Frankie Armstrong Interview

We chatted to legendary musician and social worker Frankie Armstrong ahead of her performance alongside Nancy Kerr and Angeline Morrison at the Feminist Folk Club at Cecil Sharp House in September 2023.

You often speak about the relationship between story and song. Why do you think folk songs are uniquely powerful tools of storytelling?

I think we humans are story-telling animals – it's the way we make sense of ourselves and the world. We've been at it for millennia. What song can add to storytelling is simply that melody heightens speech. Hence, whether you’re a singer of epics or ballads, the greater range and the ability to sustain sound that singing allows, means there's more room for interpretation, timing and phrasing. Singing also allows the use of the timbres (colours of the voice) to paint the picture with more subtlety than the spoken word, and ornamentation can add to the emotional drama at suitable points. There are more chances and choices for the singer of stories with a melody wedded to the words.

Building on that idea, why do you think it is important to highlight women’s stories in folk song?

That's very simple – in the 60s, when I became part of the Folk Revival, there were certainly more songs about and by men in the clubs. It took Peggy Seeger, Sandra Kerr, and myself (when the men in the Critics Group were recording sea songs and shanties) to have a eureka moment – why don’t we research and record women’s songs? It hadn't been done till that point. So that beginning prepared us to be swept along with song into the Second Wave of Feminism that grew in the 70s. Sheila Rowbotham's book Hidden from History was such a clear look at how we needed to explore other ways to illuminate our women ancestors’ lives. Song hadn’t been seen as a source for this - it was Kathy Henderson with help from Sandra and me, who researched the iconic book My Song Is My Own - A Hundred Women’s Songs, which came out in 1979, followed by an album of the same name. Having a Feminist perspective colours everything I think and do, so inevitably it affects my choice of songs and interpretation. This doesn't mean I sing gung-ho songs at all; women are murdered, murder their children, turn the tables on men who would abuse them, use magic and wit – sometimes win, sometimes lose, but the backdrop of the Patriarchy plays a part in trying to understand the behaviour in the songs. Like life, it's complex and full of contradictions – but that's what makes it constantly interesting and challenging.

Your most recent album is a lovely mixture of tunes from different sources. What was your process when sourcing and selecting the songs?

My latest CD The Cats of Coven Lawn initially came about through meeting the four wonderful young people who are Bird in the Belly. Despite nearly a half century age gap, we just all fell for each other. As they have their own studio, they suggested I make a CD. So of course I wanted them involved, along with the two friends Pauline Down and Laura Bradshaw who make up our trio Bread And Roses. That was seven of us, and then I invited my ex-partner and dear friend Brian Pearson to join with two of his own songs. And it had long been an ambition to sing with Martin Simpson and happily he agreed to accompany the two traditional songs on the album. Ben Webb of the Birdies wrote two of the songs for me and I selected more than half of them from the repertoire of Bread And Roses – largely featuring women’s experience and songs that lend themselves to three voices. (My collaboration with Bread and Roses began some seven years ago when we formed as a trio to put on a concert and run a workshop for International Women’s Day. People were amazed at how well our voices went together and as we loved similar kinds of songs we've kept going ). So putting the CD together was such an enjoyable experience – the recording sessions were like a music party. I think this comes across. And the Cats! Well, we all loved and had cats - hence Ben’s artwork and the title.

You often advocate for the social and political benefits of singing. How has your musicianship informed your social work, and vice versa?

It was my social work background that led me to clearly observe the benefits of group singing when I was touring in the States and attending workshops on Balkan and Shape Note singing in the 70s. We were much more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a few hours singing in harmony together. I found great satisfaction in running Voice Workshops – people reported feeling energised, enlivened and having a real sense of being part of a supportive community. I ran workshops in the folk and theatre world, and also in hospitals, mental health centres, special schools, youth groups, and women’s groups. And all seem to find singing beneficial; the link between my two “trades" seemed evident.

Having been trained and working as a social worker for the first two decades of my working life, I have always been drawn to songs that explore aspects of human behaviour – relationships, love, hate, revenge, remorse, forgiveness, reunion, misunderstanding, grief, desire. They can be ‘realistic’ or full of magic and myth, but the songs that say ‘sing me’ have always got elements of these. They may be centuries old or recently penned. They may be looking for laughter or tears as a response. The song is such a miniature art form yet can encompass such a broad canvas.

You have always been dedicated to thoughtful and powerful folk revival, as well as engaging with younger generations when approaching song and singing. Do you have any advice you would give to young women who have recently become interested in exploring or performing folk music?

I have been more focused on running training courses and workshops over the past couple of decades. And, with the difficulties of the pandemic at my age, I’m not sure how comprehensive my sense/view of the current folk scene is. However my advice to young women coming onto the scene now is what it always has been – sing the songs that call to you, that say something you want to communicate, and find the style/way of best putting them across. It's the songs that should be in the spotlight. Of course, there's a buzz in being a performer – we all have a degree of ego to be up there - but it needs some harnessing so as to focus on the song. Don't compromise or allow yourself to be flattered into being something that doesn't feel right. Try and find your path and stay on it – which doesn't mean you can't explore different genres, styles, and music collaborations, but try to stay true to yourself.