How Hipster Folk Music Stars Captured the Moon

How did a group of relatively unknown musicians become one of the most popular genres of the past decade?

The Moon landing

The Moon landing was one of the most important events in human history. It was also one of the most hipster things that ever happened.

On July 20, 1969, two American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, became the first humans to walk on the Moon. As they took their first steps on the lunar surface, they were accompanied by a now-famous piece of music: “Season of the Witch” by Donovan.

“Season of the Witch” is a song about alienation and paranoia, two themes that would come to define hipster culture. The lyrics talk about feeling misunderstood and out of place in a world that doesn’t make sense: “People swear they move/But I see them standing still.”

This feeling of being disconnected from the mainstream is something that many hipsters can relate to. And it’s no coincidence that hipsterdom reached its peak in popularity around the same time that NASA’s Apollo program was making headlines.

The Moon landing wasn’t just a historic event; it was also a symbol of everything that was cool about being different. In an age when conformity was prized, the astronauts who went to the Moon were rebels who embraced their individuality. They were outsiders who made it to the top by following their own unique path.

In today’s world, where anyone can be a star on YouTube or Instagram, it’s easy to forget how special it is to be different. But for those of us who grew up in a time when fitting in was everything, the Moon landing will always be a reminder of the power of individuality.

The Music

The hipster folk music scene has been on the rise in recent years with artists like Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes leading the charge. These artists have found success by creating a new sound that is a mix of traditional folk and modern indie rock. This new sound has captivated listeners and has led to the hipster folk music scene becoming one of the most popular genres of music today.

Bon Iver

Bon Iver is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. The band’s name comes from the French phrase bon hiver, meaning “good winter.” Vernon released the band’s debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, in 2007. The album was recorded during a four-month winter solo retreat in a cabin in northwestern Wisconsin.

The album was critically acclaimed and helped launched the band’s career. Vernon won two Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album. The band’s follow-up album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, was released in 2011 and won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. The band’s third album, 22, A Million, was released in 2016.

Bon Iver has toured extensively throughout the world and headlined festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury. The band has collaborated with a number of artists, including St. Vincent, Kanye West, and Moses Sumney.

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes are an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington. The band came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their self-titled debut album, which yielded the single “White Winter Hymnal.” The album was a commercial and critical success, winning the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album at the 51st Grammy Awards and is currently ranked at 264 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The band’s third studio album, Crack-Up, was released on June 16, 2017.

The band’s music is often compared to that of similar acts such as My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear, and Neil Young. AllMusic’s Mark Deming wrote that the group “crafts finely detailed music that sounds effortless and timeless”, while Consequence of Sound called them “one of the most promising new bands in recent memory”.

The Movement

It started with a few kids in coffeehouses and basements, bashing out simple rhythms on acoustic guitars and writing songs about their feelings. They were the first generation to come of age in the 21st century, and they were determined to create something new. They were the hipster folk music stars, and they were about to take the world by storm.

The Americana Music Association

The Americana Music Association is a trade organization that aims to promote and celebrate Americana music. It was founded in 2000 by Jim Hood and Mike Stewart, two music industry insiders who saw the need for a dedicated organization to support and promote the burgeoning Americana music scene.

The Association produces the annual Americana Music Festival & Conference, which takes place in Nashville, Tennessee each September. The festival attracts hundreds of performers and fans from all over the world, and is widely recognized as one of the premier events in the Americana calendar.

In addition to the festival, the Association also presents the annual Americana Honors & Awards show, which celebrates the best and brightest in Americana music. The show is held in Nashville in October, and is broadcast live on SiriusXM satellite radio.

The Newport Folk Festival

In 1959, a young singer-songwriter from Texas named Bob Dylan performed at the Newport Folk Festival for the first time. He was just eighteen years old. After his set, he was mingling with the crowd when he was approached by a young woman named Joan Baez. She complimented him on his performance and asked if she could buy him a drink. Dylan agreed, and Baez later recalled that they spent the rest of the afternoon and evening talking and drinking together. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

Dylan returned to Newport the following year, and this time he caused a stir with his electric performance of “Maggie’s Farm.” The folk purists in the crowd booed him, but Dylan didn’t seem to care. He was on his way to becoming one of the biggest rock stars in the world.

The Newport Folk Festival continued to be an important showcase for up-and-coming folk musicians throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1971, a young singer-songwriter named Joni Mitchell made her debut at Newport. She wowed the crowd with her songs “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Woodstock.” Mitchell would go on to become one of the most successful and respected recording artists of her generation.

The Newport Folk Festival is still going strong today, and it continues to be an important showcase for new talent in the folk music world.

The Legacy

The cool kids of the 90s were turning their backs on the polished pop of the decade before. They wanted something new, something raw. They wanted folk music. And that’s exactly what they got. But these new folk stars didn’t come from the Appalachians or the Mississippi Delta. They came from the suburbs.

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are regarded as the most influential band of all time. With a sound rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the group were integral to the evolution of pop music into an art form and to the development of the counterculture of the 1960s. They often incorporated classical elements, older pop forms, influences from other genres including country and western and psychedelia into their music. As they continued to draw influences from a variety of cultural sources, their musical and lyrical sophistication grew, and they came to be seen as embodying aspects of the era’s counterculture.

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist who has been a major figure in popular culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of the American civil rights movement. His lyrics incorporated a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.

Dylan’s early songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. As his career progressed, he explored nation’s Western, Native American, and Eastern cultural traditions and for his achievements he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.