Roots Rock
Roots rock is rock music that goes back to the styles rock came from: blues, country and folk.
It appeared in the late 1960s in the United States as a plain, back-to-basics reaction to psychedelic and progressive rock. The sound is unpolished guitars, organ or piano, natural-sounding drums and songs about everyday and rural life. It is close to country rock, Southern rock and heartland rock, and is an ancestor of Americana.
Artists it is known for: Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Band, Los Lobos.
- Family
- Rock
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- United States, late 1960s
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 4%
About 2,900 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have roots rock among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Roots Rock artists
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
Nick Drake
Jim Croce
The Black Keys
Wilco
Paul Simon
Derek & The Dominos
Cream
Van Morrison
The roots rock artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.