“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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 27, 2026 · 51:30
Enjoy this classic episode from October 2019. For twelve years, the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nancy Kerr lived on a narrow boat, travelling the length and…
Sep 17, 2026 · 1:02:22
Join us on a spectacular walk with the band Stornoway in the glorious Gower Peninsula. Lead singer Brian Briggs is an ornithologist who - when he’s not touring with the band -…
Sep 8, 2026 · 48:24
This month’s show features music from Gwenifer Raymond, Cinder Well, Robyn Hitchcock, Arun Sood and Angeline Morrison, Nick Parker and the False Alarms, Joshua Burnside and Dove…
Aug 13, 2026 · 59:53
Come for a wild and windy walk in the Scottish borders with the brilliant guitarist Jenn Butterworth. We visit the remote farmhouse where she grew up, the pub where she worked as…
Jul 16, 2026 · 1:00:15
We’re going back to Neolithic times with the award winning author Rob Cowen (“Common Ground” and “North Road”) and his friend the actor and singer Johnny Flynn. For two thousand…
Jun 18, 2026 · 58:24
Folk Album of the Year nominee Joshua Burnside takes us for a walk near his home in East Belfast, singing songs from his latest album “It’s Not Going To Be OK” along the way. He…
May 14, 2026 · 58:14
We’re in Sherwood Forest on the trail of Robin Hood in the company of Guy Hayward, founder of the British Pilgrimage Trust and former Cambridge choral scholar. As we head to the…
Apr 26, 2026 · 54:30
Fairport Convention founder member Simon Nicol joins Matthew Bannister on stage at the Indoor Festival of Folk at Cecil Sharp House to review a musical career lasting over 60…
Apr 16, 2026 · 55:31
Nearly eight years after they first appeared on Folk on Foot, that irrepressible trio The Young’Uns are back – with Sean Cooney, David Eagle and Michael Hughes performing songs…
Apr 12, 2026 · 58:28
Re-live the musical highlights from the spectacular Folk Album of the Year Award Gala at Rochdale Town Hall, with performances from Barry Kerr, Cynefin, Edith WeUtonga, Grace…
Mar 20, 2026 · 57:15
We’ve been trying to get Lady Maisery to walk with us on Folk on Foot for ages, so when Matthew heard they were playing a gig in the town of Petworth near where he lives in West…
Feb 13, 2026 · 1:02:08
Join the Brothers Gillespie and their devoted fans on a walk across the sands from the Northumberland coast to Holy Island. As we follow in the footsteps of centuries of…
Jan 16, 2026 · 1:06:34
When Alex Merry of Boss Morris, artist Ben Edge, actor Charlie Cooper, singer and naturalist Sam Lee and broadcaster and author Zakia Sewell met in the spectacular Devon…
Dec 15, 2025 · 53:30
Throw another log on the fire, pour yourself a cup of something hot and cheering and come with us in search of Winterfolk in West Yorkshire. With Santa hat firmly in place, we…
Nov 14, 2025 · 49:59
Dressed in costumes fashioned from vintage tea towels, the dancers of Boss Morris take us to Rodborough Common near their base in Stroud to walk and dance, accompanied by…
Oct 16, 2025 · 53:49
Celebrate the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness as The Wilderness Yet take us for an Autumnal musical walk across Iping Common near Midhurst in West Sussex. Singer Rosie…
Sep 18, 2025 · 57:10
The latest album from Welsh triple harpist Cerys Hafana is called “Angel”. It’s inspired by the story of an old man who goes for a walk in the forest and hears an angel singing…
Aug 14, 2025 · 1:01:48
Former Trembling Bells bandmates Alex Rex and Lavinia Blackwall take us first to Govan Old Church in Glasgow to see ancient Viking burial stones - and sing in unaccompanied…
Jul 17, 2025 · 1:09:26
Where does Chris Packham want his ashes scattered after he dies? Find out as he takes Martin Simpson and host Matthew Bannister for an enlightening walk in sun-dappled woodland…
Jun 12, 2025 · 44:19
The Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and his band LYR perform poems and music inspired by the stories told by the people of the West Yorkshire Village of Marsden, where Simon grew…
May 15, 2025 · 55:16
Come with us on a fascinating walk in the historic City of London with rising stars of the folk world Goblin Band. From an ancient church ringing to the Castleton Carol, via an…
Apr 17, 2025 · 49:21
A violin made from the floorboards of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s home - a climb to the top of the Happisburgh lighthouse - and a song about whales stranded on the shore -…
