My start, folk’s future and my unusual and enduring ‘Family Firm’ Steeleye Span

Touring with Steeleye Span has through all these years been the backbone of my working life. 

     I consider it a blessing that I fell into British traditional music, or maybe I was pushed. I began in the folk clubs singing American songs and blues, and it took an American couple, Sandy and Jeanie Darlington, to point out not only the absurdity, but that I was crap at it. Mortification pushed me to examine music nearer home, which I had dismissed as boring, having resonances of school.

     It took time to get it. I doggedly listened to tapes of old singers and gradually started to hear the interest in them and finally the glory.

     The thing about traditional songs is that the good ones are timeless, and can be dwelt on and examined from lots of perspectives. All human life is there. Love, work, murder, lots of murder! I can make those songs/lyrics relevant in my mind, ironically, because they are not topical. The big ballads speak of broad issues that are ever true, and they have become for me meditations on our world. This may be claiming much for this largely disregarded music, but having sung these songs for over 50 years they have sustained, inspired and delighted me.

     I have all the people who have been in Steeleye over the years to thank. It has always been a band of individuals, and everyone has brought their own take on the music into it. Tim was a clever and perceptive mind, and found British music before me. Ashley set us off. Martin brought his understanding and fine musicianship. Peter came with Irish tunes and became an accomplished and technical songwriter. Bob introduced us to the big ballads and did splendid work making them accessible. Rick brought extraordinary bass playing and created many of the riffs that became our calling card as well as writing some of our most beloved songs. I was the one who brought in the lyrical pieces.

And so on...

     I call it a ‘Family Firm’ now. Younger players have joined and injected the band’s world with a different energy. There is overall, finally, a rising interest in folk music. The folk world is not a restrictive place and welcomes all authentic music to its bosom, and all these young talented players and singers are discovering it as a base to work with/from to expand the tradition.

     It will never be the centre of the Music Business because perhaps it is too eccentric and unlikely, but snippets of tunes find their way in as they have into the classical world, and remind us of that solid base that is there, even if often, not overly regarded. There are, of course, modern pieces inspired by the tradition, such as, ‘First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ which are now considered popular music standards (having been sung by young singers on the X Factor etc. in recent years), Traditional music may not be central, but it never goes away. And it has nurtured great writers and players and let them find their way, unhindered by too much criticism (a modern scourge, don’t get me started, that is a blog for another time, see my key note speech at Folk Expo) and has provided a properly supportive environment for creativity to flourish.

          Long may it continue.

                           .......................

Maddy created and runs www.stonesbarn.co.uk where she leads and collaborates on weekend singing workshops. This year guests include; Jon Boden, Peggy Seeger, Hannah James and Grace Petrie, Martin Carthy and Don Paterson.