PODCAST · music
Folk on Foot
by 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Suntou Susso at Dartington Hall Gardens
Suntou Susso, the griot and kora player from Gambia, now lives in Devon. On a glorious sunny day he takes Matthew for a walk through the beautiful gardens at Dartington Hall, explaining that this place often inspires him to compose new music. Suntou talks about the griot tradition handed down…
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Official Folk Albums Chart Show—6th October 2026
This month’s show features music from Spell Songs, The Mary Wallopers, Elanor Moss, Rusty Shackle, Gilroy Mere, Colin Stetson and Brighde Chaimbeul, Andy Irvine and Blind Yeo. Lucy Shields previews forthcoming album releases and live music and Matthew Bannister reveals the next episode of Folk on...
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Folk on Foot Classic: Nancy Kerr along the Kennet and Avon Canal
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 breadth of England’s inland waterways. As she walks on the towpath with Matthew Bannister, she tells how the experience...
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Stornoway on the Gower Peninsula
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 - works in a nature reserve in this beautiful area of South Wales. He guides us through woodland rich in bird life to a…
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Official Folk Albums Chart Show—8th September 2026
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 Ellis. Matthew Bannister reveals the next episode of Folk on Foot and Lucy Shields previews forthcoming releases and...
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Folk on Foot Classic: Martin Simpson in Scunthorpe
Enjoy this classic episode from July 2019. 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 Matthew...
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Jenn Butterworth at Whithorn
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 a teenager, the otter statue commemorating Gavin Maxwell and the ancient archaeological site which dates back to 397…
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Folk on Foot Classic: Cara Dillon in Dungiven
Enjoy this classic episode from September 2018. The multi award winning singer Cara Dillon and her husband and musical collaborator Sam Lakeman take Matthew on a walk through the countryside around the Northern Irish town of Dungiven where she was born and brought up. Standing on an iron bridge...
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Rob Cowen and Johnny Flynn at Thornborough Henges
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 years the Thornborough Henges in what is now Yorkshire were used as ceremonial spaces and later became Bronze Age…
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Official Folk Albums Chart Show—7th July 2026
This month's show features music from Adam Ross, Clementine Lovell, Ryan Young, Laura Cannell, Karine Polwart and Pippa Murphy, Teddy Thompson, Frankie Archer and Tide Lines. Lucy Shields previews forthcoming releases and Matthew Bannister announces the next episode of Folk on Foot. --- We rely…
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Folk on Foot Classic: Jon Boden in the Loxley Valley
Enjoy this classic episode from October 2018. The former Bellowhead lead singer takes Matthew on a walk near his home on the outskirts of Sheffield. This landscape inspired his 2009 album “Songs from the Floodplain”, which creates a vision of a post apocalyptic future when industrial architecture...
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Joshua Burnside in East Belfast
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 talks movingly about his friend Dean Jendoubi’s death from a drugs overdose - which inspired the album - and also about...
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Official Folk Albums Chart Show—2nd June 2026
This month’s show features music from Natalie Wildgoose, Anna McLuckie, Lady Maisery with Jimmy Aldrige and Sid Goldsmith, Lemoncello, The Longest Johns, Chris Brain, Ladylike and Jim Moray. Lucy Shields has a bumper edition of the album preview and gig news and Matthew Bannister will be…
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Folk on Foot Classic: Angeline Morrison in North Cornwall
Enjoy this classic episode from June 2023. 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 Cornwall, Angeline talks about her deep love for traditional music and her...
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A Robin Hood Pilgrimage with Guy Hayward
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 Major Oak and beyond, Guy shares many theories about the Robin Hood legends, sings ballads about his adventures and...
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Official Folk Albums Chart Show—5th May 2026
Kris Drever is Matthew’s guest on this month’s show, talking about the inspiration behind his new album “Doing This For Love”. There’s also music from Laura Marling, Joshua Burnside, Seafret, Spencer Cullum, Pictish Trail, the Marsh Family and Jenn Butterworth. Lucy Shields has the album release...
