Thank Folk For Feminism

We're back!  After a (very) long break, we're bringing you episode 2 of series 2! This episode sees, Lucy and Pinky talk to the GRAMMY-nominated, all-women, all brilliant, Della Mae! Recorded live at Shrewsbury Folk Festival www.dellamae.com www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk  

In our first episode for series 2, Lucy and Pinky talk to Rachel and Becky Unthank, of (you guessed it!) The Unthanks! They share with us the inspiration behind their long awaited new album Sorrows Away; their experiences of working with family; and we laugh together as they regale us with stories and celebrate the songs that feel like warm hugs! Recorded live at Shrewsbury Folk Festival www.the-unthanks.com www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk    

In this, the first episode of 2022, Lucy and Pinky invite Scottish musicians Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl to share news of their latest collaboration, "Heal and Harrow" - a multi-disciplinary show exploring Scottish witch trials.   Jennie Higgins also joins the show for a brand new segment exploring common misconceptions of folk traditions, through a feminist lens.  

On this episode of Thank Folk For Feminism, we chat to the one and only Maddy Prior and her super talented daughter and business partner, Rose Kemp. We talk about their roots, their shared teaching hub Stones Barn, stepping into your own creative voice and Maddy and Rose reflect on growing up in the industry.

On this episode of Thank Folk For Feminism, we chat to the brilliant Sarah Claudine from the Safe Figs For Women initiative. She talks with us about working with venues, promoters, artists and gig goers to fight against sexual assault and harassment at live music events.  We also have our new segment brought to you by the wonderful Lucy Shields from The Folk Forecast, where she provides us with some incredible gigs to keep an eye out for, this month. 

As we return after our month off, we are delighted to be joined by accordionist, singer, clog dancer and all round wonderful human, Hannah James.   She talks to us about the English clog tradition, her experiences of working with different genders in bands and about a mysterious lake in Slovenia that has inspired her to create a whole show!

In this episode Pinky and Lucy chat to BBC Young Folk Award Winner Maddie Morris, who  explores her love of folk music, transforming trauma into art, and passive aggressive camping chair folding. 

In this episode Pinky and Lucy chat to Gaelic Singer, Deirdre Graham about her career, the historic role of Gaelic singing and how she is looking to develop and grow Gaelic into new mediums.   Pinky and Lucy also look back at the first 6 months of TFFF and discuss where things could be going in the future!

Pinky and Lucy share a double whammy of an episode with two back to back interviews on the theme of expressing yourself while in a creative partnership. This episode features the brilliant and critically acclaimed Kathryn Roberts, sharing her experiences of how she approaches song writing with husband Sean Lakeman, parenting on the road and growing up together as part of folk super group Equation. Then TFFF chat to Debbie Hanna, one half of multi-award winning Megson, who shares the unlikely story of how she and husband Stu Hanna found folk music, and how to they work together to write songs that are a true expression of them both while still reflecting society around them.  

In this episode we talk to fabulous pairing of Rebecca Stewart, aka. Fluff from Cambridge Folk Festive and Amy Bertaut from Shrewsbury Folk Festival.    In this laughter filled, honest and thought provoking episode, we discuss the triumphs and struggles of being a woman behind the scenes in one of the most male dominated industries as well as chatting gender balanced line ups, gender neutral toilets and keeping audiences coming back for more.

In the second episode of our LGBTQ+ themed month, Pinky and Lucy chat with songwriter and storyteller Jess Morgan. Jess fuses poetry, storytelling and song to make unique and evocative music which has been widely critically acclaimed, she's toured extensively across the UK including slots with Beans On Toast. She's also the creation of a new live literature show, called Boring Someone In A Dark Café which fuse music into the narrative. Jess spoke to us about her creative processes, her challenges in telling more personal stories in her creative work, and we muse on what more festivals could be doing to be inclusive. In this bumper edition we also spoke with Oxford based queer folk musician Roary Skaista. Roary spoke to us about the challenges of the trad cannon, and the issues they face as a non-binary artist.

To kick off our LGBTQ+ themed month, Pinky and Lucy chat with the powerhouse singer songwriter that is Grace Petrie. Grace is undeniably the voice of a generation, a proud socialist and feminist, her songs reflect the world around us and call for positive, inclusive and impactful change. Her disarming wit and passion is a tour de force and in this exclusive interview Grace shares her experiences of 10 years of non stop touring and activism.

This week Pinky and Lucy chat with the tremendous Ella-Joy Hunton. Ella is singer songwriter, folk degree student and is the founder of Folky Union of Women. In the summer of 2020, Ella wrote a blog post called 'Why I Lost Faith In Folk Music', where she detailed personal experiences of abuses of power and predatory behaviour within the folk scene. The blog was widely read, shared and discussed amongst folk fans and members of the industry alike, galvanising people into having serious conversations about how we can do more to make our scene safe and empowering for young people. Here, Ella shares her own visions for building an awesome, inclusive folk scene.   

This episode explores the #tradstandswithher campaign aimed at raising awareness of violence against women in the folk industry, as we chat with Jenn Butterworth, Catrina Hawksworth and Rachel Newton from 'The BIT Collective', a community of people interested in discussing and addressing equalities issues in Scottish folk and traditional music.    And we hear a beautifully, haunting song from Nicolette Macleod called 'Guard of Stories'.  

Continuing the theme of 'Music Is My Mother' (exploring musical heritage, the passing of the tradition and being a 'mum-sician'!) Lucy and Pinky share pt.2 of their epic conversation with Nancy Kerr, in which Nancy wisely advises we metaphorically don flamethrowers and blast our way to freedom from misogyny in traditional song!  We also hear sweet, hilarious and exasperated anecdotes from Kathryn Roberts, Debs Hanna (Megson) and Jackie Oates on their experiences of touring with their children.   And because TFFF wants to represent women from across the industry, not just musicians, we speak to Stevie Smith, head of the Americana Music Association UK about how she achieved gender balance at the festival, being a working mum and grandma and her experiences of supporting mums in music.     

An additional episode of TFFF recorded in response to the tragic deaths of Sarah Everard, Bennylyn Burke and her daughter Jellica. As women, feminists and activists, Pinky and Lucy both felt moved to create this short podcast for any TFFF listeners who feel it might be helpful to have a collective space to process, express and grieve. It features a moving statement from Pinky and a new song written and performed by Katy Rose Bennett called 'She Was Just Walking Home'. 

For episode 3, Lucy and Pinky interview the wonderfully talented Nancy Kerr as they discuss this months theme, "Music Is My Mother", looking at musical heritage, the passing of the tradition and the juggling of being a mum whilst working in the music industry,   You can find more on Nancy at https://nancykerr.co.uk/    Plus in honour of International Women's Day on the 8th March, find out Pinky and Lucy's feminist icons.  One may shock you!

In the second episode of our month delving into 'Music as Activism' we chat about writing music with refugee women in Birmingham with Katy Rose Bennett & Lucy and songwriter Elie Rees exclusively premiere their feminist rewrite of traditional song ‘The Two Sisters' Plus Pinky and Lucy unpack what happened when the English Folk Dance & Song Society (EFDSS) plugged us on their Facebook page

The very first episode of Thank Folk For Feminism!   Lucy and Pinky chat to folk luminary Peggy Seeger.  Peggy graciously shares her sage insights on folk, feminism and how her songs have been anthems for change.