A selection of unique performances recorded on location for Folk on Foot by Frank Turner, Kitty Macfarlane, Chris Wood, Johnny Flynn, Ninebarrow and O’Hooley and Tidow.

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Matthew Bannister counts down the latest Official Folk Albums Chart with seven new entries and a new number 1. Includes live tracks from Steeleye Span and Stick in the Wheel and music from Martin Simpson, Jenny Sturgeon, Seth Lakeman, Kris Drever, Dyble Longdon and Laura Marling.

Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow have an uncanny ability to move you to tears one moment then have you roaring with laughter the next. In summer 2020 they were planning to capitalise on the new found fame caused by having their song “Gentleman Jack” as the theme tune of the hit BBC TV drama based on the life of Anne Lister. But the lockdown put paid to all the touring they’d planned.  So they stayed at home in the beautiful Colne Valley, taking full advantage of the opportunity to enjoy watching their one year old son Flynn grow and learn. On our walk along the canal  (with Flynn in the sling) they share the lullabies they use to soothe him to sleep. They also sing “Colne Valley Hearts” which celebrates the many characters they’ve met in the area and “The Hum” which responds to the noise of a local factory.

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The multi award winning Dorset duo Ninebarrow take Matthew Bannister for a walk in the glorious countryside of the Isle of Purbeck. Their exquisite harmonies ring out across the Bronze Age burial mounds at Nine Barrow Down (which gave the band its name) as they savour the spectacular view of Poole Harbour, Swanage and the Isle of Wight. They end up in St James’s Church in the village of Kingston where Jon and Jay sing “Row On” in the wonderful acoustic of this special building.

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In our first post lockdown episode, actor and musician Johnny Flynn takes Matthew Bannister for a walk on the Hackney Marshes, a huge expanse of public land which has no fewer than 88 football pitches alongside a nature reserve which has grown up in disused gravel pits. As well as singing his distinctive, haunting songs, Johnny relates his near miss with a bear on the Camino to Santiago, reflects on discovering the music of Bob Dylan as a teenager and talks about his friendship with the nature writer Robert Macfarlane.

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Another extraordinary Bank Holiday Monday virtual Festival from Folk on Foot, this time re-uniting musicians who couldn’t play together during the lockdown. The Breath; Eliza Carthy and David Delarre; Johnny Flynn and his band; Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley and Duncan Chisholm; Karine Polwart, Steven Polwart and Inge Thomson; Kris Drever, John McCusker and Phil Cunningham; Lady Nade, Kit Hawes and Aaron Catlow; Nancy Kerr, Martin Simpson and Andy Cutting; Peggy Seeger, Neill and Calum MacColl; Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl; Sam Lee and his band; Show of Hands and Spiers and Boden. We have hand-picked the glorious highlights from seven hours of beautiful music for you to enjoy.   

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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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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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