Jon Wilks in Birmingham

Jon Wilks in Birmingham

Author: Matthew Bannister October 13, 2023 Duration: 57:21

Jon Wilks is singlehandedly bringing folk music to a wider audience, through his excellent TradFolk website and Old Songs Podcast and of course by singing and playing the music itself. In this episode, he takes us for a walk around the stomping grounds of his youth in the centre of Birmingham, sharing his fascinating insights into the history of music making in the city and performing songs on the very spot where they were originally collected. Oh, and then there’s the sausage roll incident in Greggs!

---

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 Jon at https://jonwilks.online/


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Imagine stepping out for a walk with a friend who happens to be a brilliant musician, the path unfolding through the very hills, coastlines, or woods that shaped their songs. That’s the essence of Folk on Foot, a multi-award-winning podcast created by Matthew Bannister. Each episode is a gentle fusion of conversation, landscape, and live performance, recorded outdoors while walking with some of the most compelling voices in folk music. The format is beautifully simple yet profound: as they traverse a place of personal significance, the guests discuss their connection to the land, their creative process, and the stories behind their work, often pausing to play a tune or sing a song right there on the trail. Listeners are invited into an intimate, thoughtfully crafted soundscape that feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s been praised as a restorative listening experience and is noted for its impeccable production. This isn't just a series of interviews; it's an auditory journey that celebrates the deep, often unspoken bond between artist, music, and environment. The resulting podcast is consistently engaging, offering a unique blend of natural history, cultural insight, and, of course, fantastic music. It provides a genuine sense of accompaniment, as if you’re right there beside them, sharing in the quiet moments and the melodic ones, all woven together into a wonderfully calming and enriching hour.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 122

Folk on Foot
Podcast Episodes
Frank Turner on the Holloway Road [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:16
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 revea…
Bonus Episode: Front Room Festival 2 Highlights [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:59:54
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 o…
Bonus Episode: Su-a Lee at the Isle of Skye Festival of Small Halls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:38
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…
Rachel Newton at the Isle of Skye Festival of Small Halls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:00
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 Sky…
Bonus Episode: Front Room Festival Highlights [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:12:45
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 Banni…
Bella Hardy in Edale [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:17
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. U…
Peggy Seeger in Iffley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:12
After a life on the road, folk legend Peggy Seeger has settled in the village of Iffley on the outskirts of Oxford. In this episode she talks poignantly about her mother, a talented composer who died when she was fifty-t…
Kris Drever on Orkney [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:27
The guitarist, singer and songwriter Kris Drever was born and brought up on Orkney, the archipelago off the Northern coast of Scotland which is steeped in history. The walk starts in the main town of Kirkwall with its hu…