Mar 24, 2025 · 51:00
Bob Dylan described Ashley Hutchings as “The Godfather of English Folk Rock -he gave us a genre we couldn’t refuse”. Bass player Ashley was behind the formation of three great…
Mar 14, 2025 · 50:14
Cole Stacey’s album “Postcards from Lost Places” was recorded in atmospheric locations around Dartmoor. In this episode Cole retraces his steps - taking us back to some of those…
Feb 14, 2025 · 1:01:55
The history of the transatlantic slave trade and its legacy in Bristol are at the heart of this episode. It features West Country singer Reg Meuross, concertina player Cohen…
Jan 17, 2025 · 46:17
The Brighton based band Bird in the Belly take us for a walk on the South Downs Way during the Tremula Festival of Outdoor Podcasting. For the very first time, we’re joined by an…
Dec 13, 2024 · 58:49
Ho Ho Ho! Enjoy traditional Christmas carols, midwinter Morris dancing, a peal of bells and a recipe for Christmas pudding set to music as we head for the Three Tuns pub in…
Nov 15, 2024 · 1:12:37
Delve into the history of madness as we walk with the “broken folk” duo Lunatraktors in the 200 acre grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London. Clair le Couteur and…
Oct 10, 2024 · 54:56
For four hundred years, Stourbridge in the West Midlands was at the heart of Britain’s glass making industry. The local landscape was dotted with distinctive brick built cones,…
Sep 12, 2024 · 55:44
The cellist, singer and environmental campaigner Sarah Smout takes us for a beautiful summer walk along the River Wharfe in North Yorkshire. Along the way she explains how her…
Aug 15, 2024 · 1:02:30
The Anglo-Irish band Ranagri take us for a walk on the farm that gave them their name. The family of guitarist and singer Dónal Rogers have worked this land in County Carlow…
Jul 11, 2024 · 59:02
On a beautiful day in May the novelist, nature writer and podcaster Melissa Harrison and the composer and multi instrumentalist Laura Cannell take us for a walk in the glorious…
Jun 13, 2024 · 50:16
Frankie Archer brings traditional folk tunes rushing into the 21st Century. The singer, fiddle player and electronics wizard made an acclaimed appearance on Later With Jools…
May 16, 2024 · 52:03
Our wettest episode ever features the wonderful duo Megson (Stu and Debs Hanna) walking, talking and playing along the River Tees between Stockton and Middlesborough. This is…
Apr 18, 2024 · 59:01
The singer and fiddle player Jackie Oates is joined by the squeezebox maestro John Spiers for a walk along the mighty River Thames in Oxfordshire. Between a song or two from the…
Mar 15, 2024 · 1:05:37
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…
Feb 27, 2024 · 53:16
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…
Feb 16, 2024 · 50:28
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…
Jan 19, 2024 · 59:36
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…
Dec 15, 2023 · 50:34
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…
Nov 17, 2023 · 45:51
Come to “The Edge of the Land” with the wonderful singer, songwriter and guitarist Katie Spencer. She was born and brought up in East Yorkshire. In this episode she takes us to…
Oct 12, 2023 · 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…
Sep 14, 2023 · 52:50
When the Scottish Burmese sound artist Fiona Soe Paing discovered that one of her ancestors was a traditional singer, she resolved to make a contemporary electronic album…
Aug 31, 2023 · 1:28:31
On August 4th 2023, Folk on Foot host Matthew Bannister set off on his biggest walk yet. Over two weeks, he covered 186 miles from Wickham Festival in Hampshire to Folk East in…
Aug 24, 2023 · 1:14:05
On 4th August 2023, Folk on Foot host Matthew Bannister set off on his biggest walk yet: from Wickham Festival in Hampshire to Folk East in Suffolk. Over two weeks, he covered…
Jul 13, 2023 · 46:54
This is our highest ever episode. We climbed to the top of Yorkshire’s tallest peak - Whernside - with the singer/songwriter Johnny Campbell and the fiddle player Mikey Kenney to…
Jun 15, 2023 · 1:00:06
Angeline Morrison’s “The Sorrow Songs - Folk Songs of Black British Experience” was one of the most significant albums of recent times. On this walk near her home in North…
May 18, 2023 · 56:04
