Classic Folk with Mike Norris
Classic Folk is unique.
It mines a rich seam of wonderful folk and roots music and song from around 75 years of recordings.
From the great source singers to the legends of folk rock, the travellers to the protesters, the ballads to the blues, from the far north to the deep south and all around the English speaking world, the songs live again.
And, not forgetting the pick of the new releases and a few cracking tunes, it’s like having a folk festival in the comfort of your own home!
Former English Folk Dance and Song Society Chair (2006–2011) and long-standing member Mike Norris hosts our weekly folk radio programme.
Mike explores a wide range of folk and acoustic music from the UK and abroad – from rarely heard archive and field recordings to the very latest releases.
Listen now
Tuesday 27 August 2024
This week’s music:
- The Abbey of Kilcrea / Four Star Trio
- A Little Redemption / Danni Nicholls
- Bet Beesley & Her Wooden Man / Megson
- The Miller and his Three Sons / Claque
- The Pinner / Ninebarrow
- Laudnum bunches/ Orange in Bloom/ Banks of the Dee / Chris Leslie
- Brockie Lads / Barbara Dymock
- The Trees They Do Grow High / Robin & Barry Dransfield
- African Roses / Robb Johnson
- The Patriot Game / The Alias Acoustic Band
- The Motorbike Set: O'Leary's Motorbike, Elizabeth Kelly's Delight, the Humours of Ballingarry
- The Underground Rail Road / Anne Grimes
- Freedom / Clancy Eccles
- Marchin up to Zion / The Blind Boys Of Alabama
- She Moves Through The Fair / Fairport Convention
- The Lag's Song / Damien O'Kane
- The Dancer / Chris Leslie
- Hangman, Hangman (Child) / Peggy Seeger
- Fortune Turns the Wheel / The High Level Ranters
- The Wealthy Squire / Bob Davenport
- The Bold Princess Royal / Sam Larner
- Sally Free And Easy / Carthy Hardy Farrell Young
- Brimfield Hornpipe / Edward II & The Red Hot Polkas
- Cold Missouri Waters / Greg Russell
- Robbers' Retreat / Jackie Oates
- The Burdett / Fendragon
- The Valley Of Strathmore / Silly Wizard
- The Plooman / Emily Smith & Jamie McClennan
- Flight Of The Pelican / Lal Waterson
Also streaming now:
The presenter: Mike Norris
Mike’s passion for folk music spans decades; from first learning to play the melodeon and singing shanties at school, to running folk festivals and gigs.
A teenager during the 1960s, Mike was heavily influenced by protest song and folk-rock popularity (Bob Dylan, the Copper Family, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention etc), as well as the tail end of the folk-song revival shaped by The Watersons, Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Shirley Collins, Woody Guthrie and many more.
Interesting fact: The hospital where Mike was born, in Portsmouth, grew out of the workhouse where George Gardiner collected more than 100 songs in the early 1900s.