John Flynn

Festival host John Flynn is a Wilmington, Delaware–based singer-songwriter and one of the most genuine and purposeful voices in contemporary folk music. Flynn tells heartfelt, compelling stories in plainspoken language. And John doesn’t just write songs about change—he lives it as he works extensively with the incarcerated and marginalized. This activism fuels much of his music and gives it a grounded, lived-in feeling. Flynn's songs comfort, challenge, and inspire. Ray Wylie Hubbard writes, “You want a bad ass folk cat who tears off pieces of his soul, rhymes them and lays lyrics that bleed on melodies that even poet angels smoking cigarettes in the alleys of seventh heaven envy and soulful little demons hanging around Detroit recording studios all wishing they could sing like him? Well then, John Flynn is your man.” Music this heartfelt, principled, and well-crafted doesn’t come along often—John Flynn is worth your time.

Listen to all the 2026 Philadelphia Folk Festival performers.