Filk Music

A musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Filk has been defined as folk music, usually with a science fiction or fantasy theme, but this definition is not exact. So-called filkers have been known to write filk songs about a variety of topics, including tangentially related topics such as computers and cats. In addition, while the majority of filk songs are in the folk style, other styles such as blues, calypso, and even rock appear from time to time. Filk is rooted firmly in acoustic-instrument folk music, but other pieces and artists draw inspiration from rock, a cappella vocal groups, or other styles. Filk music is commonly performed in an informal gathering known as a filk circle. 1950s–    .