The Fife based singer/songwriter James Yorkston and the Cardigans lead singer Nina Persson teamed up with the Swedish Second Hand Orchestra to make the gorgeous album “The Great…
Apr 13, 2023 · 51:06
Katherine Priddy grew up in the village of Alvechurch in the West Midlands, writing songs as a teenager which eventually ended up on her beautiful debut album “The Eternal Rocks…
Mar 17, 2023 · 59:33
Why do rivers play such a vital role in our lives, culture and folklore? In this glorious episode, the nature writer Amy-Jane Beer, author of “The Flow”, joins the Welsh singer…
Feb 17, 2023 · 56:44
Freedom To Roam is a music and multi-media project dreamed up by the flautist Eliza Marshall as a response to many of the pressing issues facing us right now. On this walk…
Jan 13, 2023 · 42:52
“The snow it is lying on Bewcastle Fell And the wind strips the skin from my face. The bare bones of a tree give some shelter to me But still it’s a draughty old place.” Come to…
Dec 16, 2022 · 58:04
A festive episode featuring the Wexford Carols sung by the beautiful voice of Caitriona O’Leary. The carols came out of the persecution of Catholics in Wexford in the seventeenth…
Nov 11, 2022 · 57:58
Ahoy there! A folk supergroup – The Sea Song Sessions - playing and singing on board a tall ship in Fowey Harbour in Cornwall as the water laps the hull. A discussion of the role…
Oct 13, 2022 · 53:30
Come for a wild, wet and windy walk on the beach at Aberdaron on the Llyn peninsula in Wales with the singer and songwriter Gwilym Bowen Rhys. Then join us in the local church…
Sep 19, 2022 · 29:31
What is the multi-award-winning Folk on Foot all about? The Telegraph calls it “a restorative breathing space in sound”. In this sampler, host Matthew Bannister shares beautiful…
Sep 15, 2022 · 52:11
On a hot August day, scores of walkers in weird, wacky and wonderful costumes inspired by old English traditions, accompanied by morris dancers and musicians, set off to stage a…
Sep 12, 2022 · 48:57
Singer Maddy Prior and violinist Peter Knight were at the heart of the success of folk rock pioneers Steeleye Span. In this candid interview with Matthew Bannister on stage at…
Aug 11, 2022 · 1:07:23
The singer, songwriter and academic Fay Hield invites us to a Soundpost Singing Weekend in the village of Dungworth on the outskirts of Sheffield. Guests include Sean Cooney of…
Jul 15, 2022 · 1:30:46
Join us on a walk around the unassuming village of Pathhead, Midlothian, just south of Edinburgh, which is home to a whole galaxy of Scottish musicians. We start with singer…
Jun 16, 2022 · 54:20
“My city, my people, my heart” – Jamie Webster loves his home city of Liverpool – and Liverpool loves Jamie Webster. The young singer and songwriter started out performing chants…
Apr 14, 2022 · 56:30
Grace Petrie sometimes introduces herself on stage as “a socialist, feminist, lesbian protest singer”. Her acutely observed songs range from political and passionate to personal…
Mar 11, 2022 · 54:03
The drummer Johnny Kalsi (The Dhol Foundation, Transglobal Underground, Afro Celt Sound System, Imagined Village) takes us for a walk round Southall - an area of West London…
Feb 18, 2022 · 55:37
We’re back on the glorious Shetland Isles for this episode and who better to show us around than the renowned local fiddle player Maurice Henderson (of Fiddlers Bid) and his…
Jan 14, 2022 · 52:36
“He said you could pluck songs out of the air - pluck them out of the air - and sing them bonny”. The great Northumbrian pipe player Kathryn Tickell describes the River Rede near…
Dec 17, 2021 · 59:32
The acclaimed singer and songwriter Declan O’Rourke takes us for a scenic walk near his home in the beautiful fishing village of Kinvara on the west coast of Ireland, singing…
Nov 12, 2021 · 58:43
In the shadow of the disused ironstone kilns of the Rosedale Valley in North Yorkshire, Ciderhouse Rebellion - fiddle player Adam Summerhayes and accordionist Murray Grainger -…
Oct 14, 2021 · 57:26
A Bronze Age site on Dartmoor, six musical instruments, a feather, harmonica-enhanced beatboxing, a stone that is said to increase fertility, a fast flowing river, a baby and a…
Sep 16, 2021 · 44:59
Olivia Chaney wrote many of the songs for her critically acclaimed second solo album whilst living alone without electricity or mains water at her family’s remote and crumbling…
Aug 12, 2021 · 1:09:28
Question: What do you get when you go walking with the nature writer Robert Macfarlane and the actor and musician Johnny Flynn on a scorching hot summer's day in Wandlebury?…
