Murder Ballads and Dark Folk Music with Katy Horan

In this chat, I'm talking to illustrator Katy Horan about murder ballads, discussing what they are, how they work within folk music, how contemporary musicians have tried to reclaim the tradition, and the issues with examining ballads when all you might have is the lyrics! Katy Horan is an illustrator and interdisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the United States and in Canada, published in several books, and four times selected for New American Paintings. Together with the writer Taisia Kitaiskaia, she co-created Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers and The Literary Witches Oracle Deck. She is also the illustrator of Ask Baba Yaga: Poetic Remedies for Troubled Times. Originally from Houston, Texas, Katy now lives and works in Austin.  Buy Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics & Lore: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781524889265 Find Katy on Instagram: https://instagram.com/goodyhoran Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/