Exciting British collectives such as Broadside Hacks and Shovel Dance Collective are embracing ancient traditions to create an ultra-inclusive form of folk
Over a pint of bitter in a muggy Camberwell pub, Daniel S Evans of folk music iconoclasts Shovel Dance Collective regales me with what he calls the “fable” of the group’s origin: a gig featuring “25 minutes of free improv with this incessantly loud sine-wave playing”, ending with a high-speed rendition of Irish traditional The King of the Fairies.
That apparent vibe-clash characterises a folk music movement emerging in Britain in recent years, broadening a genre many young people had deemed irrelevant or even cringeworthy. “When I was a teenager playing this music, I didn’t really talk to people about it,” says Shovel Dance harpist Fidelma Hanrahan. But now “it’s not something to be embarrassed about” as a series of tight-knit groups and collectives upturn expectation while honouring tradition. That’s a tricky balance, as the far right aggressively champion what they see as traditional British culture while leftists confront shameful parts of British history.
