Folk Files

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Folk Files

A podcast that uncovers the mysteries of folk music throughout the ages

23/10/2025

The Patreon blog post for the latest episode concerns parodies and pastiches of "Who Killed C**k Robin?" I discuss this poem about John Keats, written by Lord Byron, "Who Killed Norma Jean" by Norman Rosten and performed by Pete Seeger, and "Who Killed Davey Moore" by Bob Dylan. If you are not a Patreon member, you can access any blog post through a one-time donation in the Patreon store! (Find a direct link to my Patreon in the comments).

21/10/2025

If you have listened to the new episode of Folk Files, you'll know that I mention 15th century stained glass in Gloucestershire. Here is a photo! What do you think? Is it a robin and a sparrow, or just two woodcocks?

📷: Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Medieval Stained Glass in Great Britain https://www.cvma.ac.uk/jsp/location.do?locationKey=13&mode=COUNTY

20/10/2025

The Folk Files episode on "Who Killed C**k Robin" is now available on all podcast platforms! The Amazon Web Services kerfuffle thought it could stop me, but NO! I used my time very efficiently today, by attempting about twenty failed uploads 🥴😬. But tada! Now you can find out how the robin got its name, why the sparrow shot C**k Robin according to Victorian children's book authors, and why there's a picture of stained glass on my story!

13/10/2025

Even though the first written version of "Who Killed C**k Robin" didn't appear until the 18th century, there are echoes of the lyrics in older works. For example, there is a 15th century schoolboy rhyme (here pictured in A Grammatical Miscellany of 1427-1465 from Bristol and Wiltshire by Nicholas Orme) that not only casts the sparrow as the archer (just like in "Who Killed C**k Robin") but that starts "Y say a sparw," echoing the modern song's "I, said the sparrow." Learn more in this week's upcoming episode of Folk Files!

24/09/2025

I spent last week at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, simply known as "Winfield" to those who attend, or "Bluegrass" to locals. Here's a small sample of what I experienced.

Part of what I find magical about Winfield is that most of the music happens OFF the main stages. With the exception of the Jig Jam clip, all this footage comes from the campground, where certain camps will set up stages where people of varying levels of notoriety will play. For example, the John Depew Trio, here on the campground's "unofficial" Stage 7, was actually one of the headliners.

Then, there are all the spontaneous jam sessions that spring up around the festival, such as the street jam captured here. It really feels like music for the folk.

(BTW, Winfield is one of the reasons why the September Folk Files episode may be an early October episode. Oops 😬🤷)

1. John Depew Music
2. JrSOAPbox
3. JigJam
4. Street Jam!
5. Mike West
6. Aaron J. Morton (with lil ol me on backup vocals)

15/09/2025

Here's what you can expect from Folk Files in the coming months:
September: "Who Killed C**k Robin?" 🐦
October: "Long Lankin" 👹
November: "The Death of Queen Jane" 👸🏻
It's a cheery trio of themes! Lots of death, but that's folk music! 😉
There might also be a cheeky bonus episode in there somewhere 👀

10/09/2025

Thank you, Aurora, for my very first review from Australia! I am delighted that Folk Files has made it all the way to the other side of the globe. If you tune into Folk Files from outside of the US, let me know in the comments!

(Also, if you listen via Apple Podcasts, you have the ability to leave a written review, unlike most other platforms that only allow ratings. Each review not only adds visibility and credibility to the podcast, but adds a lil pep to my step!🕺)

05/09/2025

This month's blog post concerns many of the red herrings that I encountered while researching the "Stand and Deliver" episode, including this Cornish version of "The Cadgwith Anthem" (with its own translation of "Kashmir"). If you don't already receive the Folk Files blog through Patreon, you can purchase a blog for a one-time donation in the Patreon shop (link in comments).

28/08/2025

The latest episode of Folk Files is now available on all podcast platforms! In this episode, I try to answer a bunch of questions, such as:

1) Why are there so many English ballads about criminals?
2) Why is "Robbers' Retreat" unlike any other song about outlaws?
3) What is "The Beauty of Kashmir?"

Pictured here is the page from Reverend Goodenough's "The Handyman Afloat and Ashore" that hinted at some answers to questions 2 and 3!

27/08/2025

What was the first song you remember hearing about a robber? There are a lot of songs about highwaymen and bandits in the English ballad canon. In tomorrow's episode of Folk Files, I'll discuss the morbid reason why that's the case. (P.S. Mine was "The Highwayman" by Loreena McKennitt 😜)

🖼️: Joseph Swain (1820-1909), Public domain, Reproduced in The London Hanged — crime and civil society in the eighteenth century, page 188.

22/08/2025

Next week, we'll explore British ballads about robbers, outlaws, and highwayman...and then we'll discuss why "Robbers' Retreat" isn't like any of them.

19/08/2025

"The Robbers' Retreat" is also known as "The Cadgwith Anthem." Cadgwith, a town in Cornwall, is almost the most southerly point on the British mainland (it's less than four miles from the actual southernmost point, charmingly called "Lizard Point"). But is The Robbers' Retreat REALLY a Cornish song? 👀 Find out in this month's upcoming episode of Folk Files.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (2010), OS OpenData, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10568362

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