The Essay: Folk at Home

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The Essay: Folk at Home: At Home with Julie Fowlis

At Home with Julie Fowlis

Folk at Home

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From her home in the Highlands, Julie Fowlis sings of seals, swans and the otherworldly.

Verity Sharp hosts conversations and performances recorded by songwriters at home. For this edition, she calls Scottish singer Julie Fowlis at her home in the Highlands.

Verity Sharp hosts a series of conversations and performances recorded by songwriters at home. For this edition she calls Scottish singer Julie Fowlis at her home in the Highlands.

After a year of restricted movement, cancelled gigs and binned recording projects, have some of the UK’s most seasoned folk musicians changed their creative lives for good? Has the pandemic brought a whole new sense of artistic conscientiousness that has altered their artistic habits, or will it be business as usual once life’s back on track? Does the idea of jetting around the world to sing for large audiences still appeal, or has performing and sharing work online opened up new, more democratic possibilities? And how have all the events of the year rubbed off on their songwriting and sense of purpose?  Verity Sharp calls up musicians who’re rooted in tradition, to find out how they’re currently feeling and to ask them to share a song that’s kept them grounded during this exceptional year.
 
In this episode, Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis shares how music-making has been brought into family life this year, how birds have been inspiring her to learn new songs and how being part of a tradition full of stories of the otherworld has been a source of strength.
 
Presented and produced by Verity Sharp.
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

In her garage studio, Verity Sharp calls up folk musicians in lockdown across the country.

From her garage studio, Verity Sharp calls up musicians who are rooted in traditional music and asks them to sing something that's been resonating for them during lockdown.

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