The Best Folk & World Instruments 2025

1. Personnel: John McCutcheon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, hammered dulcimers, autoharp); Pete Kennedy (acoustic & electric guitars); Howard Levy (harmonica, piano, organ); Tom Jones (drums, percussion); Leah Kunkel, Toshi Reagan, Michelle Lanchester, Pam Rogers, Vicky Pratt, Debbi MacFarlan (background vocals).

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Personnel: John McCutcheon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, hammered dulcimers, autoharp); Pete Kennedy (acoustic & electric guitars); Howard Levy (harmonica, piano, organ); Tom Jones (drums, percussion); Leah Kunkel, Toshi Reagan, Michelle Lanchester, Pam Rogers, Vicky Pratt, Debbi MacFarlan (background vocals).

2. Solo performer: Mike Seeger (guitar, banjo, banjo ukelele, mandola, dulcimer, autoharp, fiddle, harmonica).

Eighteen true traditional-style southern rural ballads, songs, and instrumentals plus two newly-made tunes. Sung and played with banjo, gourd banjer, fiddle, guitar, autoharp, lap dulcimer, mandola, banjo ukelele, trump (jawharp), quills and harmonica. 100% natural home-recorded solo music; no overdubs, splices, or electronic effects.

Solo -- Oldtime Country Music

3. Fuzzy Mountain String Band: Bobbie Thompson, Sharon Sandormirsky (guitar); Tom Carter (banjo, mandolin); Eric Olson, Blanton owen (banjo); Bill Hicks, Malcolm Owen (fiddle); Vicky Owen (dulcimer).

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Fuzzy Mountain String Band: Bobbie Thompson, Sharon Sandormirsky (guitar); Tom Carter (banjo, mandolin); Eric Olson, Blanton owen (banjo); Bill Hicks, Malcolm Owen (fiddle); Vicky Owen (dulcimer).

4. Personnel: Pierre Bensusan (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Calude Lefebvre (guitar, dulcimer); Bill Keith (banjo); Phil Fromont (violin, alto); Jean-Francois Sandoz (tin whistle); Herve De Sainte-Foy (double bass); Gerard Lavigne (bass); Andre Thomas (bodhran); Emmanuelle Parrenin (hurdy-gurdy);

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Personnel: Pierre Bensusan (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Calude Lefebvre (guitar, dulcimer); Bill Keith (banjo); Phil Fromont (violin, alto); Jean-Francois Sandoz (tin whistle); Herve De Sainte-Foy (double bass); Gerard Lavigne (bass); Andre Thomas (bodhran); Emmanuelle Parrenin (hurdy-gurdy);

5. Personnel: Bruce Cockburn (vocals, guitar, dulcimer); Eugene Martynec (guitar); Eric Nagler (banjo, mandolin); Michael Craydon, John Wyre (percussion). Recorded at Thunder Sound Studios and Eastern Sound, Toronto, Canada.

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Personnel: Bruce Cockburn (vocals, guitar, dulcimer); Eugene Martynec (guitar); Eric Nagler (banjo, mandolin); Michael Craydon, John Wyre (percussion). Recorded at Thunder Sound Studios and Eastern Sound, Toronto, Canada.

6. Personnel: Fred Small (vocals, guitar); John Curtis (6- & 12-string guitars); Alison Brown (banjo); Miguel Picker (charango, zampona); Leo Kretzner (dulcimer); Howie Tarnower (mandolin); Matt Glaser (fiddle); Cameron Sawzin (cello); Richard Rosenblatt (harmonica); Neil MacMillan (concertina); Betsy Rose (piano); John Daniel (bass); Sa Davis (conga).

NEW

Fred Small: The Heart of the Appaloosa - CD

7. Personnel includes: Cathy Fink (vocals, guitar, banjo, dulcimer); Marcy Marxer (vocals, guitar, mandolin, percussion); Pete Kennedy (acoustic & electric guitars, ukelele, bass); Mike Auldridge (pedal steel guitar); Sam Herrman (dulcimer); Mike Stein, Joe Herrman (fiddle); Bryan Smith, Joe Fallon (bass).

CATHY & MARCY COLLECTION FOR KIDS

CATHY & MARCY COLLECTION FOR KIDS

8. Personnel: John Renbourn (vocals, guitar); Jacqui McShee (vocals); Tony Roberts (vocals, flute, crumhorn, Northumbrian small pipes); John Molineaux (vocals, dulcimer, mandolin, fiddle); Keshav Sathe (tabla). An after-the-fact live album by the short-lived but prodigiously talented John Renbourn Group, LIVE IN AMERICA has enough moments of sheer musical delight to make you wish that the foursome had stuck around a bit longer. Despite the billing, the real star of the John Renbourn Group is singer Jacqui McShee. McShee, whose angelic voice enlivened albums by Renbourn's previous band Pentangle, is a tremendous, though largely unrecognized talent. Her angelic mezzo-soprano meshes beautifully with Renbourn's harmonies and his virtuoso guitar playing. "Lindsay," the gorgeous "Fair Flower," and a moving rendition of the temperance ballad "John Barleycorn is Dead" are among the highlights. Reeds and woodwinds player Tony Roberts is showcased to great effect on the Indian-influenced "Sidi Brahim," one of the many songs enhanced through the subtle addition of tablas as a percussive element.

Recorded live at the Great Music Hall in San Francisco and at McCabe's Concert Hall in April of 1981, and issued the following year as a double album set. With John Renbourne, guitar, vocals; Jacqui McShee, vocals; Tony Roberts, flute, krumhorn, Northumbrian small pipes, harmony vocals; John Molineaux, dulcimer, mandolin, fiddle, harmony vocals; Keshav Sathe, tabla.

Live in America

9. Personnel: Eric Bogle (vocals, acoustic guitar), Graham Lee, Chris Nicholson (guitars), Doug Balmanno (bass), Lorraine Cook (cello), George Walpole (flute, recorder), Don Lebler (percussion), Peter Wragg (keyboards), John Munro (vocals, guitars, mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer), Brent Miller (vocals, bass), Phil Cunneen (keyboards, string arrangements), Dean Biebeck (drums), Trev Warner (fiddle), Dennis Siddall (pedal steel guitar) and Dean Bland (harmonica). All compositions by Eric Bogle.

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Personnel: Eric Bogle (vocals, acoustic guitar), Graham Lee, Chris Nicholson (guitars), Doug Balmanno (bass), Lorraine Cook (cello), George Walpole (flute, recorder), Don Lebler (percussion), Peter Wragg (keyboards), John Munro (vocals, guitars, mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer), Brent Miller (vocals, bass), Phil Cunneen (keyboards, string arrangements), Dean Biebeck (drums), Trev Warner (fiddle), Dennis Siddall (pedal steel guitar) and Dean Bland (harmonica). All compositions by Eric Bogle.

10. Full title: The Holly And The Ivy: Christmas Music With Hammered Dulcimer And Singing. Personnel includes: Madeline MacNeil, Sam Rizzetta, R. P. Hale, Seth Austen, Frances Lapp Averitt, Ruth Anne MacNeil, Lucinda Lentz, John Westervelt, Marty Mayfield, William Averitt.

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Full title: The Holly And The Ivy: Christmas Music With Hammered Dulcimer And Singing. Personnel includes: Madeline MacNeil, Sam Rizzetta, R. P. Hale, Seth Austen, Frances Lapp Averitt, Ruth Anne MacNeil, Lucinda Lentz, John Westervelt, Marty Mayfield, William Averitt.