Folk on Foot

Matthew Bannister

“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

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127 episodes
Updated Yesterday

Episodes127

Newest first

Apr 23, 2020 · 51 min
Rachel Newton at the Isle of Skye Festival of Small Halls
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 Skye in November 2019 where she w...
Apr 14, 2020 · 2 hr 12 min
Bonus Episode: Front Room Festival Highlights
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 Bannister from his. Bella Hardy, Be...
Mar 12, 2020 · 44 min
Bella Hardy in Edale
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. Undaunted by the weather, they ...
Feb 13, 2020 · 55 min
Peggy Seeger in Iffley
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-three and Peggy was just eight...
Jan 16, 2020 · 50 min
Kris Drever on Orkney
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 huge sandstone cathedral commemo...
Dec 12, 2019 · 56 min
Bonus Xmas Episode: The Sheffield Carols with Jon Boden, Bella Hardy and The Melrose Quartet
In search of the festive spirit of Christmas – and bearing gifts - we travel to the Peak District and Sheffield to hear the area’s unique local carols. Along the way we collect music from Jon Boden, Bella Hardy, The Melrose Quartet and the singers o...
Nov 14, 2019 · 43 min
John Jones and the Reluctant Ramblers walking to the Wickham Festival
This episode has by far the largest cast of walkers we’ve ever assembled – and the most musicians. The lead singer of Oysterband John Jones started walking from gig to gig and singing on the way long before our podcast was invented. He’s done it all...
Oct 17, 2019 · 51 min
Nancy Kerr along the Kennet and Avon Canal
For twelve years, the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nancy Kerr lived on a narrow boat, travelling the length and breadth of England’s inland waterways. As she walks on the towpath with Matthew Bannister, she tells how the experience in...
Aug 29, 2019 · 45 min
Bonus episode: Martin Simpson at BBC Countryfile Live
Martin Simpson performs some of the songs from his new album “Rooted” and talks to Matthew Bannister on the Big Barn stage at the BBC Countryfile Live event in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
Aug 9, 2019 · 43 min
Duncan Chisholm at Sandwood Bay
Sandwood Bay, at the far North Western tip of Scotland near Cape Wrath, is one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK. This wild, isolated place inspired the Scottish fiddle player and composer Duncan Chisholm’s album “Sandwood”. He takes Matthew o...
Aug 2, 2019 · 50 min
Lisa Knapp in Tooting
The singer and fiddle player Lisa Knapp takes Matthew to the south London borough of Tooting where she was born and brought up. She performs songs with links to the area and tells how she stumbled across the Tooting Tragedy – a story of neglect and i...
Jul 26, 2019 · 49 min
John Smith in Brixham
John Smith is known for his delicate and intricate guitar work, honey-and-gravel voice and songs of lost love. He was born in Essex, but brought up in the seaside town of Brixham in Devon. Struck down by illness as a child, he took up the guitar and ...
Jul 19, 2019 · 50 min
The Unthanks on the Northumberland Coast
Every winter, Rachael and Becky Unthank and their extended families invite their fans to join them for singing weekends in their native Northumberland. Some fifty people stay together at a bunkhouse where pianist/producer Adrian McNally does the cook...
Jul 12, 2019 · 54 min
Martin Simpson in Scunthorpe
Regularly voted one of the world’s greatest guitarists, Martin Simpson has been nominated for an astonishing 23 Radio 2 Folk Awards – and won artist of the year twice. He was brought up in the North Lincolnshire steel town of Scunthorpe and takes Mat...
Jul 5, 2019 · 1 hr
The Lost Words Spell Songs – Jackie Morris and Beth Porter in Pembrokeshire
The beautiful Lost Words book by artist Jackie Morris and writer Robert Macfarlane has become a cultural phenomenon, raising awareness of the importance of nature words in our lives. It has also spawned the Spell Songs project featuring some of our t...
Mar 14, 2019 · 51 min
Julie Fowlis on the Shores of Loch Ness
The Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis takes Matthew Bannister for a snowy walk on the dramatic shores of Loch Ness near her home in the Scottish Highlands. Accompanied by her husband Eamon Doorley, we hear Julie’s beautiful clear voice singing a song linked...
Feb 14, 2019 · 43 min
Stick in the Wheel on the Road to Epping Forest
Stick in the Wheel’s music has been described as “precision folk with anger, lust and blood.” The band’s founders Nicola Kearey and Ian Carter take Matthew Bannister for a walk through their East London stomping grounds, starting in a Victorian weave...
Jan 17, 2019 · 48 min
Fisherman‘s Friends in Port Isaac
Jon Cleave and Billy Hawkins of Fisherman’s Friends take Matthew Bannister for a walk around their beautiful home village of Port Isaac in Cornwall, telling tales and singing songs inspired by the seafaring history of the area. They invite us to fall...
Dec 13, 2018 · 44 min
Kerry Andrew/You Are Wolf at the Brockwell Lido
Kerry Andrew has been described by Robert Macfarlane as “a writer and musician of frankly alarming talent”. She is a composer, novelist and vocalist who performs alt folk under the name You Are Wolf. In this episode she takes Matthew for a walk from ...
Nov 15, 2018 · 51 min
Seth Lakeman on Dartmoor
Seth Lakeman is the Mercury Music Prize nominated singer, fiddle player and guitarist who will forever be associated with Dartmoor. He grew up in the village of Buckland Monachorum with his two brothers Sean and Sam who are also key players on the fo...