Classic Folk with Mike Norris
Classic Folk is unique.
It mines a rich seam of wonderful folk and roots music and song from around 75 years of recordings.
From the great source singers to the legends of folk rock, the travellers to the protesters, the ballads to the blues, from the far north to the deep south and all around the English speaking world, the songs live again.
And, not forgetting the pick of the new releases and a few cracking tunes, it’s like having a folk festival in the comfort of your own home!
Former English Folk Dance and Song Society Chair (2006–2011) and long-standing member Mike Norris hosts our weekly folk radio programme.
Mike explores a wide range of folk and acoustic music from the UK and abroad – from rarely heard archive and field recordings to the very latest releases.
Listen now
Tuesday 1 July 2025
This week’s music:
1. The Fowler / Jon Wilks (+ Jackie Oates and Lucas Drinkwater
2. Oubliette / Jez Lowe
3. Wild Mountain Thyme / Fotheringay
4. Going to Leave This Country / Sara Grey and Kieron Means
5. Roll, Alabama, Roll! / Rattle On The Stovepipe
6. Reno Nevada / Iain Matthews
7. Between The Wars / Maggie Holland
8. Hard Times / Herding Cats
9. Ned of the Hill / Reconciliation Reel / Herding Cats
10. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Live In Rapid City) / Sarah McQuaid
11. Days of Summer / Martyn Wyndham-Read & No Man's Band
12. The Trip To Fowey / Indian Queen / Kings Of Calicut
13. Finisterre / June Tabor
14. Caledonia / Dougie MacLean
15. Roll Back the Years / Seth Lakeman
16. Anderson's Coast / John Roberts and Debra Cowan
17. The Female Highwayman / Lucy Ward
18. Banks and Braes / Kate Green
19. Working Man / The Keelers
20. Sailor Town / Johnny Collins
21. Leaving Friday Harbour / John McCusker & Phil Cunningham
22. The Charladies' Ball / Frank Harte
23. After The Ball / Frances Black
24. Sanctuary Land / Jez Lowe
25. Celestial Light / Amazing Blondel
Also available to stream:
The presenter: Mike Norris
Mike’s passion for folk music spans decades; from first learning to play the melodeon and singing shanties at school, to running folk festivals and gigs.
A teenager during the 1960s, Mike was heavily influenced by protest song and folk-rock popularity (Bob Dylan, the Copper Family, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention etc), as well as the tail end of the folk-song revival shaped by The Watersons, Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Shirley Collins, Woody Guthrie and many more.
Interesting fact: The hospital where Mike was born, in Portsmouth, grew out of the workhouse where George Gardiner collected more than 100 songs in the early 1900s.
