About the Show
Foolkiller Folk
The Foolkiller Folk collective explores the storytelling, cultural, and protest power of folk music from as far back as the Child Ballads through as current as released today.
"When one becomes enlightened one kills the fool within" -Jack Conroy
Mark & Val bring you recordings that are new to us – mostly English, Irish and Scottish, but with a bit of the USA and Sweden thrown in. You’ll be hearing from Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmons; Heather Downie; The Friel Sisters; Altan; Proper English; Adam Agee & Jon Sousa; The String Sisters; Theresa Kavanaugh; Purcell’s Polyphonic Party; Christy Moore; The Rheingans Sisters; Frander; Daire Mulhern; and Lori Watson.
If Gillian Welch lived in Brighton and had once sung with Orbital, she might have turned out like Naomi Bedford (Bedford sang on the duo’s 2001 single Funny Break, before wandering away to folk music). In other words, Bedford’s third album – Songs My Ruiner Gave to Me (Concerning Love, Madness and Obsession) – 2017 – with musical/romantic partner Paul Simmonds sounds far more American south than Sussex, but its transatlantic pull plays blissfully rather than preciously.
At the age of 15, Heather Downie began playing the Scottish harp and was immediately accepted into Splore, the traditional music course at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. Having graduated in 2008 from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with a first class honors BA Scottish music, Heather went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in Scottish music performance. She was a finalist in the BBC’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2015.
Anna, Sheila and Clare Friel (The Friel Sisters) are young traditional musicians born in Glasgow with their family roots firmly entrenched in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Derrynamansher). Being siblings, they achieve a close blend on fiddle, flute and uilleann pipes interspersed with songs sang in unison, many from their family and local repertoire. In Nov 2017, Clare was announced as the recipient of TG4 Gradam Ceoil Ceoiltóir Óg/Young Musician of the Year. It’s a huge achievement to be included in such an incredible line up for the night, and also to be added to a list of amazing past winners, as well as being the first person in Scotland to win the award.
Altan is an Irish folk band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband Frankie Kennedy. Primarily influenced by traditional Gaelic songs from Donegal. Altan was the first traditional Irish group to be signed to a major label when they signed with Virgin Records in 1994 and have sold over a million records to date. We’ll be hearing from their 2018 recording The Gap of Dreams.
Proper English is a singing trio and barn dance band performing traditional English songs and tunes on fiddle, English, Duet and Anglo concertinas, melodeon, cello, guitar, banjo with vocal harmony.
Two of Colorado’s most sought-after traditional Irish musicians, Adam Agee and Jon Sousa have been journeying together through the Irish idiom on fiddle, guitar, and tenor banjo, enchanting listeners on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean since 2004. Adam and Jon have put down musical roots in County Clare, where they lived together, and now make frequent visits.
The String Sisters are a Grammy long-listed folk supergroup made up of six of the world’s leading female fiddlers: Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh — Irish fiddle, vocals (Ireland); Annbjørg Lien — Hardanger Fiddle (Norway); Liz Knowles — fiddle (USA); Catriona MacDonald — fiddle (Shetland, Scotland); Liz Carroll — fiddle (USA); and Emma Härdelin — Fiddle, vocals (Sweden), supported by four ‘misters’ on piano, guitar, bass and drums.
Hailing from Donegal, Theresa Kavanagh’s skills as a traditional Irish fiddler, composer and educator have taken her across the globe. Theresa has performed at some of Celtic Music’s largest festivals, has worked with some of Irish Music’s top artists, composed music for the BBC TV documentary Gleann Bheatha, and collaborated on and composed for international projects.
Purcell’s Polyphonic Party is John Dipper, a respected and established performer, composer, teacher and instrument maker, on viola d’amore, concertina; Vicki Swan holder of the Zorn Bronze Award for the traditional playing of Swedish bagpipes on nyckelharpa, bagpipes, and flageolet; and Jonny Dyer on spinet, accordion, and gandola.
Christy Moore – Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist – was one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts, and was named as Ireland’s greatest living musician in RTÉ‘s People of the Year Awards.
Winners of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for ‘Best Original Track’, The Rheingans Sisters make bold, playful and innovative contemporary music that is anchored in folk traditions without being bound by them. Audiences across the world have been captivated by their performances, each one an authentic invitation to participate in an intuitive musical conversation between two musicians at the height of their powers.
Frander (meaning kinsman) is a family band from Sweden formed in 2015. We’ll be hearing from their first album, released in 2017.
Daire Mulhern is a button accordion & melodeon player from Ennis County Clare. We’ll be hearing tunes from his first album as well.
Lori Watson is the first Doctor of Artistic Research in Scottish Music, an authority on contemporary traditional music practice in Scotland and a BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician finalist in 2002 / 2003. Drawing on her strong roots in the rich creative tradition of the Scottish Borders, she has become a leading interpreter of Scottish folk music and Scots song
