In the FOOTSTEPS of EWAN MacCOLL

27th May 2023

In the 50s and 60s Ewan MacColl along with Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger created the groundbreaking Radio Ballads broadcasts for the BBC Home Service covering a variety of subjects and using an audio documentary format to highlight the experiences of real people weaving the voices of rarely-heard communities with songs written from and about their recorded interviews, the first time regional accents had been heard on BBC Radio!
There were eight original programmes and they were masterpieces of radio producing many songs that have since become folk classics.
More info here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/radioballads/original/

Almost half a century later, in 2006, a new set of Radio Ballads were commissioned by BBC Radio 2 using the same format but this time involving a whole team of stellar musicians, singers and songwriters from the folk/acoustic/roots music scene. Now three members of that team, Bob Fox, Jez Lowe and Julie Matthews, have put together a selection of songs from the 2006 new Radio Ballads for a concert performance IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF EWAN MacCOLL. All three are consummate engaging performers of meaningful songs and stories and are multi-instrumentalists whose skills have been honed by decades of live touring.