Folk on Foot

The Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and his band LYR perform poems and music inspired by the stories told by the people of the West Yorkshire Village of Marsden, where Simon grew up. It’s all part of the annual “Cuckoo Day” festival in the village, celebrating the myth that local people thought they could keep the spring going all year round if they could only capture a cuckoo. Amongst the poetry there are outbreaks of morris dancing, organ playing and the emotional story of a mangle.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about LYR https://www.lyrband.com/

The great Peggy Seeger is Matthew’s guest on this month’s show as she prepares to celebrate her 90th birthday later this month. She says her current tour and album will be her last, so what will she miss about performing? Has her lifetime of protesting secured progress? And does she feel that time is running out for her? There’s also music from Kate Rusby, Skinny Lister, Merry Hell, Màiri Morrison, Alasdair Roberts and Pete Johnston, Iona Lane and Capercaillie.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Bluesky/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot---Subscribe to the Folk Forecast to explore all the gigs and album news we ran through in the show: https://thefolkforecast.substack.com/

Enjoy this classic episode from May 2022. Raynor Winn’s best-selling book “The Salt Path” tells how she and her husband Moth became homeless just as he was diagnosed with a terminal neuro-degenerative disease. Despite this, they set off to walk the 630 challenging miles of the South West Coast Path. The redemptive story of their dogged determination, loving relationship and close connection with the natural world made the book a best seller.Now Raynor has teamed up with Peter Knight’s brilliant Gigspanner Big Band to create a new show which combines traditional music from the South West Coast with words about the area. In this atmospheric episode, host Matthew Bannister goes to rehearsals in a village hall near Exmouth, and then walks the Coast Path with Raynor.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Bluesky/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot---Follow Raynor Winn at https://www.instagram.com/raynor.winnFind out more about the Gigspanner Big Band at https://www.gigspanner.com/gigspanner-big-band

Come with us on a fascinating walk in the historic City of London with rising stars of the folk world Goblin Band. From an ancient church ringing to the Castleton Carol, via an underground car park where the remains of the Roman Wall form the backdrop to “The Twa Corbies” and onto the banks of the River Thames for some mudlarking and a beautiful “Grey Funnel Line”, these talented young performers share their passion for passing on traditional music to a new generation of listeners.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Goblin Band at https://goblinbanduk.bandcamp.com/

A violin made from the floorboards of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s home - a climb to the top of the Happisburgh lighthouse - and a song about whales stranded on the shore - just three of the highlights of this glorious sunny seaside walk with the Norfolk singer and fiddle player Georgia Shackleton. So kick off your shoes, roll up your trousers or hitch up your skirts and paddle along the beach with us.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Georgia Shackleton at https://georgiashackleton.co.uk/

Bob Dylan described Ashley Hutchings as “The Godfather of English Folk Rock -he gave us a genre we couldn’t refuse”. Bass player Ashley was behind the formation of three great bands: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. As he celebrates his 80th birthday, Ashley joins Matthew Bannister on stage at Cecil Sharp House to look back on his life. He recalls the heady days of the 1960s, supporting Pink Floyd, being joined on stage by Jimi Hendrix, seeing Paul Simon play in a Soho folk club and inviting Sandy Denny and Dave Swarbrick to join Fairport. Then - following the road accident that killed Fairport’s drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklin - retiring to the country to come up with the first British folk rock album “Liege and Lief”. He also tells how he fell in love with the great singer Shirley Collins, but then was unfaithful and broke up their marriage. It’s a fascinating insight into the career of one of the great pioneers of British music.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Ashley Hutchings at http://ashleyhutchings.co.uk/

Cole Stacey’s album “Postcards from Lost Places” was recorded in atmospheric locations around Dartmoor. In this episode Cole retraces his steps - taking us back to some of those places and performing the songs inspired by them. We hear about his journey into folk music, his partnership with Joseph O’Keefe in India Electric Co - and his experiences of touring with Midge Ure. But most of all we enjoy a spectacular cold and sunny day on Dartmoor.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Cole Stacey at https://colestacey.net

The history of the transatlantic slave trade and its legacy in Bristol are at the heart of this episode. It features West Country singer Reg Meuross, concertina player Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and kora player Modou Ndaiye performing music from Reg’s powerful “Stolen from God” song cycle as we follow the route taken by the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston which was toppled from its plinth by Black Lives Matter protesters and thrown into the harbour. We also visit the Bristol Beacon (formerly Colston Hall), the Cathedral and the MShed Museum where the statue now lies on its back, covered in graffiti and surrounded by replicas of the banners carried during that day of protest. A perfect backdrop for the song “Good Morning Mr. Colston”.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Reg Meuross at http://www.regmeuross.com/

The Brighton based band Bird in the Belly take us for a walk on the South Downs Way during the Tremula Festival of Outdoor Podcasting. For the very first time, we’re joined by an audience of Folk on Foot fans. The band (Laura Ward, Adam Ronchetti Tom Pryor and Jinwoo) share a song about a day out in Brighton in 1813, a love song to a Welsh Ploughboy and music inspired by the nature writer Richard Jefferies' 1885 post apocalyptic novel “After London”. Then we head into a beautiful village church for the grand finale.---We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfootOr just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfootSign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.comFollow us on Facebook/Instagram/Bluesky: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Bird in the Belly: https://www.birdinthebelly.comFind out more about Tremula Festival: https://tremula.network