The Folk Music Hour: Recent Episodes
David Calder
David Calder presents the music he loves in The Folk Music Hour, with the aim of rekindling listeners' interest in acoustic music in the Anglo-American tradition, including NZ folk song, and world folk music such as that heard at WOMAD in New Plymouth's beautiful Brookland's Park.
Almost all music has a folk origin: blues, jazz, rock and even so-called classical. As Big Bill Broonzy famously said - "all songs are folk songs; ain't never heard a horse sing!"
Arguably the first Kiwi to make a living with a mandolin, David spent some of his musical life playing bluegrass, but was performing in the folk boom as early as 1964. He was playing in Europe and the UK in the 70's, dabbling in folk rock and pop in California in the 80's, and creating a country garden in the 90's and teaching children to read. These days, kind of retired, he is free to pursue any of the musical paths he loves: song-writing, tuition, and performance with guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer, even bass; playing jazz, folk, blues and originals. Or to just kick back and listen to Bach or Grappelli ... He is a long-standing performer of NZ folk, and maintains a love affair with US old-time music nurtured since Doc Watson's LPs first made it to these shores. A natural entertainer since his debut on radio aged six, David thinks radio is the perfect performance medium.
We explore the connections and disconnections that needlessly divide folk and so-called classical music.
The Singing Word is a series created by Davey Calder, investigating what happens when poetry is set to music, becoming folk song. This is episode five.
The Singing Word is a series created by Davey Calder, investigating what happens when poetry is set to music, becoming folk song. This is episode four.
The Singing Word is a series created by Davey Calder, investigating what happens when poetry is set to music, becoming folk song. This is episode three.
The Singing Word is a series created by Davey Calder, investigating what happens when poetry is set to music, becoming folk song. This is episode two.
The Singing Word is a series created by Davey Calder, investigating what happens when poetry is set to music, becoming folk song. This is episode one.
Join Davey Calder for the final installment of his 2025 series on Aotearoa folk music, as a part of New Zealand Music Month.
Our 8th all-Kiwi New Zealand Music Month Folk Music Hours begins with a look at music awards.
For Anzac Day, Memorial Day, and Remembrance Day, a playlist of songs about the human longing to live in peace.
We’ve put together another playlist of songs where the artists seek to amuse us, sometimes with a message implied.
The FMH companion to the film looks at the music from this turbulent time in history and contemporary folk song.
It's that time of year again, when we kick out the jams and the Folk Music Hour gets a bit loud as we preview some of the amazing sounds coming to Brooklands Park in New Plymouth, for the 22nd NZ WOMAD, World of Music, Art, and Dance. As always, the lineup gives us the chance to enjoy cultures not represented at other music festivals.
Every year, we play a programme of entertaining songs from the Johnny Appleseed of folk and Americana whose banjo kicks off every Folk Music Hour
Each year we celebrate Martin Luther King Day by looking at the rich legacy of African American music. MLK Day 2025 is Jan 20th
The more we hunt through great folk and acoustic music, the more duets and duos we seem to find.
Setting fine musicianship to a beat is being called Folk Fusion, and Celtic sounds work superbly.
So many of us have bloodlines that go back to the ancient Celtic peoples of Eurasia. That’s why we love Celtic music.
Humans soon learn to hold something hard but flexible to get the best out of their stringed instruments. The 6th in our series Instruments of Folk.
Our Instruments of Folk series resumes. After plucking strings to make folk music, some clever person invented a bow to draw across the strings.
Our Instruments of Folk series resumes. After plucking strings to make folk music, some clever person invented a bow to draw across the strings.
For te wiki o te reo Maori 2024, we try to unravel the mystery: what is Maori folk music?
To mark 131 years of women’s suffrage in NZ, an all-female programme of folk and related music.
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of folk song, for the performer and the audience alike, is singing in harmony.
We pick up the theme of Protest November, four podcasts from 2018, with new issues and songs.
Some more songs and tunes too good to miss make up a sampler from over 60 years of folk.
The Irish composer, instrumentalist and songstress influences modern folk with her interesting music.
Young musicians are very talented; some are keeping traditional folk going while others are adding to it.
July 14th is the National Day of France, and the birthdate of Woody Guthrie, whose lyrics spoke of freedom and human rights
We often think of a talent as ‘running in the family’. A playlist of folk parents and children making music.
The veteran folk artist and activist, so influential in NZ too, has announced her retirement.
The NZ musician Dave Jordan was constantly inventive, and perhaps the first Kiwi to make a living writing songs.
During May every year, NZ Music Month, we play only NZ songs and artists. Send us your songs to share.
During May every year, NZ Music Month, we play only NZ songs and artists. Send us your songs to share.
The South Island folk singer and storyteller is becoming something of a NZ legend, and a FMH feature for NZM Month
We get behind NZ Music Month in May every year, sharing Kiwi folk artists and the NZ folk heritage.
