The Groove

The greatest indie folk artists of all time

33 artists ranked by the Groove — music.nw’s own measure of renown. Not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. Why?

No. 1

Elliott Smith

United States of America · 1969–2003 · indie rock

10.731

Why this number?

The full board

Sufjan Stevens

United States of America · 1975– · indie folk 10.684

3 Bon Iver

United States of America · 2006– · indie folk 9.732

Taylor Swift

United States of America · 1989– · pop 7.957

5 Neutral Milk Hotel

United States of America · 1989–1998 · indie rock 4.179

The Decemberists

United States of America · 2000– · indie rock 3.661

7 Fleet Foxes

United States of America · 2006– · folk rock 3.022

8 Joanna Newsom

United States of America · 1982– · folk 2.932

9 Phoebe Bridgers

United States of America · 1994– · indie rock 2.116

Belle and Sebastian

United Kingdom · 1996– · indie pop 1.877

11 Angelo De Augustine

United States of America · indie folk 1.511

12 Agnes Obel

Denmark · 1980– · singer-songwriter 1.491

13 Bonnie “Prince” Billy

United States of America · 1970– · americana 1.491

14 Band of Horses

United States of America · 2004– · indie rock 1.380

15 boygenius

United States of America · 2018– · indie rock 1.177

16 The Magnetic Fields

United States of America · 1990– · indie pop 1.171

17 Big Thief

United States of America · 2015– · indie rock 1.135

18 Low Roar

Iceland · indietronica 1.050

19 Iron & Wine

United States of America · 1974– · folk rock 0.855

20 George Ezra

United Kingdom · 1993– · pop 0.630

21 Bright Eyes

United States of America · 1995– · alternative punk 0.572

PJ Harvey

United Kingdom · 1969– · indie rock 0.553

Beck

United States of America · 1970– · alternative rock 0.483

24 The Mountain Goats

United States of America · 1991– · rock 0.475