Often in my career I have come up against the notion that there is ‘folk song’ and there is ‘contemporary song’, and that they are separate. I believe they are all part of the same thing. The catalogue of traditional folk songs must be preserved and protected, of course… and the tradition also carries on, through modern songwriters. We tell stories about people and their lives through songs, and also the social and political climate that we live in. For me, that is absolutely the living tradition. For The Seeds Of Love is all about that; I hope that all my songs ARE that.
I really enjoyed talking to Fiona from The Living Tradition, you can read the whole interview HERE
Excerpt: “I think my songs say the things that other people are thinking and feeling. That’s why Dylan is so famous, and Leonard Cohen – they speak from the heart about the way everybody feels. Being able to do that makes sense of what I do and gives me credibility. For example [at Costa Del Folk] I sang a song about my dad (Good With His Hands) and some guy came up to me and thanked me for saying what I said in the song. He had just gone through something similar with his father but had never heard anybody express it in the same way. Voicing what a lot of other people feel makes me happy – it’s a privilege.” BOOKINGS & MANAGEMENT HERE
