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. --- We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either... Become a patron and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfoot Or just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfoot Sign up for our newsle ..read more

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 Foot or what it feels like to record some of ..read more

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 homecoming concert in the abandoned village hall. --- We rel ..read more

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. --- We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either... Become a patron and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfoot Or just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfoot Sign up for our newsletter at www.folkonfoot.com Follow us on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @folkonf ..read more

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 these classic albums ..read more

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. --- We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either... Become a patron and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfoot O ..read more

The beloved baggy cloth cat Bagpuss is fifty years old in 2024. We celebrate his birthday by visiting Sandra Kerr at her home in the Northumberland village of Warkworth. Sandra co-wrote and arranged the music for the series and provided some of the voices. In her cosy music room she shows us her Bagpuss souvenirs, reflects on the show’s enduring appeal and sings one of the songs. Then, on a walk along the River Coquet, Sandra looks back to the folk revival of the 1960s, recalling working as a nanny for Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in exchange for music lessons. Finally, she’s joined by her da ..read more

In the Official Folk Albums Chart of the Year Show 2023, Matthew Bannister counts down the biggest selling and most streamed folk albums of the year. There are guest appearances by Sean Cooney of the Young’Uns, Kathryn Tickell, Shirley Collins and Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane, plus exclusive performances from James Yorkston and Nina Persson, Angeline Morrison and Katherine Priddy. Matthew also features highlights of the December chart, including an interview with Jim Moray and music from Spell Songs, Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden and Kate Rusby. --- We rely entirely on support from our list ..read more

This year’s seasonal episode takes us to the village of Mallwyd in mid Wales to join the ancient tradition of the plygain carols. On a dark, cold night, local people gather in the warm and welcoming St Tydecho’s Church to sing Welsh language carols which have been handed down through successive generations of their families. They’re joined by Gwilym Bowen Rhys who unearthed his carol in a second hand book shop and by Owen Shiers (Cynefin) whose singing group travels around several plygain services at this time of year. Asked why she joins in, one singer exclaims: “I just feel part of the ages ..read more

Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane are Matthew Bannister’s guests on this month’s Official Folk Albums Chart Show from Folk on Foot. They talk about the inspiration behind their new album “The Moon Also Rises” in a conversation that ranges across ancient burial chambers, a love song for Cosmo Sheldrake’s wedding, composing on the South Downs and wassailing. There’s also music from Thea Gilmore, Catrin Finch and Aoife Ni Bhriain, Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones, Show of Hands and Kerry Andrew/You Are Wolf.  --- We rely entirely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. I ..read more