This is not really a genre in its own right, more of a common label for musicians who write and compose their own sings and perform them live. Singer and songwriter in one person. The singer-songwriter is as a rule also an instrumentalist, typically on guitar or piano. Singer-songwriters today can be folk singers. But the label has also a wider application, to musicians who write their own songs and travel round, solo or with a band, performing them, whether the songs be labelled folk songs or not.
Tønder Festival has many singer-songwriters on the poster. They may play folk, blues, country or other styles, but when they hit the stage with their own songs, the folk singer tradition lives on in today's singer-songwriter, a songsmith, story teller and social commentator in close rapport with his audience.
