Kitty Macfarlane is known for her pure voice, poetic song writing and passion for the natural world. On this unexpectedly sunny January walk, she and Matthew Bannister climb the historic Burrow Mump Hill. Here she sings a song inspired by the view, “Man Friendship”.   As they walk along the nearby river, Kitty stops to sing her song about migration: “Glass Eel”. Then it’s off to her favourite bird sanctuary where they observe many different species and she sings her song about witnessing a murmuration of starlings.

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Frank Turner is a man of contrasts: the old Etonian who became a punk; the heavy metal fan who became a folk-influenced singer songwriter. On this walk through his old haunts on the Holloway Road in North London he reveals the inspiration for his change in musical direction, calling in at the venue Nambucca where ""the scales fell from my eyes"" and he discovered the power of ""three chords and the truth". In the empty venue he plays the songs he wrote about the creative scene there, before heading down the road to The Garage, where his passion for punk was ignited. Along the way he reflects on the history of the area, his sofa-surfing experiences, his tattoos and his relationship with his mother.  

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A delicious taster of some of the amazing new episodes coming your way in season 5 of Folk on Foot. Recorded before the lockdown, we’ve been walking with Kitty Macfarlane on the Somerset Levels, Chris Wood in Faversham and Frank Turner on the Holloway Road in North London.

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Featuring “Queen of Waters” by Nancy Kerr, “Scapa Flow 1919” by Kris Drever, “Sleeping Beauty” by Bella Hardy, “I’m a Woman on Wheels” by Peggy Seeger, “The Token” by Rachel Newton, “Walking Through Ithonside” by John Jones and the Reluctant Ramblers and The Melrose Quartet singing “Bright New Year”. 

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On Monday 25th May – Spring Bank Holiday in the UK – we staged the Folk on Foot Front Room Festival 2 with an astonishing line up of artists. The show lasted for eight hours – but we have distilled it down to two hours of highlights, featuring: Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman, Chris Wood, Duncan Chisholm, Eliza Carthy, Frank Turner and Jess Guise, Gwilym Bowen Rhys, John Smith, Johnny Flynn, Kate Rusby and Damien O’Kane, Kathryn Tickell, Kitty Macfarlane, O’Hooley and Tidow, Richard Thompson and Zara Phillips, Rioghnach Connolly and Ellis Davies – all playing from their front rooms (and gardens). Plus the online premiere of a behind the scenes film of the Unthanks on their recent “unaccompanied” tour. It was a remarkable and emotional day which raised loads of money for musicians who can’t work during the lockdown.

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Jarlath Henderson has been described as the “Jimi Hendrix of the uilleann pipes”.  He is also a fine singer and accomplished player of the whistle. At the age of 17 he became the youngest ever winner of the Radio 2 Young Folk award. He comes from Northern Ireland but has now made his home in Scotland where he combines his musical career with working as a doctor in emergency medicine.

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Su-a Lee is a classically trained cellist who loves breaking down musical barriers. With the group Mr McFall’s Chamber she’s played contemporary classical music in night clubs and she regularly collaborates with Scotland’s leading folk players.  She is also a keen walker and bagger of Munros. Sitting on a rock by the river at Sligachan, she tells Matthew Bannister the poignant story of climbing Ben Nevis with her cello on her back to pay musical tribute to her late husband shortly after he died. Then she unveils her secret weapon...

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The Edinburgh-born harpist, fiddle player and singer Rachel Newton sings in both English and Gaelic and is a member of The Shee, The Furrow Collective and the Lost Words Spell Songs. We walked with her on the Isle of Skye in November 2019 where she was taking part in the wonderful Festival of Small Halls, in which top Scottish musicians come together to tour the community halls of the island.

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On Easter Bank Holiday Monday, April 13th 2020, we organised the Folk on Foot Front Room Festival - seven and a half hours of wonderful folk music from 15 top artists playing in their front rooms, linked by Matthew Bannister from his. Bella Hardy, Beth Porter and the Bookshop Band, Jon Boden, Julie Fowlis and Éamon Doorley, Karine Polwart, Kerry Andrew/You are Wolf, Kris Drever, Lisa Knapp, Martin Simpson, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Peggy Seeger, Rachel Newton, Sam Lee, Seth Lakeman and Steve Knightley all played sets of around 30 minutes. The festival raised £110,000 for musicians unable to work during the coronavirus lockdown. Here are some of the highlights of an amazing day.

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The singer, songwriter and fiddle player Bella Hardy takes Matthew for a rain-sodden walk through the majestic countryside of the Edale Valley in the Peak District where she was brought up and has now returned to live. Undaunted by the weather, they go to the Penny Pot café, the 1811 Methodist Chapel where Bella teaches a singing group and on to her mother’s cottage where they stop for very welcome tea, biscuits and songs, including a local Castleton carol and Bella’s own compositions “Sleeping Beauty” and “Tequila Moon”.

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