Artists like Billy Bragg

The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull in 1983. They released two studio albums, London 0 Hull 4 (1986) and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death (1987), and the compilation album Now That's What I Call Quite Good (1988), all of which went top-ten in the UK. The band also achieved six UK top-twenty singles, including an a cappella cover version of "Caravan of Love" which reached number one in the UK in December 1986. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianity, reflecting the beliefs of the band.

Francis Edward Turner is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. In the studio and during live performances, Turner is accompanied by his backing band, The Sleeping Souls, consisting of Ben Lloyd, Tarrant Anderson (bass), Matt Nasir and Callum Green (drums).

Kirsty Anna MacColl was a British singer and songwriter. The daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl, she recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and the Kinks' "Days". She also sang on a number of recordings produced by her husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues. Her first single, "They Don't Know", would have chart success a few years later when covered by Tracey Ullman. Her death in 2000 led to the "Justice for Kirsty" campaign.

Peter Seeger was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, especially their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, workers' rights, counterculture, environmental causes, and ending the Vietnam War.

The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by former Housemartins members Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. The other original members were guitarist Dave Rotheray, bassist Sean Welch, and drummer Dave Stead. All five original members remained with the band throughout its existence. The band's original material was written by Heaton and Rotheray.

Levellers are an English folk rock and anarcho-punk band formed in Brighton, East Sussex, in 1988, consisting of Mark Chadwick, Jeremy Cunningham, Charlie Heather (drums), Jon Sevink (violin), Simon Friend, Matt Savage (keyboards) and Dan Donnelly. Taking their name from the Levellers political movement, the band released their first EP in 1989 and LP in 1990, with international success following upon signing to China Records and the release of their second album, Levelling the Land. The band were among the most popular indie bands in Britain in the early 1990s, and performed at the Glastonbury Festival, first in 1992, then in 1994, where they performed as the headline act on The Pyramid Stage to a record crowd of 300,000 people. They continue to record and tour.

Dexys Midnight Runners are an English pop rock band from Birmingham. They are best known in the UK for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as their cover of Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said ", which reached No. 5. They achieved five other UK Top 20 singles. Outside of the UK, the band are largely considered a one hit wonder, with "Come On Eileen" also having topped the US Billboard Hot 100. With extensive airplay on MTV, they were associated with the Second British Invasion.

Declan Patrick MacManus, known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author, and television host. According to Rolling Stone, Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk", noting the "construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplay in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles". He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016.

John William Weller is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. The band gained significant critical and commercial success in the United Kingdom, and were the most influential band of the mod revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Following the dissolution of the Jam at the end of 1982, Weller formed the Style Council with Mick Talbot, where he explored a wide variety of other musical styles, including pop, jazz, soul, hip hop, folk and classical. Although initially successful, the band's popularity declined in the late 1980s, leading them to break up in 1989. Weller began a solo career in the early 1990s, slowly re-establishing his commercial standing across his first four solo albums, Paul Weller (1992), Wild Wood (1993), Stanley Road (1995) and Heavy Soul (1997).

Richard Willis Hawley is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He played with Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker, as a touring musician for a short time. As a solo musician, Hawley has released ten studio albums. He has been nominated for a Mercury Prize twice and once for a Brit Award. He has also collaborated with Robbie Williams, Nancy Sinatra, Gwen Stefani, Arctic Monkeys, Paul Weller, Duane Eddy, Lisa Marie Presley and Manic Street Preachers.

Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater. They started out influenced by American folk rock, with a set list dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, and Matthews later left during the recording of their third album.

Jesse Allen Breckenridge Wells, known professionally as Jesse Welles, is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He released his debut studio album, Red Trees and White Trashes, in 2018. Welles previously performed under the name Jeh Sea Wells and was also the frontman of the bands Dead Indian, formed in 2012, and Cosmic-American, formed in 2015. He was also the frontman for the band Welles.

The Waterboys are a rock band formed in 1983 in London by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Britain and Ireland, with Scott being the only constant member. Over a four-decade career, the band has drawn on multiple styles of music including punk rock, rock and roll, folk music, Celtic soul, noise rock, country music, rhythm & blues and chamber music.