Crooked Still's five musicians know how to make traditional songs sound new again, in the process creating a genre fusion in which alternative folk blends with bluegrass and the sounds of string bands.

NPR: First Listen: Crooked Still, 'Some Strange Country'

Other British successes included Mumford and Sons who topped the rock, alternative and folk album artist categories, as well as scoring the honour in each of the genres for their album Babel.

BBC: Adele named Billboard top artist of 2012

The group kicked off a change in radio programming, as so-called alternative stations have put them and other folk bands into rotation next to hard-rock acts.

WSJ: Not Your Granny's Grammys

In Portugal during the Salazar dictatorship, composers had to make nationalistic use of folk music, which drove some into alternative careers.

ECONOMIST: Banned music

Imagine a singer-songwriter with a lilting folk-rock style covering the songs of alternative rockers.

NPR: Sun Kil Moon: 'Tiny Cities'

Eating pancakes with meat, mushroom or sweet fillings and watching folk dances and games in Pirohovo museum in Kiev on this occasion is a more authentic alternative to dressing up for Mardi Gras.

BBC: Pagan holidays in modern Ukraine