Folk Episodes

Tale 9… Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader has three BRIT Awards to her name, fronted punk outfit Gang of Four, harmonized with Annie Lennox touring with the Eurythmics, and topped the UK charts with Fairground Attraction. But when I caught up with her at Cambridge Folk Festival she revea…

Tale 8… Karine Polwart’s edgy and evocative writing and vocal poise have been steadily winning her respect and affection in the UK and internationally over the past six years as a member of traditional groups Malinky and Battlefield Band.  But now the Scottish Borders based singer-songwriter …

Tale 4: Roddy Frame is an absolute delight.  It’s rare for a performer armed only with an acoustic guitar to create a sound which could be mistaken for ten men and his charismatic stage-presence completely captivates any audience.  This style of performance is a long cry from Roddy’s days …

Tale 1… There’s more to ex-Fairport Convention Vikki Clayton than excellent song writing, a haunting singing voice and musical talent. Beneath the quiet exterior lurks a passion for cats, a fetish for shoes and an empathy for mankind. This tale dates back to October 12th 2001, read the transc…

Emmy and Brit Award-nominated composer, Sarah Class, has become one of Britain’s most sought-after composers and is described as having the ‘Midas touch’ when it comes to creating music.  She’s an accomplished musician and highly acclaimed at scoring for film and television, winning a Best Score …

Ian Anderson is the cat that walks by himself despite leading one of the most iconic, not to mention successful, bands of all time. Charismatic frontman, virtuoso flautist and composer, Ian has been steadfast through Jethro Tull’s many musical incarnations, which, with its idiosyncratic blend of…

My guest today is the hugely talented and critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Boo Hewerdine. The musician’s musician, Boo is widely regarded as one of the UK’s best singer songwriters and his cult band, The Bible, still excites passion amongst music lovers, despite being disbanded in the early n…

In 1977 when singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke signed to Elton John’s Rocket label, she couldn’t imagine that over 40 years later she would still be performing. Her biggest success came a couple of years later with album Welcome to the Cruise with her single Stay With Me Till Dawn reaching number 16 in…

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Martin Simpson is hailed as the hardest working man in folk music and, after years of relentless touring, has welcomed a little breathing space imposed by recent events. Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s finest guitarists, Martin is a true vi…

Peggy Seeger is totally unique. A singer of traditional Anglo-American songs, she has carved a special niche for herself on both sides of the Atlantic and is considered to be one of the most influential folk singers of all time. Classically trained, Peggy plays no less than six musical instrumen…

South Londoner Ben was busking at Waterloo underground when Joan Armatrading happened to pass by. Immediately impressed, she invited him to join her on tour, supporting her at major venues across Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the UK and Ireland. Hailed as a latter day Bob Dylan, Ben has two albums a…

It’s exactly 40 years since John Otway’s now legendary appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test with Wild Willy Barrett with gymnastic antics to ‘Really Free’. It was this performance that shot John to fame but despite a financial backing of £2m, in today’s figures, from Polydor Records it was a …

I chat to John Jones of folk-rock band, Oysterband, at the Cherry Hinton pond at Cambridge Folk Festival as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary.

One from the vault! Critically acclaimed Folk/Americana singer-songwriter, Amy Speace has a velvety and achy voice reminiscent of Lucinda Williams. A former Shakespearean actress, she now lives in Nashville, but I caught up with her on one of her UK tours very early on in her career.

One from the analogue vault. Renegade Sharon. From her stints with the Waterboys, it seems that just putting an accordion in Sharon Shannon's hands makes her happy. Luckily for the soft-spoken Sharon, others are just as happy when she picks it up.

One from the analogue vault! Winner of both the Horizon Award for Best Newcomer and the Best Album Award for Sweet England at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2004, Jim Moray is single-handedly turning folk music on its head. Taking traditional English songs he re-works them electronically to crea…

One from the analogue vault. It had been a fairytale year for Australian trio, The Waifs, who had managed to create a stir on three continents as well as fulfilling their own personal ambitions. But despite their new found popularity, they'd managed to keep their feet well and truly on the groun…

One from the vaults! English singer-songwriter, Beth Orton, was performing at Leicester's Summer Sundae Weekender amongst a vast array of musical styles over the two day festival when I caught up with her backstage with a group of journalists. We chatted about her performance at the Eden Proj…