Folk on Foot

Our wettest episode ever features the wonderful duo Megson (Stu and Debs Hanna) walking, talking and playing along the River Tees between Stockton and Middlesborough. This is where Stu and Debs grew up, began making music and fell in love. Their powerful songs tell vivid stories about the industrial heritage of the area through the eyes of the people who live there. With instruments wrapped in bin bags and recording gear hidden under producer Natalie’s all-encompassing poncho, we head for the Tees Barrage - pausing under bridges and even on a bandstand for Stu and Debs to perform. Th...

Matthew Bannister’s guest on this month’s Official Folk Albums Chart Show from Folk on Foot is the great Martin Simpson. He’ll be telling the fascinating stores behind some of the songs on his acclaimed album “Skydancers”. There’s a live performance from This Is The Kit filmed at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, plus music from Daisy Rickman, India Electric Co., Phil Odgers and John Kettle and Dana Gavanski.

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The singer and fiddle player Jackie Oates is joined by the squeezebox maestro John Spiers for a walk along the mighty River Thames in Oxfordshire. Between a song or two from the lace making industry, and a gorgeous “Lament To The Moon” Jackie talks about her passion for folk song and her recent training as a music therapist which took her into a hospice to help those nearing the end of their lives capture memories in song. She also recalls her folk-style wedding while John muses on the best way to make dandelion wine. It’s a fascinating walk with t...

Matthew Bannister’s guests on this month’s Official Folk Albums Chart Show are Grace Petrie talking about the inspiration behind her album “Build Something Better” and Sam Lee on how his passion for the natural world has shaped “songdreaming”. There’s also music from Joe Solo, Serious Sam Barrett, Martin Carthy, Cara Dillon, Amelia Coburn and John Smith.

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A chance to hear one of our favourite podcasts: The Outdoors Fix, presented by hiker and journalist Liv Bolton and featuring an interview with Matthew Bannister. Liv’s aim is to inspire you to get outside and make the outdoors a bigger part of your life. An idea which – as you know – we’re very much in favour of.

Normally the Outdoors Fix is recorded – well – outdoors. But that wasn’t possible during the Covid lockdowns. So, when Matthew was a guest in 2020, he connected with Liv online. If you’ve ever wondered what inspired Matthew to start Folk on Fo...

The trans pipe and fiddle player Malin Lewis grew up on a magical island off the West coast of Scotland. There were no roads or cars and their family were the only permanent residents. Home schooled till the age of seven, Malin had an idyllic childhood roaming the forests, building dens and splashing in the shallows on the white sand beaches. In this episode this rising star of the Scottish folk scene - with a hotly anticipated debut album about to be released - makes an emotional return to the island to play on the shore and stage a...

This month’s Official Folk Albums Chart Show from Folk on Foot features an interview with Katherine Priddy who is celebrating the success of her second album “The Pendulum Swings”. There’s also music from The Breath, Rachel Sermanni, The Longest Johns, Tapir! and Sir Bryn Terfel.

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Joe Boyd and John Wood were the producer and sound engineer behind some of the greatest folk rock albums of the 1960s and 70s. They worked with Pink Floyd on their first single Arnold Layne, with Fairport Convention on Unhalfbricking and Liege and Lief and with Nick Drake on Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later and Pink Moon. John produced John Martyn’s Bless The Weather and Solid Air while Joe worked with the Incredible String Band. In this conversation with Matthew Bannister on stage at the Indoor Festival of Folk, they tell the extraordinary stories behind the creation of th...

Come with us to the glorious Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland to meet the band TRÚ. Taking their name from a mythological trio of poet-musicians from ancient Ulster, Zach Trouton, Dónal Kearney and Michael Mormecha combine Irish nationalist, Ulster-Scots and British-Ukrainian heritages, crossing boundaries which have often divided Northern Irish communities in the past. In this beautiful episode they are united in creating sweet close harmonies as they sing traditional songs against the backdrop of some of the UK’s most spectacular countryside.

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The Official Folk Albums Chart Show from Folk on Foot features guest appearances from Jon Cleave of the Fisherman’s Friends, reflecting on their extraordinary success and Ian A Anderson telling the story of the legendary Soho club Les Cousins which was at the heart of the folk and blues scene of the 1960s. There’s  music from John Renbourn, Hack Poets Guild, Show of Hands, OXN, Martyn Joseph and the Mary Wallopers.

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We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please eithe...