Classic Folk with Mike Norris
Classic Folk is unique.
It mines a rich seam of wonderful folk and roots music and song from around 75 years of recordings.
From the great source singers to the legends of folk rock, the travellers to the protesters, the ballads to the blues, from the far north to the deep south and all around the English speaking world, the songs live again.
And, not forgetting the pick of the new releases and a few cracking tunes, it’s like having a folk festival in the comfort of your own home!
Former English Folk Dance and Song Society Chair (2006–2011) and long-standing member Mike Norris hosts our weekly folk radio programme.
Mike explores a wide range of folk and acoustic music from the UK and abroad – from rarely heard archive and field recordings to the very latest releases.
Listen now
Tuesday 3 November 2026
Repeat of an earlier episode of Classic Folk, from 2013, when Mike interviewed Sandra Kerr at Sidmouth Folk Festival. Sandra passed away earlier this week.
Rest in peace, Sandra!
This week’s music:
1. The Miller's Song / Sandra Kerr & John Faulkner
Sandra Kerr
2. Railroad Man / Alan Lomax & The Ramblers
3. The Rocks of Bawn / Joe Heaney
4. Van Diemen's Land / Ewan MacColl
Sandra Kerr
5. The Foggy Dew / Ewan MacColl
6. John Riley / Peggy Seeger
Sandra Kerr
7. The Lover's Ghost / A. L. Lloyd
8. Buffalo Skinners / Pete Seeger
9. The Wild Rover / John Falkner
Sandra Kerr
10. Ballad Of Accounting / Ewan MacColl
Sandra Kerr
11 Weaving Song / The Laird of Drumblair /
12. Jeanette's Waltz / Sandra Kerr
Sandra Kerr
13. The Maid On The Shore / Sandra And Nancy Kerr
14. Emily Davison / Sandra Kerr
15. Lovely Nancy / Nancy Kerr & James Fagan
Sandra Kerr
16. Bold Riley / The Teacups
17. Weary Cutters / Werca's Folk
18. The Yellow-Haired Laddie / Lovely Nancy / Sandra And Nancy Kerr
19. Bread And Roses / Roy Bailey
20. Le Sentiment Des Filles / Liliana Bertolo, Evelyne Girar Sandra Kerr (Voice Union)
21. Thaxted / Leaving Old England / Kerr Fagan Harbron
22. Polly Parker The Collier Lass / Sisters Unlimited
Also available to stream:
The presenter: Mike Norris
Mike’s passion for folk music spans decades; from first learning to play the melodeon and singing shanties at school, to running folk festivals and gigs.
A teenager during the 1960s, Mike was heavily influenced by protest song and folk-rock popularity (Bob Dylan, the Copper Family, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention etc), as well as the tail end of the folk-song revival shaped by The Watersons, Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Shirley Collins, Woody Guthrie and many more.
Interesting fact: The hospital where Mike was born, in Portsmouth, grew out of the workhouse where George Gardiner collected more than 100 songs in the early 1900s.
