1. Rachel Elliott - The English Folk Dance and Song Society and youth involvement
Folk singers and musicians Joanie Bones and Oliver Cross discuss some of the themes that emerged from the Access Folk research project about participation and inclusion in folk singing in England. Drawing on findings from the research report Accessing Folk Singing in England they interview singers, musicians and educators as well as drawing on their own lived experience to discuss issues around disability, gender, ethnicity and much more.
In this episode Oliver interviews the education director of the English Folk Dance and Song Society about youth engagement, funding and folk singing. Joanie and Oliver discuss the contemporary funding landscape for folk music, how young people first meet folk singing and reflect on their own experiences of first getting involved with folk singing.
In the podcast Rachel talks about The English Folk Dance and Song Society’s youth programmes and their award winning Resource Bank. Joanie mentioned her visits to the Morris Folk Club.
You can learn more about the work of the English Folk Dance and Song Society by following them on social media. @TheEfdss
Music in the episode: Old Abigail's Delight / Granny's performed by the National Youth Folk Ensemble (2018, EFDSS)
Credits
The Access Folk Podcast is a co-production between Joanie Bones, Oliver Cross and Access Folk, a research project run by Fay Hield and based at the University of Sheffield.
The podcast was produced in 2023 by Esbjörn Wettermark and Rowan Piggott and funded by Access Folk and The University of Sheffield’s Public Engagement Development Fund.
Our theme tune is “Old Adam (Reprise)” from Fay Hield’s album Old Adam (2016, Soundpost Records).
All the music in the Podcast series is used with permission from the artists and copyright holders.
