Following the release of Sebadoh's
Bubble and Scrape in 1993, Barlow received a tape from Davis, songwriter and librarian, that kicked off their collaboration as a songwriting team and studio recording project. The Folk Implosion released
Walk Through This World with the Folk Implosion on cassette in 1993 on the Communion Label and as a 7-inch EP in 1994 on Drunken Fish. The band's status was relatively obscure before
Larry Clark's film
Kids, and its soundtrack, most of which contained original compositions by Barlow and Davis. Both Sebadoh and Folk Implosion contributed to the soundtrack, with the track "Daddy Never Understood" attributed to Deluxx Folk Implosion. Deluxx Folk Implosion included Barlow, Davis, and members of the band Deluxx, Bob Fay and Mark Peretta. The introduction of Fay and Peretta to the band allowed the Folk Implosion to realize its songs live. "
Natural One", one of the Folk Implosion songs from the
Kids soundtrack, became a hit single. The track peaked at no. 45 in the
UK Singles Chart. In 1996, the band covered the song "
I'm Just a Bill" from
Schoolhouse Rock! for the tribute album
Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks as "Deluxx Folk Implosion". Though the band attempted to duplicate the success of "Natural One", their subsequent releases were not as successful. The group had started work on the album in 1995 before "Natural One" was released. After the success of the
Kids Soundtrack, Folk Implosion signed to
Interscope Records and recorded the 1999 studio album
One Part Lullaby. The lead single "Free to Go" peaked moderately in both the US and UK. While the album was well reviewed, Barlow and Davis chose not to tour for the album and the project in its original incarnation slowed to an end. After Davis left the band in 2000, Barlow recruited
Russ Pollard and
Imaad Wasif from the band
Alaska! to record
The New Folk Implosion. In 2002, the band appeared as the backing musicians for the main character played by
Alessandro Nivola in the film
Laurel Canyon. John Davis returned to teaching and began to release music again as a solo artist in 2013. In 2021, the band begun recording new material, and played a small acoustic set live. They also released an expanded edition of the
Walk Through This World EP on Bandcamp on September 11, 2021. The following year, the band released the "Feel It If You Feel It" single, followed by the
It Just Goes With EP in March 2023, and it was their first new material in nearly 20 years. A few months later, Folk Implosion released
Music for Kids. It consisted of the band's contributions to the
Kids soundtrack in addition to other songs recorded during the same era. ==Discography==