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Simon Nicol in conversation at Cecil Sharp House
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 years. Simon talks about teaming up with Ashley Hutchings and Richard Thompson to start Fairport, tells how the band got…
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The Young’Uns at Roseberry Topping
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 new and old as we climb the Teesside landmark Roseberry Topping. The conversation ranges from learning to laughs –...
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Folk Album of the Year Award Gala: Highlights
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 Stewart-Skinner, The Gigspanner Big Band, Joshua Burnside, Peggy Seeger, Poor Creature and Spafford Campbell. --- We rely…
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Official Folk Albums Chart Show—7th April 2026
Katherine Priddy is Matthew’s guest on this month’s show, telling the personal stories behind the songs on her beautiful new album “These Frightening Machines”. There’s also music from Mumford and Sons, Hen Ogledd, Catrin Finch, Lucy Kitchen, Hedera and Georgia Shackleton. Lucy Shields previews...
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Folk on Foot Classic: Olivia Chaney at the House on Hawnby Moor
Enjoy this classic episode from September 2021. 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 farmhouse on Hawnby Moor in North Yorkshire. On a hot summer’s day, she...
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Lady Maisery in Petworth Park
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 Sussex, he invited them to join him in the spacious grounds of Petworth House. With the stately home and the Capability...
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The Brothers Gillespie walking to Holy Island
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 pilgrims, the Brothers' beautiful harmonies ring out across the waves and we hear stories of Saints Cuthbert and Aiden and King...
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The Ffern Folk Guild in Devon with Alex Merry, Ben Edge, Charlie Cooper, Sam Lee and Zakia Sewell
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 countryside to decide which folk projects should receive a share of a £50,000 grant from the organic perfume company Ffern, we...
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Winterfolk in West Yorkshire with O’Hooley and Tidow, Katie Spencer and Maddie Morris
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 walk with Katie Spencer in Golcar, meet up with Maddie Morris on their way to a Lefty Christmas gig and end up at a...
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Gigspanner Big Band on “Turnstone”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
The Turnstone is an inquisitive bird that, as it name suggests, likes to overturn stones and seaweed in its search for food. That’s how the members of the Gigspanner Big Band see their hunt for the finest traditional songs to re-arrange, burnish and present for our delight. In this conversation...
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Poor Creature on “All Smiles Tonight”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
“Our first gig together was a benefit for a greyhound” The dog loving trio who make up Irish band Poor Creature are husband and wife Ruth Clinton (of Landless) and Cormac Macdiarmada (of Lankum) - plus Cormac’s brother, Lankum’s live drummer John Dermody. In this conversation with Matthew…
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Edith WeUtonga on “Varipasi”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
Born in Zimbabwe - but now resident in the UK - Edith WeUtonga is known as Mama Bass - because that’s the instrument she has made her own. She’s also an acclaimed singer, songwriter, and campaigner for musicians' rights. In this conversation with Matthew Bannister, she tells how the death of her...
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Peggy Seeger on “Teleology”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
"My first kiss with Irene was behind some wheelie bins in Penge." As she celebrates her ninetieth birthday, the legendary Peggy Seeger unpacks her current feelings about “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” - written for her by her late husband Ewan MacColl, but now also embracing her other...
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Grace Stewart-Skinner on “Auchies Spikkin' Auchie”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
An old recording of her grandfather reciting a poem in the Scots dialect of the little Black Isle fishing village where he lived inspired the clarsach (Scottish harp) player Grace Stewart-Skinner to create her Folk Album of the Year nominee “Auchies Spikking Auchie”. She mixed recordings of the...
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Joshua Burnside on “Teeth of Time”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
Recorded in a former office space in Belfast City Centre, Joshua Burnside’s Folk Album of the Year Nominee “Teeth of Time” was inspired by his experience of becoming a father for the first time. He tells the story behind the album and plays tracks from it in this conversation with Matthew...
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Cynefin on “Shimli”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
Delve into the heritage of Welsh poetry, agriculture, fishing, milk processing and, of course, music as Cynefin shares the story behind his beautiful Folk Album of the Year nominated work “Shimli”. --- We rely on support from our listeners to keep this show on the road. If you like what we do...
