Category: Folk music writing
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Matthew Crampton: The Transports & Human Cargo – storytelling without borders
I have a kind of modus operandi here on The Grizzly Folk blog. It was created to explore the world of traditional folk music and, as much as I’d like to review and chat to singer-songwriters who play non-trad folk, that’s not what this website is for. Usually, this works quite neatly. Occasionally, however, the…
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Are the rumours of a Morris dancing revival to be believed? Will Pound says it’s time to get your clogs on
If The Guardian is correct in its assertions, the Morris is making a comeback. Maybe it’s because yesterday was Mayday and, for a few brief hours at least, also quite sunny, but a good number of people on the folkie social media channels (myself very much included) were getting quite giddy about the sudden revived interest.…
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5 to try: British folk songs chosen by British folk singers (plus extras from Martin Carthy) – pt 3
Typical, isn’t it? You sit around months waiting for another selection of traditional British folk songs to try, and then seven turn up at once. Well, that’s what comes of spending a day with Martin Carthy.
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![Adieu, Adieu [Roud 490] | Folk from the Attic](https://jonwilks.online/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/maxresdefault.jpeg)
Adieu, Adieu [Roud 490] | Folk from the Attic
In investigating Birmingham songs, I’ve come to realise that two source singers in particular stand out. Perhaps the most widely known was Cecilia Costello, a Digbeth singer of Irish decent that may have acquired at least some of her repertoire following a spell working (not residing) in a Winson Green workhouse. She was visited twice…
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Iona Fyfe on Scottish folk music: carrying the tradition onwards
Iona Fyfe is sitting in a cafe in Glasgow, desperately trying to get her Skype to behave. “I’m a terrible example of a Millennial,” she says, apologising unnecessarily for having only spent 20 years on this earth. “I think I’ve only used this once in the last year,” she continues, giggling. There’s no need for…
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Martin Carthy: the Mega Interview
I pack the last of the chairs away and crawl out from the cupboard under the Whitchurch Folk Club stage, where Eliza and Martin Carthy have just performed. Eliza has a question regarding getting into London for a meeting the following morning. I see an opportunity. “Don’t drive,” I suggest. “Take the 10:15 into Waterloo.…
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![Colin’s Ghost [Roud 1600] | Folk from the Attic](https://jonwilks.online/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/emersonnorfolk-tl.jpg)
Colin’s Ghost [Roud 1600] | Folk from the Attic
‘Colin’s Ghost’, eh? If there’s a more English sounding song title than that, I’ve yet to find it. And I have to say, I’m rather delighted to have found it on my quest through songs from Birmingham and the wider Midlands. I can go even further than that, too, because this song is about as…
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Ben Nicholls discusses ‘Franklin’, by Kings of the South Seas, and the pros and cons of a ship-based tour
It probably wouldn’t be too far from the truth to suggest that, for many of us, the first contact we have with traditional folk music comes via the sea. There can’t be many Brits that don’t know at least the first verse of “What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor” (Roud 322), after all,…
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I Can’t Find Brummagem | Folk from the Attic
In last week’s blog post (‘John Hobbs‘) I wrote a little about the life-and-death decisions that must be made around singing in your own regional accent. Any conclusions I came to leapt eagerly from the window with this week’s song: ‘I Can’t Find Brummagem’. On the surface, it’s such a triffle that it’s hard not…
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John Hobbs (a wife-selling song) | Folk from the Attic
What a weird little song this is, and quite startling in subject matter, too. As is the wont of many people developing an interest in traditional folk songs, I recently began investigating the songs from the area I come from – Birmingham and the surrounding West Midlands. Hardly a glamorous place in times gone by,…