Airing time: 12pm Sunday, Replays 7:30pm Thursday
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Almost all music has a folk origin: blues, jazz, rock and even some classical. As Big Bill Broonzy famously said: all songs are folk songs - never heard a horse sing!
Arguably the first Kiwi to make a living with a mandolin, David spent some of his musical life playing bluegrass, but was performing in the folk boom as early as 1964.
He performed in Europe and the UK in the 70s, and recorded original music for NZ film and television. He dabbled in folk rock and pop in California in the 80s while teaching kids to sing. In London in the 90s he learned to help special needs children to read.
Now retired and no longer performing, he is free to pursue any of the musical paths he loves: song-writing, tuition - guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer, even bass - and he works to record his original songs, such as https://youtu.be/P2iClmUZAZk
A long-standing enthusiast for NZ’s own folk music, David also still loves US old-time music, nurtured since Doc Watson LPs first made it to these shores, and explores the folk tradition of the British and Irish isles. He is a fan of World Music and fiercely proud of WOMAD Taranaki. A natural entertainer since his debut on radio aged six, David thinks radio is the perfect performance medium and now has an extensive archive of programmes.
Click here to explore past episodes from 2021
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Podcasts
To download the latest episode: Click on the kiwifruit to go to The Folk Music Hour page on the accessmedia.nz site:
Click on the title of an episode to listen
Mixtape 9
We launch into another folkin' good year, with more variety than you can shake a stick at, in our 9th mixtape.
Duration: 00:59:40 | Date: 16 January, 2022
Blues and More
Every year, around Martin Luther King Day, a US public holiday, we feature the kind of music we think he would’ve enjoyed, and hope you will, too.
Duration: 00:57:05 | Date: 9 January, 2022
Sandy Denny
We begin every year with our tribute to Sandy Denny, near her birthdate of 6th Jan. For 2022 we play her unreleased demos.
Duration: 00:58:28 | Date: 2 January, 2022
Season's Greetings
Our Holiday Season show! Wishing you happy holidays and happy trails, we present some great songs for the season. See you next year!
Duration: 00:53:57 | Date: 19 December, 2021
The Demon Drink
As society wrestles with the pleasures and dangers of alcohol this festive season, Folk songs have plenty to say on the subject.
Duration: 00:53:57 | Date: 12 December, 2021
The Lost Words: Spell Songs
A programme of beautiful music and song and natural sounds with an environmental theme and an extraordinary reach.
Duration: 00:56:41 | Date: 5 December, 2021
Nick Drake
Nearly 50 years after his death, the singer and guitarist’s songs still have a cult following.
Duration: 00:58:10 | Date: 28 November, 2021
Dark as a Dungeon
Near the anniversary of the Pike River tragedy, we play some folk and country songs about Mining and the disasters it has seen.
Duration: 00:59:18 | Date: 18 November, 2021
Flowers of Scotland
We play a range of excellent folk artists who are, in a sense, the flowers of Scotland.
Duration: 00:56:30 | Date: 14 November, 2021
Joni Mitchell
In honour of Joni’s 78th birthday on Nov 7th, we play some previously unreleased performances from her formative years.
Duration: 00:55:24 | Date: 7 November, 2021
350
Celebrating our 350th show, a playlist of favourites.
Duration: 00:59:50 | Date: 31 October, 2021
Labour Day
This Labour Weekend, let’s reflect on those who’ve sacrificed their lives for the working class struggle through the songs that tell their stories.
Duration: 00:58:50 | Date: 24 October, 2021
Katherine Priddy
The Birmingham-based singer and writer is at the top of the official UK Folk Charts and is winning awards, and listeners.
Duration: 00:56:02 | Date: 17 October, 2021
Malinky
Described as the finest young Scottish folk band around, these musicians are really enjoyable
Duration: 00:57:33 | Date: 10 October, 2021
Mark Laurent
One of NZ’s finest singer-songwriters, Mark has released a best-of, making a baker’s dozen of albums of his original work, with fine instrumental and vocal performances.
Duration: 00:56:55 | Date: 3 October, 2021
All Folked Up
What happens when popular songs appeal to folk artists who are moved to give them completely new arrangements.
Duration: 00:55:57 | Date: 26 September, 2021
Bruce Cockburn
The brilliant Canadian songwriter has a great repertoire of guitar instrumentals.
Duration: 00:57:05 | Date: 19 September, 2021
Te Wiki o te reo Maori
We feature the folk music of the tangata whenua, with the sounds of taonga puoro - singing treasures.
Duration: 00:53:05 | Date: 12 September, 2021
Mainly Acoustic
Apart from some subtle background textures, these artists write and record acoustic music.
Duration: 00:58:29 | Date: 5 September, 2021
Oldies
We put together a show of songs for older folks - both poignant and funny.
Duration: 00:57:59 | Date: 29 August, 2021
Vikki Clayton Part 2
We continue our story of the English folk artist and trace her NZ journey.
Duration: 00:57:46 | Date: 22 August, 2021
Vikki Clayton Part 1
The UK ex-pat has an impressive discography of traditional and contemporary folk, with some fine original songwriting.
Duration: 00:58:11 | Date: 15 August, 2021
Mixtape 8
Another eclectic mix of music from four continents.
Duration: 00:56:44 | Date: 8 August, 2021
Nordic Folk
We’re biased towards Anglo-American folk, but our archive has a lot of music in languages other than English. This programme has some superb music from Scandinavia.
Duration: 00:56:34 | Date: 1 August, 2021
Young Old Timey
Old-timey music is attracting young players globally - we feature two fiddlers, a Canadian and a Kiwi, who play it brilliantly.
Duration: 00:59:30 | Date: 25 July, 2021