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Spafford Campbell on “Tomorrow Held”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
“We first met in the National Youth Folk Ensemble. I was 14 and Louis was 16.” From these beginnings, fiddle player Owen Spafford and guitarist Louis Campbell have formed an inspiring, innovative musical partnership, drawing on wide ranging influences to create the acclaimed mostly instrumental...
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Barry Kerr on “Curlew’s Cry”: Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominee
The multi instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and painter Barry Kerr grew up on the shores of Lough Neagh in the heart of Northern Ireland. His experiences there left an indelible mark on his music. In this special episode, he tells his story to Matthew Bannister and they play tracks from…
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Folk Album of the Year 2025 Nominations
Matthew Bannister is joined by chair of the jury Kellie While and the nominated artists as they unveil the nine albums which have made the shortlist for the Folk Album of the Year Award. The artists give their reaction before we hear a track from each of the albums on this inspiring and diverse...
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Boss Morris on Rodborough Common
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 musicians Rob Harbron, Miranda Rutter and Sam Sweeney. This is where Boss go to mark the different seasons of the year. They...
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The Wilderness Yet on Iping Common
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 Hodgson grew up near here and played on the Common as a child. She’s joined by fiddle player Rowan Piggott and guitarist...
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Cerys Hafana at Corris Uchaf
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 so beautifully it makes him fall asleep for three hundred and fifty years. That’s almost what happened to me on our...
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Alex Rex and Lavinia Blackwall in Govan and Carbeth
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 harmony in the glorious acoustic. Then its off to the hutting community at Carbeth in the countryside outside the city where...
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Chris Packham & Martin Simpson in the New Forest
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 near his home in the New Forest. He points out a goshawk on her nest and other glorious flora and fauna and is delighted...
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Simon Armitage and LYR on Cuckoo Day in Marsden
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 up. It’s all part of the annual “Cuckoo Day” festival in the village, celebrating the myth that local people thought they...
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Goblin Band in the City of London
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 underground car park where the remains of the Roman Wall form the backdrop to “The Twa Corbies” and onto the banks of…
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Georgia Shackleton on the Norfolk Coast
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 - just three of the highlights of this glorious sunny seaside walk with the Norfolk singer and fiddle player Georgia...
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Bonus Episode: Ashley Hutchings in conversation at Cecil Sharp House
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 bands: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. As he celebrates his 80th birthday, Ashley joins Matthew...
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Cole Stacey on Dartmoor
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 places and performing the songs inspired by them. We hear about his journey into folk music, his partnership with…
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'Stolen from God' in Bristol with Reg Meuross, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and Modou Ndiaye
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 Braithwaite-Kilcoyne and kora player Modou Ndaiye performing music from Reg’s powerful “Stolen from God” song cycle as we...
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Bird in the Belly at the Tremula Festival on the South Downs Way
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 audience of Folk on Foot fans. The band (Laura Ward, Adam Ronchetti Tom Pryor and Jinwoo) share a song about a day out...
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A Shropshire Christmas with John Kirkpatrick
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 Bishop’s Castle with squeezebox maestro John Kirkpatrick MBE, the Castle Carollers and the Shropshire Bedlams. Along the way...
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Lunatraktors at the Bethlem Royal Hospital
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 Carli Jefferson are fascinated by the story of the hospital which was founded in the 13th century by monks - and…
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Dan Whitehouse in Stourbridge
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, or chimneys, where the glass was made. The local singer and songwriter Dan Whitehouse made an album called “Voices From...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
“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.
HOSTED BY
Matthew Bannister
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Folk on Foot have?
Folk on Foot currently has 117 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Folk on Foot about?
“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...
How often does Folk on Foot release new episodes?
Folk on Foot publishes regularly with 117 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Folk on Foot?
You can listen to Folk on Foot on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Folk on Foot?
Folk on Foot is created and hosted by Matthew Bannister.
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