Today, I'm talking to broadside ballads singer, Jennifer Reid. Although Jenn has been involved in researching and singing these songs for a decade, I'm ashamed to say that she only turned up on my radar when she appeared as the ballad-singing bar owner, Barb, in the recent BBC adaptation of The Gallows Pole. I've since discovered that she's a force…

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? But, like buses, you wait ages for an Old Songs Podcast episode and then two come along in quick succession. Because this edition is the first in a two-part thing. Today, we’re chatting to Jim Moray about passing the two-decade mark as a professional musician, about one of my favourite of his traditional arrangements, …

Episode 8 of the second series of The Old Songs Podcast, supported, so very kindly, by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, is an unusual one as it focuses on an old tune rather than an old song. Prepare yourself to delve into the background of one of the most well-known Morris dancing tunes, 'Princess Royal'. Joining Jon Wilks to discuss the t…

This Christmassy episode of the Old Songs Podcast turns the tables slightly, as Nick Hart interviews Jon Wilks about a traditional folk song of wintery note, 'The Gloucestershire Wassail' [Roud 209]. The pair chat about the history of the song, where it was collected, where it travelled to, what the lyrics might refer to, the definition of wassaili…

Roud 2 goes under so many titles, it might be easier just to stick with 'Roud 2' and be done with it. Whether you know it as 'When I was on Horseback' or 'The Unfortunate Rake', or any of the other titles you may find, it's a grizzly old song with a fascinating history. And who better to discuss it with than Debbie Armour of Burd Ellen, always a fu…

Emily Portman, Rob Harbron and Jon Wilks discuss the traditional ballad, ‘The Trees They Do Grow High’ [Roud 31], a song that Emily and Rob have recorded for their new album, Time Was Away. Subjects covered include the duo’s first encounter with traditional folk music, their work with the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Emily’s interpretations…

'Shallow Brown' [Roud 2621] is a much-loved and rather mysterious traditional folk song. Collected on both coasts of the United States, as well as the South coast of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Canada, the most common versions of this mesmerising sea shanty hint at heart-breaking experiences of the transatlantic slave trade. In this, the …

'The Brisk Lad' [Roud 1667] was collected from Edith Sartin by the Hammond brothers in 1906 in Corscombe, Dorset. Also known as 'The Sheepstealer' and 'All I Have is My Own', it has been performed and recorded by many traditional folk singers over the ensuing century (and a bit). Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith chose to speak about the song here f…

'Sweet Lemany' [Roud 193] is a traditional folk song that has entranced countless singers, not least Hannah Martin of Edgelarks, SykesMartin, Gigspanner and Saltlines. The song is an aubade (a piece of music for the morning) and features mystical lyrics that may (or may not) refer to a druidic figure and the magic of early summer. Ahead of her perf…

Everything you ever wanted to know about the traditional ballad, ‘Lucy Wan’ [Roud 234] can be found in the first episode of the second series of The Old Songs Post, featuring the English traditional ballad singer, Nick Hart. On this page you’ll find all the notes, links, track listings, etc, mentioned in the podcast itself. It can be heard by click…

The voice you hear at the beginning of this episode is the voice of the late, great traditional singer, Cecilia Costello, one of Birmingham’s finest, explaining how her father would present this week’s song back in her childhood in Victorian England. ‘The Cruel Mother’ is a huge song, and even that’s an understatement, but it’s also a song that rea…

Episode 12 of The Old Songs Podcast opens with the earliest known recording of this week’s Old Song, The Banks of Green Willow [Roud 172]. It’s the sound of David Clements, singing in either 1906 or 1909 – we’ll come to that later – recorded on wax cylinder by either Charles Gamblin and George Gardiner, or the legendary composer, Ralph Vaughan Will…

In the last episode, number 10, we chatted with Jim Moray, so I thought for a bit of consistency I’d use his version of this episode’s song to kick us off. That’s off his album The Outlander, and that’s the wonderful Josienne Clarke – who we must get on this podcast one day – singing with him. So, the song is Lord Gregory, and my guest this week is…

OK then. This one’s an epic. In this episode, Jim Moray and Jon Wilks discuss the traditional song, “The Leaving Of Liverpool” [Roud 9435], where it came from, and the fascinating journey it went on to become one of the best-known songs in the cannon. Along the way they touch on the history of sea shanties, the idea that songs can have a nationalit…

“Every song needs an address.” So quotes Owen Shiers of Cynefin later on this in podcast – a sentence, I think, that sums up so much of what The Old Songs Podcast is all about. I lived for several years in North Wales, and perhaps I was too young and too busy being a young person to develop any serious interest in Welsh culture – something I’ve reg…

I’m writing this intro at 11:45pm on April 30th, desperate to get the podcast done in time for the very start of May. Why? You’ll see why over the next hour or so. In the traditional calendar, no month quite rivals this one. From the perspective of traditional song, it’s also the calendric home of one of my favourites. ‘Hal-An-Tow’, or Roud 1520 to…

‘Dives and Lazarus’ may seem like an odd song to look at in early April, given that it’s commonly thought of as a carol. But that’s the nature of The Old Songs Podcast. If the guest wants to discuss Christmas carols in April, then who am I to question their motives? It’s another unusual episode, recorded in the confines of coronavirus lockdown. My …

An Old Songs episode for these hard times, and one featuring a legend I’ve long admired: Mr Billy Bragg. I had been meaning to record something on “Hard Times Of Old England” for some time, but hadn’t had the time or contacts to do it justice. The coronavirus situation offered me time in abundance, and it just so happened that my ideal interviewee …

I didn’t have to travel far to meet this week’s guest, my friend, kinda neighbour and fellow Whitchurch Folk Club organiser, Paul Sartin. In the wider folk world he’s probably best known as a member of Faustus, Belshazzar’s Feast and, or course, a former member of Bellowhead. But it’s Paul’s encyclopaedic knowledge of traditional folk music, and, i…

In the fourth episode of The Old Songs Podcast, we’re going on a journey. For an hour or so of your time, we’ll be exploring unaccompanied singing, and we’ll doing so in the company of one of my favourite traditional ballad singers, Jackie Oates, and the traditional Cornish song, ‘The Sweet Nightingale', collected by Sabine Baring-Gould (amongst ot…

In this week’s episode, Jon chats to virtuoso guitarist, Ben Walker, about “On Humber Bank”, an old song that was collected aurally in 1877 and purports to be the suicide note of an abused woman. Ben came to the song via a collector called Ken Stubbs, known for recording traditional singers such as George Maynard and, in this case, Ern Baxter, and …

In this episode of The Old Songs Podcast, traditional folk musicians Jim Moray and Jon Wilks geek out about "Tam Lin". For more info on the episode, head to https://jonwilks.online/the-old-songs-podcast/ep2-the-old-songs-podcast-tam-lin-ft-jim-morayVon The Old Songs Podcast

Traditional folk musician, Nick Hart, discusses 'Lofty Tall Ship' (or 'Henry Martin') with singer/presenter, Jon Wilks. For more info on this episode of The Old Songs Podcast, head to: https://jonwilks.online/the-old-songs-podcast/ep1-the-old-songs-podcast-henry-martin-lofty-tall-shipVon The Old Songs Podcast