quick introduction to the (American) folk music genre, read this article.

Photo of Jim Croce courtesy of Villanova’s Digital Library
Bonus: if you want a more in-depth look into folk music, read Slobin’s more thorough Folk Music: A Very Short Introduction, available online through Falvey.
If you have 1 hour and 51 minutes…and like old movies, watch Alice’s Restaurant, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. Alice’s Restaurant is an 1969 movie based on Arlo Guthrie’s famous folk song of the same name.
If you have 2 hours and 22 minutes…and are a Martin Scorsese fan, watch his documentary chronicling Bob Dylan’s 1975 tour. It’s a truly unique documentary made by a film legend about a music legend.
If you have 7 hours and 21 minutes…and need to switch-up your playlists, listen to Spotify’s Essential Folk playlist. Personally, I think it’s great to throw on in the background while studying.
Bonus: if you want some newer stuff, listen to Spotify’s “Roots Rising” playlist.
If you have 9 hours…and prefer books, read Bound for Glory, a (partially fictional) autobiography, available at Falvey, written by folk legend Woody Guthrie.
Annie Stockmal is a second-year graduate student in the Communication Department and Graduate Assistant in Falvey Library.