Gentlefolk2 Programmes

If you scroll down the page you'll find all the monthly programmes from January 2019 onwards.
The Specials page has programmes on a theme including the six extra programmes since March 2020.
The links to artists' websites, open a new window so the programme will carry on playing.

100 programmes (and seven years) seems a fitting moment to call it a day. The response to Gentlefolk2 has been very postive - when I've received it - but there simply hasn't been enough to make me want to carry on with it. You can only shout down a well and hear no echo for so long. Thank you to everyone who has sent in a song I've played and to you if you've ever sent in a word or two about G2. I'll be doing a different (but similar) programme in the new year but not on this website.

Who would have thought? Gentlefolk2 has now been going for seven years... As you might imagine, there'll be something slightly different going on and the theme is suggested by the montage to the right. It's songs connected with the number seven. The styles of music are possibly wider ranging than ever: folk, country, jazz, pop, standards, musicals and barbershop - fancy that: seven. It's longer programme than usual - close to 7 percent longer.
There are many more performers than this but here are the ones with a website. Diane Nalini has a website - just Google her name: gremlins in the system are making it incapable of providing a link.
Mose Allison   Mat Williams   Tom Rush    Judy Collins   Northern Lights
The Quebe Sisters

The "classic" format of the programme - a mixture of all sorts within the usual mostly acoustic area of music. There are three very different versions of songs, three silly songs and three instrumentals - but all totally different. One song is on the subject of something that can be quite annoying in folk clubs. One item, rescued from a 53 year old LP, is about folk song collecting and there's one which was collected by Vaughan Williams. The artwork this month is by Steve Capper. Here are links to the websites of performers in the programme - if they have them.
Kabantu   The Carolina Chocolate Drops   Kevin Dempsey   Jake Thackray   Chalk Horse Music   Carolina Eyck   Boo Hewerdine  Kate & Anna McGarrigle
The Infamous Stringdusters   Daniel Nestlerode

Starting with the song which has the line which gives the programme its title, the song, performers or title will lead on to another - sometimes in a way you might not expect and after an hour, we end up back where we started. Because it would give away what the links are going to be, the other kind of links - the ones to performers' websites - are at the bottom of the page.

It's the "original" format - a mixed bag of music - some new, some not new. One of the new pieces celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of a very famous English woman. There are several new albums, four of them from duos and one from a female singer who used to be in a well-known twosome. There's an unaccompanied song from an unexpected performer and a song about the sometimes illogical English language.
Here are links to the artists on the programme who have websites.
Odette Michell   John Hartford   Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer   Ronnie Lane
Louise Jordan   Bob Fox   Kevin Dempsey   Jacqui McShee   Harvey Andrews   Christine Collister   The Staves   Peter & Barbara Snape

This is Part Two of an earlier programme "No Guitars Allowed" without such a draconian theme: guitars might be in there somewhere but they're not the main instruments allowing a wide range of instruments take centre stage. You'll hear an example of an instrument starting with every single letter of the alphabet. You might guess the "z" but possibly not the "q", "x" and "y".
The picture is "Bluebell Wood" by Zoe Norman, who did the May 19 picture.
Here are links to the artists on the programme who have websites.
Dragonhead   Yo-yo Ma   Chinmaya Dunster   Carolina Eyck   Wendy Stewart   Seals & Crofts  The Nightwatch   Mumbo Jumbo  The Hanson Sisters   Etienne de Lavaulx

Gentlefolk2 · Gentlefolk2 May 20 Instruments A - Z

This month's programme hasn't got a theme but all the tracks are connected: they've all been sent into Gentlefolk2 mostly by people I didn't know before. It's been one of the greatest pleasures of doing this for the last six and a half years to open a song someone has sent in and think "Oh, yes: that's good...!" And there's the usual variety: an instrumental, an unaccompanied song and something less than serious. Everything sent in doesn't make it onto a programme but some of the best tracks are here.
The April image is "Stour Valley" by John Nash.
Follow these links for more information about the performers on this G2.
Larry Allen Brown   Jane Stokes Bandcamp page   Anne Sumner   Arcelia  Herdman, Hills and Mangsen    About The Song songwriter's website
Mike Reinstein   Elaine Davidson

