What Is the Singer-Songwriter Genre?

You can draw a straight line from Joni Mitchell’s Blue album, the intimate vocals of Tim Hardin, and the floating melodies of Nick Drake to the compelling sound of today’s Singer-Songwriter genre.

Indeed, the Singer-Songwriter genre has been around for decades, yet no one seems able to describe exactly what it is. We might agree that Dermot Kennedy, Sheryl Crow, Novo Amor, and Ingrid Michaelson are all singer-songwriters, but they all sound very different. What does the Singer-Songwriter genre sound like? And how do you know if you’re in it? Why is that important?