How to Introduce a Friend to British Folk Music

When most people think of British folk music, they envision effeminate weenies strumming lutes or groups of burly men in cardigans, shouting a-melodically while holding one finger in their ear. But when you love folk music, it may be hard to indoctrinate friends into thinking that balladry and a-cappella singing are cool. The key is to take it slow, start out with music that you think your friend will like, gauge their reactions and gradually ease them toward more traditional recordings. With enough patience, you too can have friends who share your interest in folk music. (Extra cardigans are optional.)

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Explore the kind of music your friend enjoys. If your friend likes rock music, start them out with solo recordings by folk-rockers Richard Thompson or Sandy Denny. If your friend prefers singer-songwriters or indie acoustic rock, introduce them to introspective artists like Nick Drake or John Martyn. If they like punk, try the Pogues on for size. Each of these artists started out working in the British folk tradition and combined it with contemporary techniques to create their own version of modern popular music.

2. Have your friend listen to bands from the British folk revival. Groups like Fairport Convention and the jazz-fusion oriented The Pentangle introduced audiences in the 1960s to traditional folk music by packaging it with the sound of west-coast American rock. If your friend is feeling adventurous at this point, have them listen to some tracks by Steeleye Span, a band that played traditional British ballads using electric instruments.

3. See if your friend can identify some pop/rock songs that originated as traditional British ballads. This will also help acquaint them with some of the artists who sang those songs in their original form. For instance, the songs “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Dirty Old Town,” preformed respectively by Roberta Flack and the Pogues, were both written by Ewan MacColl, a Scottish traditional singer. Led Zeppelin’s “Black Mountain Side” is based on Bert Jansch’s guitar arrangement of an old folk song, and “Gallows Pole” has similar origins.

4. Let your friend listen to some of the instrumental virtuosos of British folk music. Start out with the complex guitar work of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and work your way through to the violin and fiddle music of Dave Swarbrick.

5. By now your friend should be ready to listen to some real traditional British folk music. Begin with some of June Tabor or Maddy Prior’s interpretations of English ballads. For traditional Irish balladry, try Nic Jones or Sweeney's Men. Once again, if your friend is adventurous, you might want to lead into some true “finger in the ear” a-cappella folk singing through artists like Anne Briggs and the Watersons.

6. Finally, encourage your friend to explore British folk music on their own. Get them a copy of the five volume edition of Francis J. Child’s “English and Scottish Popular Ballads” for them to read, or one of the reissues of Alan Lomax’s classic “Ballads of Britain and Ireland” recordings. With enough perseverance, you may succeed in converting yet another pair of virgin ears over to the side of British folk enthusiasts.