NZ folk and Kiwiana specialist Mike Harding has made a career singing our own folk songs and launches our NZ Music Month in Taranaki.
We are once again somewhere on the musical spectrum where folk and country music connect, with a programme of female artists.
A fifth programme of musical treats where artists delight in covering the songs of others.
We help the Irish celebrate their national day with a medley of songs, tunes and humour.
Summer runs through the folk tradition and beyond, whether we long for it, love it or wish it weren’t so hot.
A month out from Womad 24 we look at the bill of fare, especially the folk music featured in this 21st WOMAD NZ
Veteran singer and guitarist, Tom Rush, turns 83 in 2024, and by way of a tribute we share his early folk and blues recording.
Around the time of the US national holiday to honour Martin Luther King Jr, we mark the day with music from the rich legacy of African American folk.
We begin another fab year of folk in the usual way, remembering the all-too-short career of Sandy Denny
Our end-of-year show included songs old and new for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Cheers.
Christy Moore has a great record of performance, with original songs that highlight & extend the folk legacy of Ireland.
A programme of songs for Parihaka Day, November 5th, with an emphasis on peace and reconciliation.
Since his passing in 2009, the music of the UK folk & experimental artist has come to be appreciated even more widely.
The forth in our series The Instruments of Folk investigates the music that comes from plucking strings.
We continue our occasional series about the instruments of folk with the oldest musical instruments of humankind - ones that we blow.
The iconic record label, the source of so many songs still sung today, marks a milestone.
The instrumental virtuoso Molly Tuttle has wowed audiences from an early age with her folk and bluegrass music.
Another lineup of great folk from a variety of talented artists from many different backgrounds.
The genesis of traditional songs and what became of them is a sort of musical detective story that anyone can play.
We honour the Oklahoma troubadour around the time of his July 14 birthday, playing his songs performed by his descendants and admirers
Known for a career in rock, the late singer’s legacy of beautiful acoustic music has a contemporary folk feel.
A playlist of songs with that thing folk does so well - artists covering others’ songs in new ways.
Songs about seafaring are some of our most loved, a rich sytrand woven into the folk tradition.
The ‘golden couple’ of British folk rock gave us some songs still celebrated and performed to this day.
We wrap up another NZ Music Month with a selection of Kiwi folk performers, showing the extraordinary variety of our own musicians.
Our third all-Kiwi show for NZ Music Month, with some exciting news for lovers of our own folk songs
We put the case that folk blues and ballads are the origins of the music we call jazz, which in essence is “folk by other means”.
The war against Napoleon in the late 18th & early 19th century caused untold misery but left us with some extraordinary folk songs.
162 years after the April start of the American Civil War, the enmity remains, but so does a body of poignant folk songs.
The master of the acoustic guitar will delight generations to come with his interpretations of American folk music.
The exciting return of Womad to New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park led to some great musical encounters.
The influential singer has roots in the folk revival and has taken songwriting to new heights.
We continue the theme of women’s rights traced through folk and contemporary songs, marking Int’l Women’s Day
Throughout the struggle for the rights of women, folk songs have been telling the truth. A programme for International Women’s Day
The Londoner has excelled for years in singing gutsy folk material with an electric edge.
A further look at the delights in store for Womadders coming to New Plymouth, March 17-19th.
WOMAD is back, and we’re playing some of the music, hoping you’ll come to sunny New Plymouth in March.
Our annual Pete Seeger special looks at the songs he sang promoting freedom & civil rights
Every January 25th, the world celebrates the birthday of the Scottish poet and songwriter Robert Burns, born in 1759.
Society honours its living conformists and its dead trouble-makers. A special programme of African American folk for Martin Luther King Day.
Our year always begins with Sandy, whose birthdate is January 6th. This year, some of the many covers of her songs by other artists.
A double bill of Australian Harpers introduces a Harp Festival in Auckland on Waitangi Weekend.
You can listen on 104.4FM, stream, or podcast our Christmas/New Year programme throughout the season. Thank you for following the Folk Music Hour. Happy Holidays!
A terrific folk festival in South australia is a colourful and laid back glimpse into the broad range of Aussie folk talent.
Sometimes Folk Music Hour stumbles on new songs or a new take on an old song to share with you.
A playlist of songs accompanied by a folk guitar style way more delectable than fried chicken.
Three-part harmony sounds good, so the trio has a long history in groups, folk and beyond.
We cannot let Joni’s birthday pass without her music, our admiration and some welcome news.
A collection from among David’s favourite songs with folk roots, chosen from a lifetime of loving music, and marking a Folk Music Hour milestone.
We explore the folk music that arises out of the struggle for workers’ rights, as May Day and our own Labour Day mark workers’ contributions to our lives.
In our 2nd in the series, The Instruments of Folk, we put the case that wanting percussion led to the first human instrument-making.
Folk is a broad church and restricting who is and who isn’t performing it can tie us in knots.
