What is Psych Folk Music?

     For anyone who has lived through or studied the changing mentality that affected so much of everything in the 1960, it is easily understandable that a number of musical styles and sounds developed and then died away during this time. The 60s were the heyday of psychedelic drugs such as LSD and PCP, and these hallucinogens affected the type of music preferred by their users. 

      Psychedelic is a termed used for these specific types of things because the word refers to experiences of unknown types of thoughts, sounds and images, usually restricted to the mind. It offers a creative freedom of sorts. So, when referring to music, a genre called psychedelic rock was a style that was meant to recreate the interesting effects of the drugs. The surreal music made use of electric and slide guitars and concerts for the music featured imaginative effects and creative but bizarre backgrounds. In a time of such political and emotional turmoil, the mentality of peace and love over war also effected the psychedelic musical movement.

 

     When two popular styles of music, psychedelic rock and folk, were mixed together, a new creation came about. Psych Folk rose to popularity in the 60s and was greatly influenced by both American and British artists. A strong wave of Psych Folk hit the charts during the well known British Invasion. Psych Folk is an interesting mix of folk style song lyrics combined with the surreal musical effects of the psychedelic rock. The topics of Psych Folk, much like the popular topics of the time period, usually centered around nature, peace, love, and harmony as opposed to war and strife.

 

    Psych Folk remained popular through the decade, but began to lose listeners by the 70s when the public wanted a different sound. Many of the Psych Folk singers of the 60s worked to create a new image for themselves, and thus was born the genre of folk rock. In Britain, electric rock was the result of the revamping of Psych Folk. This new form of rock was the preferred genre of many well know bands, such as The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and The Byrds. The song stylings of these popular folk rock bands were greatly influenced by the Psych Folk bands that came before.

 

     In the 21^st century, the almost dead genre of Psych Folk found a revival as people began to turn their eyes toward all things retro. New Psych Folk bands have emerged and have found strong cult followings.