Fairport Convention in the context of M1 motorway

Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid-20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. The most common name for this new form of music is also "folk music", but is often called "contemporary folk music" or "folk revival music" to make the distinction. The transition was somewhat centered in the United States and is also called the American folk music revival. Fusion genres such as folk rock and others also evolved within this phenomenon. While contemporary folk music is a genre generally distinct from traditional folk music, it often shares the same English name, performers and venues as traditional folk music; even individual songs may be a blend of the two.

While the Romantic nationalism of the first folk revival had its greatest influence on art music, the "second folk revival" of the later 20th century brought a new genre of popular music with artists marketed through concerts, recordings and broadcasting. One of the earliest figures in this revival was Woody Guthrie, who sang traditional songs in the 1930s and 1940s as well as composing his own. Other major performers who emerged from the 1940s to the early 1960s included Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton. In the UK, the folk revival fostered a generation of musicians such as Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, Donovan, Martin Carthy, and Pentangle, who achieved initial prominence in the 1960s. The folk revival spawned Canada's first folk wave of internationally successful artists such as Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Richard Thompson OBE (born 3 April 1949) is an English songwriter, musician (primarily a guitarist), singer and record producer.

Thompson first gained prominence in the late 1960s as the lead guitarist and songwriter for the folk rock group Fairport Convention, which he had co-founded in 1967. After departing the group in 1971, Thompson released his debut solo album Henry the Human Fly in 1972. The next year, he formed a duo with his wife Linda Thompson, which produced six albums, including the critically acclaimed I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974) and Shoot Out the Lights (1982). After the dissolution of the duo, Thompson revived his solo career with the release of Hand of Kindness in 1983. He has released eighteen solo studio albums. Three of his albums—Rumor and Sigh (1991), You? Me? Us? (1996), and Dream Attic (2010)—have been nominated for Grammy Awards, while Still (2015) was his first UK Top Ten album. He continues to write and record new material and has frequently performed at venues throughout Europe and North America, and occasionally further afield.