S i n g e r / S o n g w r i t e r

C h a r l o tt e B r o w n

‘Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write

their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the folk-

acoustic tradition.’

Defi niti on

H i s t o r y

The sub genre of singer/songwriter can be traced back to ancient Bardic culture, which has existed all over the world. It started when poems were performed as chant or song, sometimes accompanied by a harp or other similar instruments, this eventually developed into the singer-song writing traditions of folk culture.

S i n g e r / S o n g w r i t e r o r i g i n s ;

This genre can be traced back to American blues and folk style singers in the mid-20th centaury, these include;• Jimmie Rodgers• Robert Leroy Johnson• Blind Lemon JeffersonAnd many more from this time period.From the 1930s to 1950s many jazz and blues singer-songwriters emerged, these included big names such as;• Billie Holiday• Ray Charles • Nina Simone The first popular recognition of the singer-songwriter in Great Britain occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s, this was when a number of blues, folk and country style singer-songwriters became popular. These singers included some of todays legends such as;• Bob Dylan• Johnny Cash• Jackie DeShannon

Billie Holiday Johnny Cash Ray Charles Bob Dylan

E a r l y y e a r s

The singer songwriter genre was associated with folk music, this mad the sub genre increasingly more popular as folk groups started writing

and singing there own songs. An example of these groups would be The Weavers.

G e n e r i c f e a t u r e s o f S i n g e r /S o n g w r i t e r s

• The ability to write and produce memorable and likeable lyrics to a song, these writing skills along with other things are what makes a record enjoyable. There have been many iconic singer songwriters over the years including Bob Dylan and Garry Barlow.

• Fantastic stage and performance ability, singer songwriters have the power to catch an audience’s eye even if they are not doing a dance performance, many singer songwriters will just simply sit or stand with a an instrument and a microphone. Ed Sheeran is a great example of this, he will often just sing with his guitar and microphone with no background performance.

R o b e r t L e r o y J o h n s o nJohnson was an American Blue singer and musician, his peek career was from 1936-37 just a year before his death. Johnson is a huge icon and inspiration in the singer songwriter genre and is seen as one of the originals within the genre. Johnson was put in to the Rock and Roll hall of fame as an ‘early influence’ he was also ranked 5th in Rolling Stones list of 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

K e y A r ti s t s .

• Tom Jones• Kate Bush• Bonnie Tyler• Billy Joel• Brian May• Willie Nelson• Michael Jackson• Tina Turner• Etta James• Elton John

K e y C u r r e n t A r ti s t s This genre is becoming more and more popular due to the fact that audiences are more interested in an artist being original and not another Talent show winner.Audiences like an artist to write, compose and sing there own songs and many artists now do. These artists include;

• Adele• Ed Sheeran• Gary Barlow • Ben Howard

• Amy Winehouse• Katy Perry

I n s t r u m e n t sTypical instruments of a singer songwriter would be Voice, Guitar and Piano. Most

artists will perform with these on stage, Elton John is a classic example of this as nearly all of his performances are simply him sitting at a piano performing to thousands of

people.