95 episodes

“Modest people, playing gorgeous music, speaking articulately about areas they love. Fabulously calming” – one listener’s description of this multi-award-winning podcast in which Matthew Bannister goes walking with top folk musicians in the landscapes that have inspired them.

“A restorative breathing space in sound” – The Telegraph.
“Immaculately produced” – The Times

Folk on Foot Folk on Foot (ad-free)

    • Music
    • 4.8 • 418 Ratings

“Modest people, playing gorgeous music, speaking articulately about areas they love. Fabulously calming” – one listener’s description of this multi-award-winning podcast in which Matthew Bannister goes walking with top folk musicians in the landscapes that have inspired them.

“A restorative breathing space in sound” – The Telegraph.
“Immaculately produced” – The Times

    Malin Lewis on Eilean Shona

    Malin Lewis on Eilean Shona

    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 rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do please either...
    Become a member and get great rewards: patreon.com/folkonfoot
    Or just buy us a coffee: ko-fi.com/folkonfoot
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    ---
    Find out more about Malin at https://hudsonrecords.co.uk/artist/malin-lewis

    • 1 hr 6 min
    Official Folk Albums Chart Show—5th March 2024

    Official Folk Albums Chart Show—5th March 2024

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

    • 51 min
    Bonus Episode: Joe Boyd and John Wood in conversation at Cecil Sharp House

    Bonus Episode: Joe Boyd and John Wood in conversation at Cecil Sharp House

    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.
    ---
    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: @folkonfoot

    • 53 min
    TRÚ on the Mountains of Mourne

    TRÚ on the Mountains of Mourne

    Come with us to the glorious Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland to meet the band TRÚ. Taking their name from a mythological trio of poet-musicians from ancient Ulster, Zach Trouton, Dónal Kearney and Michael Mormecha combine Irish nationalist, Ulster-Scots and British-Ukrainian heritages, crossing boundaries which have often divided Northern Irish communities in the past. In this beautiful episode they are united in creating sweet close harmonies as they sing traditional songs against the backdrop of some of the UK’s most spectacular countryside.
    ---
    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: @folkonfoot
    ---
    Find out more about TRÚ at http://www.tru-music.com/

    • 50 min
    Sandra Kerr (and Nancy Kerr) in Warkworth

    Sandra Kerr (and Nancy Kerr) in Warkworth

    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 daughter Nancy Kerr to play traditional Northumbrian dance tunes. A warm, fascinating and entertaining meeting with one of the enduring stars of the folk world.
    ---
    We rely entirely 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: @folkonfoot
    ---
    Find out more about Sandra at https://www.sandrakerr.net/

    • 59 min
    The Plygain Carols with Gwilym Bowen Rhys, Owen Shiers and the singers of Mallwyd

    The Plygain Carols with Gwilym Bowen Rhys, Owen Shiers and the singers of Mallwyd

    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!”
    ---
    We rely entirely 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: @folkonfoot
    ---
    Find out more about Gwilym at https://www.gwilymbowenrhys.com and Owen at https://cynefinmusic.wales

    • 50 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
418 Ratings

418 Ratings

Duncaf31 ,

Heartwarming to hear such fabulously produced speech still being made. Brilliant!

It’s not just the subject matter and Matthew’s personality which drew me to this pod. I was first aware of it due to Matthew’s walk in Dorset with the excellent Ninebarrow, but I now know what all the fuss is about. Mr Bannister is a radio pro and a true fan of folk music. Like me he came to it (for a second time) quite late, and like me he loves not just the music but the traditions; the lacing together of the personal with the place, the music with the landscape. He does it brilliantly as you’d expect, making “produced” speech broadcasting of a quality that is surely now being very sadly allowed to die on most radio networks. Warm, genuine and heartfelt as an experience for the listener. I loved his folk on foot fund raising prog - pain and all! Thank heavens for German walking boots. Now what were they again?

wreckxjunior ,

Great host, great show

Bannister is one of the most creative people in this business. Been following him since his BBC outlook days. I’m glad he’s presiding over another great podcast.

jotdanb123 ,

Fantastic!

Only discovered this the other day but it’s now my favourite podcast!

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