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 9 June 2026
This week’s music:
1. Reynardine / The Green House Band
2. The Song Of The Sea / Rod Shearman
3. Farewell To Tarwathie / Judy Collins
4. The Green Banks Of Yarrow / Bob Davenport
5. Flower Of Norton Hill / Richard Grainger
6. Mazurka Houtem / MANdolinMAN
7. Six Pretty Maids (the Outlandish Knight) / Fred Jordan
8. There Ain't No Sweet Man (Who's Worth The Salt Of My Tea
9. Silver Dagger / Gigspanner Big Band
10. Supermarket Wine / Micky McConnell
11. There Were Roses / Tommy Sands
12. Stottycake Polka / Boyne Water / Mat Green And Andy Turner
13. Dockyard Medley / Vic Legg
14. The Dragoon's Ride / Roy Harris
15. The King's Horses / Olivia Chaney
16. Van Diemans's Land / Martyn Wyndham-Read
17. Foundryman’s Daughter / The John Richards Band
18. Bodhran Set / The Madeleine Stewart Trio
19. Fine Horseman / Lucky Bags
20. Salisbury Plain / Dr. Faustus
21. The Ballad Of William Kidd / Blackbeard's Tea Party
22. The Manchester Angel / Harp And A Monkey
23. Irish Emigrant / Bird In The Belly
24. The Yellow On the Broom / An Teallach Ceilidh Band
Also available to stream:
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.