A sequence of songs which mention members of the family, often in the title but not always. You'll find songs which relate to father, mother, sister and brother of course but also a few slightly more distant relations ~ in one case the person is only referred to as a "distant relation". Plus there are a couple of songs which mention a lot of different branches of the family.
The March image is "Mach Morning" by Nikolai Astrup.
Here are links to the websites of performers mentioned on this programme.
James Taylor   Kim Lowings & The Greenwood   Harry Nilsson   The Once   Leonard Cohen   Jake Thackray   Johnny Cash  Townes Van Zandt
Granny’s Attic   Simon & Garfunkel   Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer

The bi-monthly musical mosaic of folk-ish and acoustic songs, with a couple of less-than-serious items, several songs you won't have heard before and an exceptional example of unaccompanied singing.
The February picture is North Sea Sunrise by Adrian Taunton.
You can find out more about the performers mentioned in this programme by following the links to their websites (those who have one.) It opens a new window so it doesn't stop the music playing, if you're listening. But it may distract you...

Tom Rush   Holly Near   Sam Lee   John Sebastian   The Nearlys   Sadie & Jay   Ralph McTell   Peter Hollens

A guessing game with instant answers - just for fun and there are no prizes... If you want to play along, you have a chance to indentify the performers before they're announced after the track. In total they've had at least 57 top ten hits. The performers include a female singer born on December 25th,
a silly song from someone who's just celebrated his 91st birthday and one of the major names of the folk revival in the early 60s playing a film theme.
The January picture is "Moon And Snow" by Viv Wheatley.
There are links to the websites of performers mentioned in this programme at the bottom of the page. It would be a bit of a giveaway to put them here...

A festive free mixture of music with some performers you may not know and some who are very well known. In particular, a superb unaccompanied song, two really different but excellent arrangements of traditional songs and something less than serious from someone well-known in the early 60s.

Here are links to the websites of performers mentioned in this programme:
Tom Paxton   Amy Hopwood   The Lost Notes   Ric Sanders   Vo Fletcher   George Harrison   Paul McCartney   Alyth McCormack   New York Voices   Jesse Winchester   Eliza Carthy   Linda Thompson   Richard Thompson

In the 20 year period between the end of the first and the start of the second World Wars, an incredible amount and huge variety of music was produced. This programme highlights folk-ish and acoustic post-war recordings of some of these wonderful songs and tunes, by some of the greats of songwriting and by others long forgotten but for the classic music they left behind.

Here are links to performers mentioned this month
Leon Redbone   Birch Pereira & The Gin Joints  Eric Clapton   Bianco
Jerry Garcia & David Grisman  Quicksilver   Arlo Guthrie   Outrageous Fortune

I may be biassed but I think there are some outstanding pieces of music on the programme this month. There are some you won't have heard before which I hope will make you say "Wow!" In particular, several female singers, all with amazing vocies in different ways; one of the best acappella groups I've ever heard and - a rare event - a group I like so much I'm playing two tracks from their album. Surely you want to listen after a build-up like that...?

Here are links to performers mentioned this month.
James Taylor   Matthews Southern Comfort   Beth Nielsen Chapman   Kabantu   Lizzy Hardingham   Talon   Iain Coleman & Jackie Baxter   The Real Group   Patty Larkin   Steve Tilston   Rory Block

It's the sixth anniversary of Gentlefolk2 so this is a programme of songs with numbers. "Now We Are Six" (apart from being a book by A. A. Milne) was also the title of an album by Steeleye Span, which unsurprisingly, was their sixth, but the title track is one that's not being played. There's also a challenge, asking you to make a total of all the numbers that you hear in the song titles and the names of the performers (some have numbers in them too.)
Plus you might like to work out what's interesting about this month's image.

Here are links to performers mentioned this month.
Nick Drake   Steeleye Span   Jim Kweskin   The Once   Dave Fry   Ringo Starr
Forefront   Susan Robinson   Shawn Colvin   Tom Waits   Oscar Brand

A mixed-bag, pot-pourri, multi-grain, all sorts, random rag-bag, Forrest Gump "Ya never know whatcha gonna get" type of programme. You'll find recently written songs, pieces from the 19th and 18th centuries, one about a famous writer, one based on lines from a very famous book, two songs about stones (who would have thought..?) and a song about songs.
The August image is "Heatwave" by Viv Wheatley.

