Several British private and academic institutions continue to hoard many thousands of folk songs, tunes and dances that rightly belong to the ethnic English people.
These cultural treasures were plundered by British Victorian collectors and hidden away more than a century ago, ostensibly to preserve them for posterity i.e. to prevent them being lost to future generations of the very same English people. However, more than a hundred years later much of this rich cultural folk-heritage has STILL not been…
Viewing: ENGLISH FOLK-HERITAGE - View all posts
"Roots" - A protest song by Steve Knightley
In researching examples of anti-English racism I am reminded of the mild furore that was created by Steve Knightley's song "Roots" some years ago. The lyrics are below .... see what you think
I still have no idea what persuaded Knightley to appear on the Radio 2 Mike Harding show to explain the lyrics and (presumably) to allay the fears of (folkie?) New British whingers that they were NOT racist, anti-immigrant or anti-multiculturalist and that he (Knightley) is not actually a paid-up member of the BNP.
I…
Read moreMy Memory of Dave Swarbrick
I played support for Dave Swarbrick & Kevin Dempsey at Cambridge Folk Club in 2012. I hadn't seen Swarbs for the best part of 40 years (the Why is a complete 'nother story) and when he turned up in a wheelchair I was shocked because he looked so small. I knew he'd been ill for a very long time and on death's door at least once but when he started fiddling he seemed to fill the stage never mind the wheelchair. I started the evening with a short set that finished with a Lancashire-Maori version of Pokarekare…Read more
All The Way To America
Hi Phil,
Just bought two of your CDs and can't wait to hear them in full! I've been a folk music enthusiast for many years and found you courtesy of an American Drane who has been spreading word of your music via American genealogy sites! I'm a descendant of James Anthony Drane who came from England to Maryland in the very early 1600s, so we're cousins many, many times removed! Now I know where I got my long-time fervent interest in folk music! It's genetic! Also appreciate your thoughts on the "New…
EFDSS and The Full English again
I came across this article while Googling ‘English folk-heritage’.
http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/free-archive-reveals-englands-folk-heritage
According to the writer, English people (inter alia) should be grateful to the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) for "opening up traditional English music to an international audience" by uploading thousands of English manuscripts to the internet and a programme of events patronisingly-named 'The Full English'.
The headline reads “Free Archive…Read more
http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/free-archive-reveals-englands-folk-heritage
According to the writer, English people (inter alia) should be grateful to the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) for "opening up traditional English music to an international audience" by uploading thousands of English manuscripts to the internet and a programme of events patronisingly-named 'The Full English'.
The headline reads “Free Archive…Read more
Praise for Phil Drane
A selection of organizer's comments ....
New Zealand
"A fantastic weekend with Phil Drane in concert on Sunday, up to his usual high standard and all those attending had a lovely time with Phil's entertaining programme of English folk heritage music." ..... Steve Tolley, Bent Horseshoe Cafe. Tokomaru, New Zealand
“Your gig was brilliant Phil!! Beautiful songs, well sung and lovely guitar accompaniment. I was engrossed from start to finish and your spot flew by all too quickly. It was obvious that the audience…Read more
New Zealand
"A fantastic weekend with Phil Drane in concert on Sunday, up to his usual high standard and all those attending had a lovely time with Phil's entertaining programme of English folk heritage music." ..... Steve Tolley, Bent Horseshoe Cafe. Tokomaru, New Zealand
“Your gig was brilliant Phil!! Beautiful songs, well sung and lovely guitar accompaniment. I was engrossed from start to finish and your spot flew by all too quickly. It was obvious that the audience…Read more
Ethnic English Folk-Culture in New Zealand
The National Library of New Zealand, Alexander Turnbull Library has added my albums Two Ravens, The English Lament, and The Best English Singalong Folksongs CDs to its online audio collection of ethnic immigrant folk-heritage music. They join my first album Full Circle whch was adopted in 2010.
This is a clear indication that New Zealand (unike the Dis-United Kingdom) clearly recognises the contribution that immigrant ethnic English people and their folk-culture continue to make to New Zealand's evolving…Read more
This is a clear indication that New Zealand (unike the Dis-United Kingdom) clearly recognises the contribution that immigrant ethnic English people and their folk-culture continue to make to New Zealand's evolving…Read more
What Is Folk Music? Well I don't know about you but I'm not in the least bit confused.
What is folk music?
There are two types of what nowadays we call 'folk music'. Neither is a true, identifiable music genre, like blues or jazz or classical music.
The first type is what I call "Folk Heritage Music" and what Neil Colquhun (Kiwi author of "Song of a Young Country") calls simply "Heritage Music".
My feeling is that "folk-heritage' music better differentiates it as music of the common people as opposed to more highbrow forms of heritage music.
Neil attended a concert I did at Wellington Folk Club…Read more
There are two types of what nowadays we call 'folk music'. Neither is a true, identifiable music genre, like blues or jazz or classical music.
The first type is what I call "Folk Heritage Music" and what Neil Colquhun (Kiwi author of "Song of a Young Country") calls simply "Heritage Music".
My feeling is that "folk-heritage' music better differentiates it as music of the common people as opposed to more highbrow forms of heritage music.
Neil attended a concert I did at Wellington Folk Club…Read more
Folk culture belongs to the people whose ancestors created it and passed it down. No-one else.
"The poem, the song, the picture, is only water drawn from the well of ordinary people, and it should be given back to them in a cup of beauty so that they may drink - and in drinking understand themselves". Federico Garcia Lorca
English Accents and Dialects - The Anglo Files Radio Show - Final Episode (2007)
Digging through my archives recently I found a recording of the final episode of “The Anglo Files” dated March 2007.
Now that Facebook enables access to the world, I thought it would be a fun to share it , since it features ordinary English people talking about themselves in some of the wonderful regional English accents and dialects that I have known all my life.
So I added a few vintage pics and made it into a video. The opening tune is The Hesleyside Reel played by Tim Van Eyken.
<<Click Here>> to play the…Read more
Now that Facebook enables access to the world, I thought it would be a fun to share it , since it features ordinary English people talking about themselves in some of the wonderful regional English accents and dialects that I have known all my life.
So I added a few vintage pics and made it into a video. The opening tune is The Hesleyside Reel played by Tim Van Eyken.
<<Click Here>> to play the…Read more