Delving deep into the ideas behind her critically acclaimed album, Old Adam, Soundpost are delighted that Fay Hield is curating another singing weekend. Join us on the 16-18 June 2017 for a wonderful hands-on weekend dedicated to help you get to know your material and feel confident in performing.

Karine Polwart, Nancy Kerr, and a host of other singers, and folklorists and academics will be joining Fay to deliver sessions covering song writing, and aspects of communication, singing style and technique. There will also be instrumental workshops exploring how to get the most out of accompanying songs.

As with all Soundpost weekends, there are a mix of talks, workshops, sessions and concerts.  This year we are bringing back the popular walk and sing to get the most out of visiting the amazing area around Dungworth.

Come and join us for a weekend of learning new things, getting to know the songs you sing on a deeper level and exploring how you can connect with both your songs and your audiences.

Download the booking form

View a list of Old Adam Workshops 

Get to know the Old Adam artists & leaders

Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party are out on the road in October for the Raggle Taggle Tour - to celebrate they are releasing a single and animated video of Raggle Taggle Gypsy, with Willow Glen acoustic on the B side. 

Watch the film here and buy the single.

Fay was nominated, as part of Inspiration and Co., for being one of the University of Sheffield’s most inspirational teacher, researcher and lecturer. In conjunction with this and the University’s Festival of the Mind, she worked with Sheffield-based producer Andy Bell and musician and folk singer Jon Boden to create a piece of music, which in her words would, “get us thinking about musical inspiration in a new way [and] communicate the way musicians think through making a musical piece…”.

Have a listen here.

Friday the 13th is the perfect date to think about superstition, song and stories. Drawing from her new album, 'Old Adam', the award-winning folk singer and University of Sheffield ethnomusicologist Fay Hield brings together other academics and cartoonists, storytellers and poets in what promises to be a lively discussion, peppered with song, poetry and stories. Come along to be a part of it. 

Being Human Festival

After the thrill of singing together as a one off for Bob Copper’s Centenary celebration at Cecil Sharp House in January, Fay, Jon Boden and Neil McSweeney have not been able to drop the idea.

Singing Copper Familyesque repertoire, the trio relish in hearty presentation and gutsy renditions of some of the gems of our communal singing tradition. Expect unashamedly upfront singing and plenty of choruses to join in with.

They are doing a couple of Charity gigs in Sheffield this autumn, and a few longer spots here and there too – check the gigs page for more details.

The Full English band was put together to celebrate the launch of the digital archive of the same name by the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS). Following a hugely successful album, two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and well-received concerts around the country, the band are about to embark on their final tour. We had an extended chat with Fay Hield about the band, the archive and the songs contained therein.

Fay’s first publication discussing participation in English folk singing sessions is now available in Ian Russell and Catherine Ingram’s ‘Taking Part in Music’ Published by the newly launched Aberdeen University Press.

We all know John England – England’s first folk singer – what a romantic story. Cecil Sharp heard him in the rectory garden and heard his first folk song – the seeds of love – and the revival grew from there. Rather glorified, but a nice story. So who was John England, and why don’t we all go about our work singing as he did?

We have a shared common musical culture in England. It is in serious decline, but as a society we do ‘do’ singing. How many of us sing at church? At football matches? At birthday parties? In recent history we had pub sing-alongs round the piano, but before the industrial revolution we had much more music-making within communities. People playing for dances, singing in the pubs, at fairs and at family celebrations.

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Those lovely people over at Bright Young Folk invited Fay to contribute to their advent calendar style December Sessions.  Released on 14 December, Fay sang a beautiful version of Remember O Thou Man with Jack McNeill accompanying on bass clarinet. You can only access the film in December each year so if you don't catch it this time round it should come around again next year - Merry Christmas!

Backwater spoke to folk musician and academic at The University of Sheffield, Fay Hield, about community and audiences in the folk scene, her own history growing up and learning her craft in folk clubs, and her new album, Old Adam.

Sponsored by The University of Sheffield

Booking is open for the Full English Weekend. An incredible weekend packed full of practical workshops, lectures, sessions, concerts and interviews dedicated to the Full English archive. More Info.

Taken from her forthcoming album, Old Adam (out 12th Feb 2016), traditional singer and folklorist Fay Hield will also be releasing a digital single on 30th October 2015, featuring the tracks ‘Willow Glen’ and ‘Green Gravel’, released to coincide with three special live shows (tickets now on sale).

15 Oct 2015, Sheffield, The Crucible

17 Oct 2015, Bury, Homegrown Festival

05 Nov 2015, London, Cecil Sharp House

The single is available to pre-order now on iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Google Play. 

On January 24, Fay took part in a day-long celebration at Cecil Sharp House to commemorate the legendary contribution that Bob Copper made to folk music. She performed alongside Jon Boden and Neil McSweeney as part of the Bootleg YT.

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Fay delivered a talk at a local TEDx event that discusses the Full English archive and its relevance for wider society.

Fay Hield and the Hurricane Party will be chatting and playing live on World on 3, BBC Radio Three on Friday 28th March. Listen live at 11pm or click here to listen on the iPlayer.