Jul 15, 2021 · 55:33
The singer, songwriter and artist Jenny Sturgeon has made her home on Shetland, a group of wild and wonderful islands in the North Atlantic. Her latest album “The Living…
Jun 17, 2021 · 53:23
The wonderful English fiddle player Sam Sweeney has been a key member of Bellowhead, Leveret, Eliza Carthy’s Wayward Band and many other collaborations. He’s also made two…
May 13, 2021 · 54:06
A finger style guitarist with a uniquely impassioned vocal style, Jim Ghedi was born and brought up in the Crookes area of Sheffield. He takes Matthew Bannister to his Nan and…
Apr 15, 2021 · 50:36
The singer, fiddle, guitar and ukulele player Germa Adan was born in Haiti, grew up in Florida and now lives in the UK. She says the RSPB reserve in the Sandwell Valley has been…
Mar 12, 2021 · 49:04
The multi talented musician, producer and lover of the natural world Cosmo Sheldrake takes Matthew Bannister for a walk in the wood near his home in Hampshire. As well as…
Feb 19, 2021 · 1:43:05
23 amazing folk acts each performing an original love song for the Folk on Foot Festival of LOVE on Valentine’s Day 2021, featuring Heidi Talbot: Easter Snow; Seth Lakeman: The…
Feb 17, 2021 · 1:51:50
23 amazing folk acts each performing a traditional love song for the Folk on Foot Festival of LOVE on Valentine’s Day 2021, featuring Nancy Kerr and James Fagan: The Streams of…
Feb 15, 2021 · 1:55:13
23 amazing folk acts each performing a cover version of a love song for the Folk on Foot Festival of LOVE on Valentine’s Day 2021, featuring Heidi Talbot: I Love You/Tom Waits…
Jan 22, 2021 · 57:46
Come with us to the back garden of a house in the Peak District village of Grindleford. There, in a magical atmospheric workshop with fiddles, banjos and drying gourds hanging…
Dec 18, 2020 · 1:07:29
The legendary guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson takes Matthew Bannister for a walk around the areas of London where he grew up, began playing the guitar, formed Fairport…
Oct 22, 2020 · 54:07
Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow have an uncanny ability to move you to tears one moment then have you roaring with laughter the next. In summer 2020 they were planning to…
Oct 8, 2020 · 51:40
The multi award winning Dorset duo Ninebarrow take Matthew Bannister for a walk in the glorious countryside of the Isle of Purbeck. Their exquisite harmonies ring out across the…
Sep 17, 2020 · 56:21
In our first post lockdown episode, actor and musician Johnny Flynn takes Matthew Bannister for a walk on the Hackney Marshes, a huge expanse of public land which has no fewer…
Aug 31, 2020 · 2:07:38
Another extraordinary Bank Holiday Monday virtual Festival from Folk on Foot, this time re-uniting musicians who couldn’t play together during the lockdown. The Breath; Eliza…
Aug 6, 2020 · 57:47
The award winning singer, songwriter and guitarist Chris Wood has lived in Kent all his life. “If you keep moving around, how much can you trust your judgement?” he asks. “If you…
Jul 23, 2020 · 53:06
Kitty Macfarlane is known for her pure voice, poetic song writing and passion for the natural world. On this unexpectedly sunny January walk, she and Matthew Bannister climb the…
Jul 9, 2020 · 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…
May 25, 2020 · 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 –…
May 7, 2020 · 30:37
Jarlath Henderson has been described as the “Jimi Hendrix of the uilleann pipes”. He is also a fine singer and accomplished player of the whistle. At the age of 17 he became the…
Apr 30, 2020 · 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…
Apr 23, 2020 · 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…
Apr 14, 2020 · 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…
Mar 12, 2020 · 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…
Feb 13, 2020 · 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…
Jan 16, 2020 · 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…
Dec 12, 2019 · 56:42
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…
Nov 14, 2019 · 43:12
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…
Oct 17, 2019 · 51:01
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…
Aug 9, 2019 · 43:20
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…
Aug 2, 2019 · 50:29
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…
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