Back in the days when we were called “Folk Radio UK” and also ran a 24-hour radio stream, we aired a weekly show by the Brighton-based Simple Folk Radio, which began life in 2005 (the creator was Dillon Swinhoe). Sadly, the last show aired in 2015. Along the way, they hosted numerous live sessions from the likes of Jeffrey Lewis, Great Lake Swimmers, Kimya Dawson, Charlie Parr, The Handsome Family, King Creosote, Akron/Family, Josh T. Pearson, James Yorkston, Phosphorescent, Strand Of Oaks, Viking Moses, Stanley Brinks, Okkervil River and lots more.
Alongside numerous sessions, an artist would also occasionally take over the show, and one of my favourites was aired in 2013 when James Yorkston put together a show that was recorded in his home on the east coast of Scotland. James delved into his vast music collection to share some of his favourite songs from over the years.
Listen Here:
Music Played
- Rita Farrell – The Drunken Gauger/The Maid at the Spinning Wheel (The Roll and Weave, a new generation of pipers)
- Willie Clancy – The Bright Lady
- Lamond Gillespie, Cormac Cannon, John Blake – Queen of Lament – Trip to Carrick
- Mick O’Brien and Caoimhín O’Raghallaigh – Aoibhinn Crónán, The Hopstores, Lily of the Valley
- Bess Cronin – Barbara Allen
- Fields Ward – Bury me not on the lone prairie
- Elle Osborne – Song for Thirza
- Nimrod Workmen – Oh Death
- Nic Jones – Edward
- HMS Ginafore – Crail, Kentucky
- Luke Daniels – (Live Session)
- Lizzie Higgins – A Beggar Man
- Jimmy McBeath – John Anderson, My Jo (explicit)
- Ivor Cutler – A Real Man
- Heddy West – Polly
- Jean Ritchie – Hangman
- Vera Ward Hall – Poor Lazarus
- Harry Cox – Just as the Tide was a’Flowing
- Jasper Smith – Thorneymoor Park
- Anne Briggs – The Recruited Collier
- Walter Davis – Noah Built an Ark
- Osborne Family – I’m Getting Ready to Leave This World
- Philip Reed – K.C. Whistle
- Mississippi John Hurt – Stackerlee Blues
- Dick Gaughan – Shetland Reels: Prison Door / Donald Blue / Wha’lldance Wi’ Wattie
- David A Jaycock – Two Starlings
- Blind Willie Johnson – Praise God I’m Satisfied
- Ted Hawkins – Don’t Lose Your Cool
- Lena Harmon and Hattie Presnell – The Drunkard’s Hell