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Genre
traditional british folk
Parent Genre: World/Traditional

Traditional British folk music is a genre that has been passed down through generations, featuring acoustic instruments such as fiddles, banjos, and accordions. The music often tells stories of rural life, love, and loss, and is characterized by its haunting melodies and intricate harmonies. This genre has seen a resurgence in recent years, with contemporary artists adding their own unique twists to the traditional sound.


Top artists of traditional british folk genre

Kate Rusby
Jon Boden
Sam Sweeney
Kris Drever
Spell Songs
Show Of Hands
Bellowhead
June Tabor
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traditional british folk music timeline

Explore traditional british folk history by listening to songs from every decade. Click on the decade to view songs.

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s

Similar Genres to traditional british folk

Discover more related genres to traditional british folk genre. This list is ordered by similarity from left to right.

british folk traditional english folk yorkshire folk celtic folk rock scottish folk folk irish folk traditional folk northumbrian folk classic uk pop celtic rock scottish indie folk bush ballad scottish singer-songwriter shanty scottish fiddle devon indie traditional scottish folk american folk revival
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traditional british folk playlist created by Chosic

Enjoy this playlist of popular traditional british folk music. We made this playlist using an algorithm created by our team.

Play on spotify

List of traditional british folk artists

Here is a list of traditional british folk artists on Spotify, ranked based on popularity, who exemplifies the traditional british folk genre. You can find out what traditional british folk genre sounds like where you can preview artists or sort them the way you want, just click the headers to sort.

