Jim Abel (born March 1, 1947 in Independence, Missouri) is an American singer-songwriter.
 He writes and performs a style of folk and alternative music, influenced by the American Songbook, Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, and music of the 1960s.
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie ( ; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter who is regarded as one of the most significant figures in American folk music; his songs, including social justice songs, such as "This Land Is Your Land", have inspired several generations both politically and musically.
 He wrote hundreds of political, folk, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works.
 His album of songs about the Dust Bowl period, "Dust Bowl Ballads", is included on "Mojo" magazine's 100 Records That Changed The World.
 Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress.
 Songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Jay Farrar, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Bob Childers, Sammy Walker, and Tom Paxton have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence.
 He frequently performed with the slogan "This machine kills fascists" displayed on his guitar.
Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music.
 Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music.
 This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s.
 The most common name for this new form of music is also "folk music", but is often called "contemporary folk music" or "folk revival music" to make the distinction.
 The transition was somewhat centered in the US and is also called the American folk music revival.
 Fusion genres such as folk rock, folktronica, and others also evolved within this phenomenon.
 While contemporary folk music is a genre generally distinct from traditional folk music, it often shares the same English name, performers and venues as traditional folk music; even individual songs may be a blend of the two.
The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music, or roots music.
 Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as Great Britain, Europe, or Africa.
 Mike Seeger once famously commented that the definition of American folk music is "...all the music that fits between the cracks."
Troubadours of Folk is a five volume series of compact discs released by Rhino Records in 1992.
 The series documents several decades worth of "contemporary" folk music.
 The first three volumes focus on the American "folk revival" of the 1960s while the final two volumes focus on singer-songwriter music of the 1970s and 1980s.
 Because of "licensing restrictions" no songs by Bob Dylan could be included in the anthology.
 The series tends to focus on American folk music although not exclusively.
 Rhino later released a series of volumes titled "Troubadours of British Folk".
Jayme Stone is a Canadian banjoist, composer and producer who makes music inspired by sounds from around the world.
 His solo album "The Utmost" won the 2008 Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year.
 With Mansa Sissoko, he won the 2009 Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year for their album "Africa to Appalachia".
 Stone's third album, Room of Wonders, won him a Canadian Folk Music Award for Instrumental Artist of the Year in 2011.
Buell Kazee (August 29, 1900 - August 31, 1976) was an American country and folk singer.
 He is considered one of the most successful folk musicians of the 1920s and experienced a career comeback during the American folk music revival of the 1960s due in part to his inclusion on the "Anthology of American Folk Music".
Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs (February 7, 1898 – February 7, 1971) was an influential old-time singer, songwriter and banjo player.
 His style of banjo playing, as well as his singing, is considered a unique combination of Appalachian folk music and African-American blues.
 Contemporary folk musicians and performers consider him a seminal figure, at least in part because of the appearance of two of his recordings from the 1920s, "Sugar Baby" and "Country Blues", on Harry Smith's 1951 collection "Anthology of American Folk Music".
 Boggs was first recorded in 1927 and again in 1929, although he worked primarily as a coal miner for most of his life.
 He was "rediscovered" during the folk music revival of the 1960s and spent much of his later life playing at folk music festivals and recording for Folkways Records.
Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement".
 Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals.
 An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. "
Time" magazine included her song "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music."
Dave Carter (August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2002) was an American folk singer-songwriter who described his style as "post-modern mythic American folk music."
 He was one half of the duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, who were heralded as the new "voice of modern folk music" in the months before Carter's unexpected death in July 2002.
 They were ranked as number one on the year-end list for "Top Artists" on the "Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart" for 2001 and 2002, and their popularity has endured in the years following Carter's death.
 Joan Baez who went on tour with the duo in 2002 spoke of Carter's songs in the same terms that she once used to promote a young Bob Dylan:

Question: What American singer-songwriter who is regarded as one of the most significant figures in American folk music inspired Jim Abel?
Answer: Woodrow Wilson Guthrie