Folk Me!

Morris Dancing, fingers in ears and candles in Chianti bottles. People in dark rooms singing through their noses. Or street busking for pennies. Not particularly fashionable images, but ones beloved of millions. Then along comes Coronavirus. Almost everyone is grounded and suddenly a captive audience. Nathan Evans goes viral on You Tube with “The Wellerman.” Fishermen’s Friends make Sea Shanties sexy again. When we are all finally allowed back outside, John Tams is riding a War Horse, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift acknowledge their artisanal roots and Beyonce charts with a Country Album. Tom Norton has done it all. Seen it all. Lockdown finally convinces him that he’s had enough. His wife leaves him and during a breakdown, the homeless itinerant known to all (except his support workers!) as Bad Robin unwittingly foils a feeble suicide attempt. Together they form a brief, unholy alliance, yet even after vaccination, the end of social distancing and the lifting of all restrictions, Tom has still had enough. Folk Me! pokes gentle fun at performers, audiences, hecklers, promoters, and compères: the whole genre. Very little escapes scrutiny. The House Concerts: the anti HS2 Demos: The Barge Trips: the ill-fated Festivals. It’s all here.