Laura Marling: Influences

Laura Marling's fierce folktales piece together a rich legacy of fingerpicking pioneers and rock rebels. The way she draws emotion out of a simple six-string echoes the wily acoustic arrangements of British folk master Bert Jansch, while her most poignant confessions evoke the crushing ballads of Elliott Smith. Her soft-spoken wit and whimsy combine Joni Mitchell's incisive poetry with Beck's most introspective pieces.