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The Folk Music Hour

David Calder presents the music he loves in The Folk Music Hour.

Airing time: 12pm Sunday, Replays 7:30pm Thursday



To support the show, please visit: patreon.com/folkmusichour

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 2023

Click here to explore past episodes from 2022

Click here to explore past episodes from 2021

Click here to explore past episodes from 2020

Click here to explore past episodes from 2019 

Click here to explore past episodes from 2018

Click here to explore past episodes from 2017

Click here to explore past episodes from 2016

Click here to explore past episodes from 2015 

Click here to explore past episodes from 2014

 

 

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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:   download this show here

Click on the title of an episode to listen

Bow

Our Instruments of Folk series resumes. After plucking strings to make folk music, some clever person invented a bow to draw across the strings.

Duration: 54:11 | Date: 29 September, 2024

Māori Folk

For te wiki o te reo Māori 2024, we try to unravel the mystery: what is Māori folk music?

Duration: 00:59:15 | Date: 22 September, 2024

WomenFolk

To mark 131 years of women’s suffrage in NZ, an all-female programme of folk and related music.

Duration: 0:59:5 | Date: 15 September, 2024

Harmony Folk

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of folk song, for the performer and the audience alike, is singing in harmony.

Duration: 0:59:19 | Date: 8 February, 2024

Kids Stuff

Songs and rhymes for children have folk origins and tell some wonderful stories.

Duration: 00:58:00 | Date: 1 September, 2024

Protest, Revisited

We pick up the theme of Protest November, four podcasts from 2018, with new issues and songs.

Duration: 00:58:09 | Date: 25 August, 2024

Mixtape 16

Some more songs and tunes too good to miss make up a sampler from over 60 years of folk.

Duration: 0:58:12 | Date: 18 August, 2024

Lisa Hannigan

The Irish composer, instrumentalist and songstress influences modern folk with her interesting music.

Duration: 58:25 | Date: 11 August, 2024

Young Tradition

Young musicians are very talented; some are keeping traditional folk going while others are adding to it.

Duration: 0:58:12 | Date: 4 August, 2024

Cover Versions

We can’t seem to help finding versions of songs we think you will love.

Duration: 00:57:42 | Date: 28 July, 2024

More Screen Folk

It's amazing how many filmmakers illustrate their themes with folk music.

Duration: 00:58:16 | Date: 21 July, 2024

Woody Guthrie Day

July 14th is the National Day of France, and the birthdate of Woody Guthrie, whose lyrics spoke of freedom and human rights

Duration: 00:58:06 | Date: 14 July, 2024

Pop Goes Folk

In which we see the folk artist sounding pop, and the pop artist going folk.

Duration: 00:58:20 | Date: 7 July, 2024

Runs in the Family

We often think of a talent as ‘running in the family’. A playlist of folk parents and children making music.

Duration: 00:57:11 | Date: 30 June, 2024

Joan Baez

The veteran folk artist and activist, so influential in NZ too, has announced her retirement.

Duration: 0:58:27 | Date: 23 June, 2024

Juneteenth (2023)

Our first programme observing President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

Duration: 00:58:25 | Date: 16 June, 2024

Dave Jordan

The NZ musician Dave Jordan was constantly inventive, and perhaps the first Kiwi to make a living writing songs.

Duration: 00:58:09 | Date: 9 June, 2024

Kiwi Playlist 4

Yet more folk in our fourth playlist of the season

Duration: 00:58:30 | Date: 2 June, 2024

Kiwi Playlist 3

During May every year, NZ Music Month, we play only NZ songs and artists. Send us your songs to share.

Duration: 00:58:19 | Date: 26 May, 2024

Kiwi Playlist 2

More NZ folk and Kiwiana for NZ Music Month, 2024.

Duration: 00:58:23 | Date: 19 May, 2024

Adam McGrath

The South Island folk singer and storyteller is becoming something of a NZ legend, and a FMH feature for NZM Month

Duration: 0:58:14 | Date: 12 May, 2024

Kiwi Playlist 1

We get behind NZ Music Month in May every year, sharing Kiwi folk artists and the NZ folk heritage.

Duration: 00:57:54 | Date: 4 May, 2024

Taranaki Folk

NZ folk and Kiwiana specialist Mike Harding has made a career singing our own folk songs and launches our NZ Music Month in Taranaki.

Duration: 00:58:10 | Date: 28 April, 2024

Ralph McTell

The English contemporary folk artist is the perfect modern troubadour.

Duration: 00:58:18 | Date: 21 April, 2024

EuroFolk at WOMAD

Two outstanding acts at Womad ‘24 make for a great double bill.

Duration: 00:58:28 | Date: 14 April, 2024

Country Womenfolk

We are once again somewhere on the musical spectrum where folk and country music connect, with a programme of female artists.

Duration: 00:58:12 | Date: 7 April, 2024