Roots of Joan Baez

Odetta Holmes, known mononymously as Odetta, was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement", her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals.

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 Milk Carton Kids are an American indie folk duo consisting of singer-guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan. The duo hails from Eagle Rock, Los Angeles. They began making music together in early 2011 and have recorded and released six albums. Their first two albums were released free of charge online. They were featured on the Peacock TV show Girls5Eva with their song, New York Lonely Boy. Their instrumental and vocal style has been likened to that of Simon and Garfunkel.

Malvina Reynolds was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs "Little Boxes", "What Have They Done to the Rain" and "Morningtown Ride".

James Timothy Hardin was an American folk music and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his own success, his songs "If I Were a Carpenter", "Reason to Believe", "Misty Roses" and "The Lady Came from Baltimore" were hits for other artists.

Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena, a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk music that would extend its sphere of influence outside Chile.