Here are links to performers mentioned this month.
Kuschty Rye   The Melancholy Brothers   Odette Michell   Winter Wilson
Alan Whitbread   David Qualey   Paul McCartney   Thrup'nny Bits
Warwick University Peterloo songs   Jonathan Edwards

Songs about birds and the songs of birds: there are so many to choose from, this is only a small selection and even now it's a slightly longer programme than usual, nearly ten minutes over the hour. There are some classics about the lark and the nightingale but some pieces you won't have heard before.
The theme music is tune called "Waterlight" written by Norman Wheatley, performed by Ian Stephenson. Here are links to performers mentioned this month, those who have websites that is.
Rowan Godel   Simon & Garfunkel   Alison Moorer   Arcelia   Tom Paxton   Paul McCartney   Robin Williamson   June Tabor & Quercus
Emmylou Harris   John Watterson (Fake Thackray)

A selection of folk-ish songs which ask various questions: "Where Have..?" "Who's Gonna..?" "When Will..?" "Why Walk..?" "Is That..?" and many more. The next question is: will there be any answers?
The June image is "Country Lane" by Paul Talbot-Greaves
The theme music is tune called "Waterlight" written by Norman Wheatley, performed by Ian Stephenson
Here are links to the websites of performers & places mentioned this month
Malvina Reynolds   Sensible Shoes   Melissa Harding   The Everly Brothers   Tom Paxton   Nick Drake   Eric Clapton   Mike Harding   Peggy Lee
James Taylor   Eddie Lastra   Dana & Susan Robinson

There seem to be more folk style songs about May than any other month and there are three on this programme; one of them is an unaccompanied less-than-serious song. There's also more on the theme of borrowing tunes and lines for other songs.
The May image is "May Blossom" by Zoe Norman (with a name like that...)
The theme music is tune called "Waterlight" written by Norman Wheatley, performed by Ian Stephenson
Here are links to the websites of performers & places mentioned this month
Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer  Ride, Norman, Ride teaching video  Jim Rooney  Maria Muldaur  The Dovetail Trio  The Clancy Brothers  Bob Dylan
Lucy Kaplansky  Linda Ronstadt  Ann Savoy  Chris Wood   Silvington
Sadie & Jay  Steeleye Span

The usual mixture of music and songs except that I won't be announcing who's playing before you hear the song. You'll have the duration of the track to see if you can spot who it is and then I'll tell you straightaway afterwards. Some will be artists you'll know and might recognise some of them won't be. The usual list of links to performers' websites is at the bottom of this page. Tom Paxton is mentioned but I'm not playing anything by him - he's far too easy too recognise - but he is touring the UK again during the month.
The April image is once again by Rik Middleton which is called "Primroses".
The theme music is tune called "Waterlight" written by Norman Wheatley, performed by Ian Stephenson
Tom Paxton & The Don Juans 2019 tour dates

A recurring topic of using bits from other songs, sometimes a whole tune
Famous people who play the ukulele and a song about how to tune it
Something delightful - but unpronounceable - in Gaelic
A silly song from the 20s and a new version of a famous one from the 40s
An epic fable based in somewhere far away in a time long ago...
The March image is "Stormy Skies" by Rik Middleton
Here are links to the websites of performers mentioned this month:
Dana & Susan Robinson   Happy Traum   The Band    Gareth Davies-Jones
Jesse Winchester   Julie Fowlis   Bruce Watson   The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
George Harrison   Coope, Boyes & Simpson

An hour of music from lots of instruments apart from the guitar!
At least twenty four non-guitar music makers from accordion to trombone
   and many more in between. There's a silly song on a melodeon,
   an instrumental on fiddle and piano and something called a bandoneon...
The February image is "Riverside" by Rik Middleton.
Here are links to the websites of performers mentioned this month:
The Carolina Chocolate Drops   John Kirkpatrick    Plainsong  
Tim O’Brien   Judy Collins   The Continental Drifters   Tom McConville  
Steamchicken   Damien Clarke   The Nightwatch  
Swan & Dyer   Eliza Carthy   The Skeptics

John Tams   Martin Simpson   Ralph McTell   Bob Dylan   Joan Baez
Zoe Mulford   Arcelia   Eddi Reader   Tom Paxton   Carly Simon

Colin Hay   Rhiannon Giddens   Van Morrison   Herdman, Hills & Mangsen   Eliza Carthy   Ralph McTell
Wizz Jones   Derroll Adams   Eric Clapton   Iain Matthews

Livingston Taylor   Marianne Faithfull   Billy Joel   Jacqui McShee   Jimmy Somerville  Paul Weller   Eddi Reader   Martin Carthy   Steeleye Span   Dave Goulder   John Martyn   Ed Sheeran   James Taylor   Pam Ayres   Ritchie Blackmore   Jerry Lee Lewis