#namePopularity instrumentalnessdanceabilityenergyacousticnessHappinesstempofollowers
1
Kate Rusby
38 1 58 31 79 42 122 51164
2
Jon Boden
35 27 56 67 7 43 121 9430
3
Sam Sweeney
35 10 52 45 63 53 140 3640
4
Kris Drever
32 7 48 48 58 40 112 10092
5
Spell Songs
31 0 0 0 0 0 0 9787
6
Show Of Hands
29 2 53 59 50 56 118 17871
7
Bellowhead
29 3 61 74 42 75 123 24417
8
June Tabor
28 0 36 23 61 35 110 15626
9
The Unthanks
28 5 43 20 90 26 104 37364
10
Oysterband
28 0 46 77 9 67 127 9613
11
John Spiers
27 0 0 0 0 0 0 1480
12
Nancy Kerr
27 0 55 42 58 55 172 3497
13
The Watersons
26 0 66 8 95 46 93 9745
14
Jackie Oates
25 0 44 11 95 32 113 6932
15
Sam Kelly
24 0 60 39 76 66 115 4834
16
Lau
24 17 41 40 69 28 112 16719
17
Eliza Carthy
24 0 59 54 52 47 103 13539
18
Lady Maisery
23 0 59 19 88 26 128 6382
19
Nic Jones
23 0 51 29 80 44 119 7242
20
Kitty Macfarlane
23 0 49 28 67 26 94 3507
21
Olivia Chaney
23 0 48 14 93 25 111 7602
22
Kathryn Tickell
22 40 37 57 66 41 115 5252
23
Lisa Knapp
22 0 55 40 83 41 144 3522
24
Bella Hardy
21 0 59 35 84 57 99 6239
25
John McCusker
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 4074
26
Heidi Talbot
21 0 33 27 79 36 153 4893
27
Andy Cutting
21 43 61 34 71 57 110 2281
28
Ruth Notman
20 0 54 41 76 66 122 2808
29
The Imagined Village
20 8 50 59 49 50 126 8815
30
Leon Rosselson
20 0 55 34 69 64 95 1883
31
Merry Hell
18 0 59 61 31 72 140 2298
32
Tim Hart and Friends
18 1 84 79 18 93 119 644
33
Megson
18 0 63 46 60 55 116 4589
34
Ewan McLennan
17 0 42 20 85 39 129 2406
35
Norma Waterson
17 0 64 41 49 47 110 4561
36
Bob Fox
17 0 56 47 94 33 132 1827
37
Fay Hield
16 0 50 34 65 42 123 2797
38
Lucy Ward
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2620
39
Reg Meuross
16 0 56 12 96 34 115 1247
40
Spiers & Boden
16 16 53 39 77 75 112 4924
41
Emily Portman
16 0 62 22 80 34 106 3550
42
Magpie Lane
16 0 58 21 83 58 90 1405
43
Barry Coope
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 764
44
Louis Killen
14 0 46 2 96 29 169 1309
45
Peter Bellamy
14 0 55 18 93 45 89 2396
46
Jack Rutter
14 0 21 50 73 65 179 668
47
Faustus
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 92
48
Roy Bailey
14 0 58 34 82 59 127 2027
49
Blowzabella
14 7 48 66 41 85 129 3129
50
John Tams
13 1 35 27 58 26 150 4230
51
Nick Hart
13 0 63 15 83 46 99 1039
52
Jez Lowe
13 0 46 46 58 58 102 2465
53
The Full English
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 1884
54
John Kirkpatrick
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 2370
55
Melrose Quartet
12 0 58 39 57 69 122 1288
56
Waterson:Carthy
12 0 36 26 90 41 119 4054
57
Blackbeard's Tea Party
12 2 55 74 13 79 113 3638
58
James Fagan
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 305
59
Jim Moray
12 0 55 44 44 45 89 3775
60
The Oldham Tinkers
11 0 72 25 88 80 99 1549
61
The Young Tradition
10 0 67 20 96 70 103 2387
62
Rachael McShane
10 0 38 54 83 63 84 1402
63
Vin Garbutt
9 0 42 30 73 59 126 2261
64
Jim Causley
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1211
65
Chris Wood
8 0 49 29 60 29 106 2821
66
Steve Knightley
8 0 46 38 79 23 132 2530
67
Chris While
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 716
68
Steve Tilston
8 0 42 26 89 54 128 2335
69
Faustus
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2124
70
The Etchingham Steam Band
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 259
71
The Copper Family
7 0 49 13 98 63 98 1618
72
Lal Waterson
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 767
73
The Devil's Interval
7 0 57 8 97 44 177 337
74
Peter Knight's Gigspanner
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1037
75
Oliver Knight
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 101
76
The Albion Christmas Band
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 360
77
Granny's Attic
6 0 67 42 67 56 73 1053
78
Martyn Wyndham-Read
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 569
79
Benji Kirkpatrick
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 815
80
Cyril Tawney
6 0 83 25 85 69 103 1074
81
Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman
6 0 59 17 91 56 131 1198
82
Miranda Sykes
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 732
83
Hannah James
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1403
84
The High Level Ranters
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 879
85
The Magpie Arc
5 0 48 73 34 65 97 489
86
The Wilderness Yet
5 0 75 38 57 55 120 598
87
Belshazzar's Feast
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1321
88
Pete Morton
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 542
89
The Elizabethan Session
4 0 58 29 86 63 112 601
90
Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 573
91
Phil Beer
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1346
92
Moore Moss Rutter
4 3 42 37 72 53 139 1100
93
Cloudstreet
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 207
94
Brass Monkey
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1421
95
False Lights
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 962
96
Tim Van Eyken
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 990
97
Maggie Holland
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 128
98
John Roberts & Tony Barrand
3 0 51 33 84 44 110 429
99
The Demon Barbers
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1114
100
The Askew Sisters
3 0 58 31 90 28 82 1452
101
Bryony Griffith
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 466
102
Home Service
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 516
103
Dave Burland
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 402
104
Frankie Armstrong
3 0 46 4 83 41 131 1159
105
Craig Herbertson
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 83
106
James Findlay
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 315
107
Alistair Anderson
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 277
108
Whapweasel
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 390
109
The Witches Of Elswick
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 252
110
Dr Faustus
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 384
111
Boldwood
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 501
112
Mike Waterson
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 561
113
Broom Bezzums
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 630
114
The Old Swan Band
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 339
115
Harry Cox
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 689
116
Mawkin
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1000
117
The Mellstock Band
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 236
118
Sam Larner
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 361
119
Steve Ashley
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 318
120
Keith Kendrick
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 217
121
Ian Woods
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 49
122
Albion Christmas Band
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 483
123
Grace Notes
1 0 37 4 94 12 98 138
124
James Raynard
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 33
125
Johnny Doughty
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 120
126
Tony Rose
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 99
127
Walsh & Pound
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 149
128
Damien Barber
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 161
129
Walter Pardon
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 256
130
Kerfuffle
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1062
131
The English Country Blues Band
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 121
132
Nancy Kerr & James Fagan
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 373
133
Lal Waterson and Oliver Knight
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21
134
Phoebe Smith
0 0 43 3 99 68 232 148
135
Pilgrims' Way
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 480