HAVE YOU HEARD?

Folk on Foot: Immersing listeners in nature and music

Published on June 17, 2024

Have You Heard? is where the Pod Bible team meet the people behind the podcasts you may not have heard, but we think you should have. Folk on Foot is a multi-award-winning podcast in which host Matthew Bannister goes walking with top folk musicians in the landscapes that have inspired them. Francesca Turauskis interviewed Matthew for Pod Bible in February 2022 and since then Folk on Foot has won Best Arts and Culture podcast at the Independent Podcast Awards 2023, as well as coming second in the 2022 Pod Bible Polls for Best Music podcast. We spoke to Matthew about podcasting, his dream guests and where to start with his podcast…

Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

I am a broadcaster called Matthew Bannister. I have presented programmes on BBC Radios 1, 2, 4, 5Live, World Service and Local Radio, but in 2018 I finally designed my perfect job: the Folk on Foot podcast. In each episode I go walking and talking with a top UK or Irish folk musician in a landscape that has inspired them. And to make it even more beautiful, they sing and play on location. We’ve travelled the length and breadth of the country from Shetland and Orkney in the North to Faversham, Port Isaac and Dartmoor in the South and from Galway Bay in the West of Ireland to Robin Hood’s Bay and Spurn Point in the East of England. Our guests read like a Who’s Who of contemporary folk, ranging from Eliza Carthy, Seth Lakeman and the Unthanks to Johnny Flynn, Richard Thompson and Sandra Kerr, plus nature writers like Robert Macfarlane, Raynor Winn and Amy-Jane Beer.

Folk on Foot host Matthew Bannister

What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?

The Guilty Feminist. It taught me so much!

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

Podcasting is a wonderful way to test out an idea and see if an audience likes it. You don’t need to get commissioned and you can make the episodes as long or as short as they need to be. I didn’t have to convince anyone else that Folk on Foot was a good idea before we launched. I just put it out there. Fortunately lots of other people loved it as much as I do and we now have a wonderful supportive community of Folk on Foot members.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

I love Catherine Carr’s Where Are You Going? – she just accosts complete strangers and finds out their fascinating hidden stories with such charm. During lockdown I listened to The Stubborn Light of Things by the novelist and nature writer Melissa Harrison, who took us for immersive and enlightening walks in the countryside when we were confined to our homes. I’m delighted to say we’ve just recorded a Folk on Foot episode with Melissa and the composer and musician Laura Cannell walking, talking and playing in rural Suffolk. (You will hear nightingales singing in the background as Laura plays her bass recorder.) I was delighted recently to be a guest on The Plodcast with Fergus Collins which is always a great listen. We had a wonderful walk around the remains of a Roman settlement at Silchester. Anyone who needs more inspiration to get out and engage with the natural world should check out Liv Bolton’s brilliant The Outdoors Fix.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

I have already walked and talked with many of my heroes and heroines, including the Scottish singer, songwriter, storyteller and theatre maker Karine Polwart and the great guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson (founder of Fairport Convention). I have been a fan of his music since I was a teenager, so to walk around his old haunts in Muswell Hill and hear him play in the garden of the house called “Fairport” that gave the band its name was a dream come true. I have my sights set on persuading the wonderful Shetland fiddle player Aly Bain to record with us soon and if the amazing singer and musician Rhiannon Giddens is reading this, there’s a standing invitation to come for a walk with us.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

The biggest challenge isn’t making wonderful episodes – it’s the sheer continuous hard work you need to put in to make sure anyone notices they’re out there.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

There are over 70 episodes of Folk on Foot, so you could either begin at the beginning with the irrepressible trio called The Young’Uns taking us for a musical walk on the historic Hartlepool Headland – then work your way forward – or you could start with the latest episode featuring the singer and fiddle player Frankie Archer taking her 21st Century approach to folk using loop pedals, drum effects and samples out into the countryside around the town of Consett in County Durham where she grew up. Then work your way back. Either way there are so many treats in store!

Singer, fiddle player, and the latest guest on Folk on Foot, Frankie Archer.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

At our website: www.folkonfoot.com or @folkonfoot on Instagram, Facebook, X/Twitter and TikTok. Our episodes are available, as they say “wherever you get your podcasts”.