The Living Tradition of British Folk Song
Join us for a special Cultural Presentation with contemporary folk guitarist and songwriter Chris Cleverley, who will lead delegates on an interactive musical journey through three centuries of folk song from across the British Isles.
Through virtuoso fingerstyle acoustic guitar and engaging introductions, Chris Cleverley combines live performance, storytelling, and cultural history to explore the tangled roots of British folk music, especially the songs, traditions, and communities that shaped it. This session will allow delegates to discover how British folk songs travelled across various regions, generations, and oceans, continually evolving while preserving traces of the cultures that first created them.
Location: SOAS University of London, Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre
Availability: Unlimited
Ticket Price: Free to attend
**This Cultural Presentation is open to all registered IAFOR conference delegates**
About Folk Song in the British Isles
From the ploughman’s fields of Northumbria to the fishing villages of East Yorkshire, through the industrial heartlands of the Midlands and the rolling hillsides of Devon, participants will travel through the regional sounds, stories, and landscapes that shaped British cultural life. Along the way, the session will explore the distinctive forms and traditions of folk song, from Scots ballads and English morris tunes to well-known narrative songs such as ‘The Baffled Knight’ and ‘The Bonnie Light Horseman’.
Through live performance, storytelling, and guided discussion, folk guitarist and songwriter Chris Cleverley will trace the origins and evolution of traditional songs, exploring how words and tunes were passed down through oral tradition before being rediscovered and preserved by collectors such as Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The session will then follow their later emergence into popular culture through the folk clubs, concert venues, and influential performers of the 1960s Folk Revival.
Delegates will discover how songs evolve through the dynamic “folk process”, as melodies, lyrics, characters, and meanings shift over time, adapting to new communities, historical moments, and cultural settings. The session will also examine how these songs crossed the Atlantic, took root in America, influenced new musical traditions, and later returned to the British Isles in altered and unexpected forms.
Don’t Miss This Journey Through Folk Tradition
The Cultural Presentation offers a lively introduction to one of the British Isles’ richest cultural traditions, whether you are discovering British folk music for the first time or returning to songs and traditions you already know. Join us on Thursday, July 09, 2025, 14:50-15:40 (UTC+1) for an unforgettable showcase of the British Isle’s folk music, storytelling, and cultural history.