Folk on Foot

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

On this month’s show, Matthew is joined by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart to talk about their beautiful new album “Looking for the Thread”. There’s also music from Richard Dawson, Seth Lakeman, Anna B Savage, Cole Stacey, Cynefin, Altan and Rhona Macfarlane. Lucy Shields has the album preview and gig news.---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/

Every winter, Rachael and Becky Unthank and their extended families invite their fans to join them for singing weekends in their native Northumberland. Some fifty people stay together at a bunkhouse where pianist/producer Adrian McNally does the cooking, and Rachel and Becky lead singing workshops. The weekend includes a session in the atmospheric local pub, where Matthew joins the group for a singalong. Then Rachel takes him for a walk on her favourite beach at Low Newton By The Sea, where she sings “The Flower of Northumberland” and “Here’s The Tender Coming”.---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

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

Ho Ho Ho! Enjoy traditional Christmas carols, midwinter Morris dancing, a peal of bells and a recipe for Christmas pudding set to music as we head for the Three Tuns pub in Bishop’s Castle with squeezebox maestro John Kirkpatrick MBE, the Castle Carollers and the Shropshire Bedlams. Along the way we’ll discover the story behind ancient winter customs like wassailing and find out why John is so passionate about the festive season.---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 John at https://www.johnkirkpatrick.co.uk/

Delve into the history of madness as we walk with the “broken folk” duo Lunatraktors in the 200 acre grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London. Clair le Couteur and Carli Jefferson are fascinated by the story of the hospital which was founded in the 13th century by monks - and nicknamed “Bedlam”. They perform songs inspired by the place including a mash up of “Tom O’Bedlam” with “Mad Maudlin” and “Through Moorfields”. They also don their “hazard bear” costumes for s spot of improvised overtone singing.---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 Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Lunatraktors at https://www.lunatraktors.space/

For four hundred years, Stourbridge in the West Midlands was at the heart of Britain’s glass making industry. The local landscape was dotted with distinctive brick built cones, or chimneys, where the glass was made. The local singer and songwriter Dan Whitehouse made an album called “Voices From The Cones” based on recordings of the memories of glass workers. In this extraordinary episode he takes us to a former glass works - now a college teaching craft skills to neurodivergent students - and sings the songs inspired by this fascinating industry. And Matthew gets to try his hand at glass blowing!---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 Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonfoot---Find out more about Dan at https://www.dan-whitehouse.com/