1. Singer/Songwriter
Charlotte Brown

2. Definition
‘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.’

3. History
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.

4. Singer/Songwriter origins;
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 Jefferson
And 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

5. Early years
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.

6. Generic features of Singer/
Songwriters
• 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.

7. Robert Leroy Johnson
Johnson 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.

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

9. Key Current Artists
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

10. Instruments
Typical 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.