What Defines the Singer-Songwriter Style, and How to Find Yourself Within It

I spend a lot of time talking about the differences between musical styles, not as categories to constrain us, but as lenses that help us better understand who we already are as writers. When we can recognize the characteristics of a style—especially the one we’re naturally drawn to—we gain clarity about why we sound the way we do, and how we might become even more ourselves.

I want to take a closer look at the singer-songwriter style, particularly where it intersects with folk, country, and pop. While these genres share many traits, there are meaningful distinctions that affect both the writing and the way we experience a song at this intersection. Understanding those distinctions can help us make more intentional choices in our own work.

The Central Role of the Writer-Artist

When I use the term singer-songwriter, I’m thinking of writers like Jason Isbell or Lizzie McAlpine. Their music may lean more toward pop or more toward country depending on the song or production, but what anchors the style is the writing itself, and especially the lyric.

At its core, the singer-songwriter genre implies that the artist also be the primary writer. This isn’t a rule so much as a necessity of the form. The songs tend to express a highly specific, personal worldview, one that is difficult to outsource. Often these artists either write alone or lead the collaborative process until their artistic identity is firmly established. Only then do others begin to write toward that identity.

With Jason Isbell, for example, it’s difficult to separate his impact from his lyrics. The music is effective, but it’s the lyric that draws us in and keeps us there. Remove it, and much of what makes his work particularly unique disappears.

Character, Perspective, and the Question of Agency

Isbell’s songs frequently place us inside the mind of a character who is fractured, struggling, and often self-sabotaging. His characters are people who enter difficult situations willingly, who are drawn to dysfunction, and who carry a deep sense of loss or incompleteness. There is a jagged emotional quality to these songs that feels consistent with many contemporary singer-songwriters.

What’s interesting is how this differs from more traditional country storytelling. While country characters may land themselves in dire circumstances, and even prison, they rarely see themselves as helpless. They retain a sense of agency, even when they fail.

In contrast, much of today’s singer-songwriter material leans toward a victim-oriented perspective. The character is often acted upon by circumstances, relationships, or emotions they feel powerless to change. This sensibility has also bled into pop and contemporary country.

Not all singer-songwriters write from this place, of course. But it’s common enough to be worth noticing. Personally, I look forward to hearing more work that reintroduces accountability, growth, and multi-dimensional self-awareness in which the character can see more than one side of their own story.

Intimacy Through Direct Address

One of the defining lyrical traits of the singer-songwriter style is the use of first- and second-person pronouns: I and you. This creates what we call direct address. The singer is speaking to a specific “you,” which immediately establishes intimacy.

This approach is especially effective when the song captures a critical moment, such as two people navigating a relationship, a conversation, or a turning point. The world of the song becomes very small and very close.

Lizzie McAlpine uses this beautifully. Lines like:

“Straighten your tie, we’re not alone

I’ll tell a lie just to bring you home”

feel personal, almost private. But when she moves into broader statements like I guess it’s all about timing, the “you” becomes universal. The song shifts from a specific interaction to a reflection on being human. This movement from the personal to the universal is a hallmark of the singer-songwriter genre.

Jason Isbell does something similar. He speaks directly to another person, but over time the song widens to encompass the shared desires and contradictions of human experience and the longing for connection, passion, and meaning, even when those things come at a cost.

Uncertainty as a Creative Device

Another distinguishing feature of singer-songwriter writing is its comfort with uncertainty. Lizzie McAlpine’s song “I Guess” is a clear example of how this can be expressed musically and lyrically.

Her phrasing is intentionally off-kilter. The listener never quite knows when the next line will arrive. The tempo is slow, the space between phrases generous. It feels as though she is thinking in real time, discovering the song as she sings it. The rest space becomes part of the meaning.

This is very different from traditional country storytelling, where the narrative typically unfolds at a predictable pace. In McAlpine’s work, the pauses, hesitations, and asymmetries mirror the emotional uncertainty of the lyric. Nothing is accidental, yet everything feels organic.

Beyond Folk: Harmony, Groove, and Production

Singer-songwriter music often overlaps with folk, but many contemporary writers bring in harmonic and rhythmic influences from pop, R&B, jazz, or other styles.

McAlpine, for instance, is harmonically adventurous. Jason Isbell sometimes creates movement through groove or harmonic rhythm rather than chord complexity. These musical choices add depth and interest while still serving the lyric.

Ultimately, though, the lyric remains the signal. No matter how far the music stretches stylistically, it’s the lyric-driven focus that places these songs firmly in the singer-songwriter realm.

Finding Your Own Voice Within the Style

If you’re writing in this genre, you may notice that your songs sound similar to those of other singer-songwriters. That’s not surprising. When we emphasize lyric and write from a culturally shared perspective, it’s easy to inherit the same emotional postures and character traits as the writers who came before us.

This is why it’s especially important, in singer-songwriter music, to express what is genuinely true for you. The genre grows when we expand its lyrical perspective, not when we mimic its current norms.

That growth can also come from the music itself. Don’t discount the expressive potential of your instrument including harmonic rhythm, unexpected chords, altered phrase lengths, or changes in meter. Dropping or adding beats, extending or shortening lines, and playing with form can all serve the emotional intent of the song.

When these musical choices align with the lyric and support the feeling you’re trying to create, you’re engaging in prosody: the alignment between music and meaning. Singer-songwriter music offers rich opportunities for this kind of alignment, perhaps more than we often allow ourselves.

Ultimately, the question isn’t how to sound like a singer-songwriter. It’s how to become more of who you already are within the style, and in doing so, help it evolve.

If you’re curious to explore your voice more deeply, stretch the edges of your style, or simply spend focused time writing in a supportive environment, take a look at one of my upcoming songwriting retreats.

Stay creative,