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Mark presents an hour of the best folk and acoustic music, and singer, songwriter, music director and actor John Tams talks about his 50-year career.

An hour of the best folk and acoustic music from Britain and beyond.

This week, the singer, songwriter, music director and actor John Tams talks about his 50 years in folk, as Mark Radcliffe presents him with a prestigious Gold Badge from the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS).

John, from Derbyshire, has made a lasting impression on the British folk scene through work with the groups Muckram Wakes, The Albion Band, The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Service, as a solo artist, and in an acclaimed duo with Barry Coope.

He has received seven Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2 Folk Awards, in recognition of his traditional and original songs, his albums, and his live performances.

John's work in the world of theatre and drama has centred around 40 years of acting and music directing at the National Theatre, notably on The Mysteries, Lark Rise to Candleford and the hugely successful War Horse. He worked on the film adaptation of War Horse with Steven Spielberg and John Williams.

During the 1990s, he starred opposite Sean Bean in the TV series Sharpe, often singing folk songs as part of the drama.

In 2006, he helped Radio 2 revive Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker's classic Radio Ballads format for a new run of self-narrating musical documentaries.

As part of this programme, Mark will present John with a Gold Badge from EFDSS: an accolade presented to those individuals who have made a significant contribution to the preservation, promotion or development of the folk arts. The first award was made in 1922 and over the years recipients have included Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Spinners, The Watersons, Shirley Collins and a further 160 individuals, many working at grass roots levels and well as in the limelight.

57 minutes

Last on

Wed 2 Dec 2015 19:00

Music Played

  • Joan Baez

    The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

    • Vanguard.
  • Skipinnish

    Walking On The Waves

  • Blazin’ Fiddles

    Uist Dance

  • Muckram Wakes

    Spencer The Rover

  • The Albion Band

    Lay Me Low

  • John Tams

    Only Remembered (Reprise) - Radio 2 War Horse Drama Version (feat. Barry Coope)

  • John Tams

    Fireland (Excerpt from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Ballad, The Song of Steel)

  • John Tams

    Harry Stone (Hearts of Coal)

  • Emma Sweeney

    The Singing Kettle

  • Lucy Ward

    Song for Lola

Broadcast

  • Wed 2 Dec 2015 19:00