The Texas-raised singer and multi-instrumentalist has strong folk and old-timey roots but can sound right up-to-date, too.
We launch an occasional series of programmes exploring the musical instruments of Folk, starting with the human voice.
We’re accustomed to virtuosos playing in classical music, but folk instrumentalists show some stunning skills, too.
The former lyricist and singer for a Jamestown NY rock band has solo albums with powerful settings of some folk classics
In just a few years, the Canadian songwriter and folk artist made a collection of original folk music still enjoyed all over the world.
Our wide-ranging tenth mixtape shows how the folk song is always reinventing itself, with touches of country and touchstones of history.
We explore the way folk-style writers broaden their audience by going pop, and how rock is reinventing itself closer to its folk roots.
It is the folk tradition we look to for the best expression of our feelings when we lose a significant historical figure.
The Oklahoma balladeer’s songs will live forever and are performed around his 110th birthdate by a who’s who of country & folk.
A duo consisting of a New Zealander and an Australian is making some enticing new contemporary folk
We round off an extended NZ Music Month with tracks that Kiwi singers have sent in for us to enjoy.
A Wellington quintet mix American, Irish, and Kiwi influence in a melting pot, cooking up an original sound with plenty of energy.
In this NZMM special, we feature the astounding guitar picking of the Christchurch musician.
We remember the late Cath Woodman, whose voice brought such pleasure to NZ folk audiences.
The Kiwi folk and old-timey trio rose to prominence in the '70s and '80s and still sound good.
The veteran performer of NZ folk and Kiwiana reveals some fascinating background to our best songs.
Whether performing with the trio Tweed or multi-tracking at home, this NZ songwriter has some amazing material.
We feature the new album by the Scottish Kiwi trad and contemporary singer and instrumentalist.
Every May, we play only NZ songs and/or Kiwi folk artists and begin with a mixtape of terrific tracks.
To mark our national day of observance, a programme of poignant and inspiring songs from many past conflicts, with a yearning for peace...
We salute the key instrument in folk song performance with a selection of terrific playing.
There can't be many moments more wonderful for a folk artist than sharing the stage with a musical descendant, or ancestor.
The Irish singer Maura O’Connell lived in the US, and her repertoire bridges the pond, between the new world and the old.
Another playlist of folk and folkish songs featured in soundtracks on both the big and small screens.
The old-timey specialist was one of the influential young musicians of the 60s who helped America re-discover its folk heritage.
Womad Taranaki ‘22 has run smack dab into omicron/omigosh. For the second year, we bring you a virtual Womad and dream of better days ahead.
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, sisters beloved in their native Canada and beyond, are recalled in this retrospective tribute.
Enjoying songs where one artist records something written by another leads to some interesting discoveries.
The Anglo-Irish singer and flute-player is the archetype of the collaborative folk artist.
Folk or folkish songs have captured the listening public’s imagination since at least the 1950s, and have even hit the Top Ten.
Every year, we play a programme of entertaining songs from the Johnny Appleseed of folk and Americana whose banjo kicks off every Folk Music Hour
Every January 25th, the world celebrates the birthday of the Scottish poet and song writer Robert Burns, born in 1759.
We launch into another folkin' good year, with more variety than you can shake a stick at, in our 9th mixtape.
Every year, around Martin Luther King Day, a US public holiday, we feature the kind of music we think he would’ve enjoyed, and hope you will, too.
We begin every year with our tribute to Sandy Denny, near her birthdate of 6th Jan. For 2022 we play her unreleased demos.
Our Holiday Season show! Wishing you happy holidays and happy trails, we present some great songs for the season. See you next year!
As society wrestles with the pleasures and dangers of alcohol this festive season, Folk songs have plenty to say on the subject.
A programme of beautiful music and song and natural sounds with an environmental theme and an extraordinary reach.
Nearly 50 years after his death, the singer and guitarist’s songs still have a cult following.
Near the anniversary of the Pike River tragedy, we play some folk and country songs about Mining and the disasters it has seen.
We play a range of excellent folk artists who are, in a sense, the flowers of Scotland.
In honour of Joni’s 78th birthday on Nov 7th, we play some previously unreleased performances from her formative years.
This Labour Weekend, let’s reflect on those who’ve sacrificed their lives for the working class struggle through the songs that tell their stories.
The Birmingham-based singer and writer is at the top of the official UK Folk Charts and is winning awards, and listeners.
Described ad the finest young Scottish folk band around, these musicians are really enjoyable
One of NZ’s finest singer-songwriters, Mark has released a best-of, making a baker’s dozen of albums of his original work, with fine instrumental and vocal performances.
What happens when popular songs appeal to folk artists who are moved to give them completely new arrangements.
We feature the folk music of the tangata whenua, with the sounds of taonga puoro - singing treasures.
Apart from some subtle background textures, these artists write and record acoustic music.