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.

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Find out more about John at https://www.johnkirkpatrick.co.uk/

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On this month’s show, Matthew is joined by Seth Lakeman and Kathryn Tickell who are both re-examining their past in new albums. Seth marks 20 years since his breakthrough album Kitty Jay by releasing a live version recorded at Dartmoor Prison, while Kathryn has been re-imagining her album On Kielder Side – recorded forty years ago when she was just 16. There’s also music from Laura Marling, Christy Moore, Fionn Regan, Grace Petrie and Kate Rusby.

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Subscribe to the Folk Forecast to explore all the gigs and album news we ran through in the show: https://thefolkforecast.substack.com/

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Enjoy this classic episode from August 2018

Karine Polwart’s solo theatre piece “Wind Resistance” and album “A Pocket of Wind Resistance” were inspired by Fala Moor near her home in Midlothian just south of Edinburgh. She takes Matthew for a walk across the Moor which is a haven for wildlife. As she sings you can hear skylarks and curlews flying around her. Karine tells stories of the people who lived near the moor and the monastic hospital which stood nearby where pioneering herbal treatments were invented. And she reflects on her own life journey from social worker dealing with survivors of domestic violence to award winning folk singer.

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Find out more about Karine at https://www.karinepolwart.com/

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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.

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Find out more about Lunatraktors at https://www.lunatraktors.space/

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Jon Boden is Matthew’s guest on this month’s Official Folk Albums Chart Show, bringing an exclusive performance of one of the Parlour Ballads from his new album. There’s also music from Talisk, Mairearad Green and Rachel Newton, Henry Parker and David Ian Roberts, The Shovel Dance Collective, The Rheingans Sisters, Naima Bock and Nina Nesbitt.

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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 either...

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Subscribe to the Folk Forecast to explore all the gigs and album news we ran through in the show: https://thefolkforecast.substack.com/

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Enjoy this classic episode from August 2020

The award winning singer, songwriter and guitarist Chris Wood has lived in Kent all his life. “If you keep moving around, how much can you trust your judgement?” he asks. “If you stop where you are, the world does eventually come to you.” Since the Brexit referendum and election of 2019, Chris has been in challenging mood. On this walk with his dog Dancer and Matthew Bannister, Chris performs his song “Take Back Control” and contrasts the commuters on the London-bound platform at 6 every morning with what he calls “the slope-shouldered, whey-faced broken people” in Faversham’s greasy spoons and declining market place. “This is my muse,” he tells us. “This darkness and this hypocrisy and these contradictions – I thrive on it”.

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Find out more about Chris at chriswoodmusic.co.uk

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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!

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Find out more about Dan at https://www.dan-whitehouse.com/

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This month’s show features a beautiful live performance by Cara Dillon at the Grand Opera House in Belfast plus music from Gnoss, Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, Gryphon, The Wandering Hearts, Martin Simpson and Skerryvore. Lucy Shields has all the gig and album release info and there’s news of a new episode of Folk on Foot featuring glass blowing.

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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 either...

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Subscribe to the Folk Forecast to explore all the gigs and album news we ran through in the show: https://thefolkforecast.substack.com/

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Enjoy this classic episode from August 2018

Eliza Carthy inherited her love of English music from her famous folk singing parents, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Norma had recently suffered a serious illness and Eliza moved back to the family home in the North Yorkshire fishing village of Robin Hood’s Bay to look after her. Eliza takes Matthew on a walk along the cliffs near her home, reflecting on her family heritage and then on to the farm where the whole extended family used to live when she was a child. Martin, Norma and Eliza’s aunt Ann and cousin Marry gather at the kitchen table for a rousing and emotional sing.

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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 either...

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Find out more about Eliza at https://eliza-carthy.com/

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The cellist, singer and environmental campaigner Sarah Smout takes us for a beautiful summer walk along the River Wharfe in North Yorkshire. Along the way she explains how her love of the natural world inspires her music and stops to play, sing and read one of her poems. Then we head up to Fleet Moss where a five-year-long project has been restoring the badly damaged peat bog - which is vital for carbon capture. Jenny Sharman of the Yorkshire Peat Partnership joins us to tell the fascinating story behind the work - then Sarah sings the song inspired by it.

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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 either...

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Find out more about Sarah at https://www.sarahsmoutmusic.co.uk/

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