Front Row - 08/08/2008

Presented by John Wilson. Including: Folk singer Seth Lakeman talks about taking his inspiration from the stories, ancient and modern, of his native west country, and about the recent revival in the fortunes of English folk music. John discusses The Imagined Village, an album featuring traditional English folk songs given a contemporary multicultural make-over by British artists including Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy, Paul Weller and Benjamin Zephaniah. Traditional singer and multi-instrumentalist Eliza Carthy talks to John about growing up as the daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, about the difference between folk and traditional music, and about writing intensely personal songs. Pentangle were one of the shining lights in the modernisation of British folk music in the 1960s. Their sound blends traditional ballads, blues, jazz and pop, often incorporating different genres in the same piece. John talks to guitarist Bert Jansch and bass player Danny Thompson about why they decided to reform and how it feels to be performing together over forty years after their first gig.