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 21 July 2026
This week’s music:
1. William and Davy / Kate Rusby
2. Sometimes In This Life / Steve Tilston Trio
3. Adieu To Old England / The Albion Band
4. One Miner's Life / Bob Fox
5. Black Lung / Kathy Mattea
6. We Work the Black Seam / Kevin Burke And Ged Foley
7. Lovely Molly / David Gibb & Elly Lucas
8. The True Lovers Farewell / Nancy Wallace
9. The Emigration Tunes / Loreena McKennitt
10. Cholera Camp / Cockersdale
11. The Song Of The Gillie More / Dick Gaughan
12. The Scarborough Settler's Lament / Barluath
13. In London So Fair / Frank Harte
14. Sweet Thames Flow Softly / John Falkner
15. In London Town / Eddy Morton
16. Washington Hornpipe /William Irwin's / Gill Redmond and Dave Townsend
17. Catch Me If You Can / Ruth And Sadie Price
18. The Royal Blackbird / Cathal McConnell & Len Graham
19. Blood On The Oak / Gentle Folk
20. Queen Jane / Tim Eriksen
21. Three Chords and the Truth / The Poozies
22. Tom Thumb Blues / Judy Collins
23. I am the Common Man / Battlefield Band
24. A Dram For The Singer / Bob Pegg
25. Rosette / Le Vent Du Nord
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.
