The Mike Harding Show - 23/06/2010

Mike Harding presents an hour of the very best in folk, roots and acoustic music, including an interview with singer, musician and producer Jim Moray. The singer and multi-instrumentalist hasn't yet reached his 30th birthday, but his flair for arranging traditional material using cutting edge recording techniques has earned him prizes and plaudits from around the world. Moray has recently followed in the steps of Prince and Ray Davies by releasing an early version of his latest album, In Modern History, for free on the cover of a magazine (Songlines). Bristol-based Jim talks to Mike about this decision, and discusses the arrangements and original songs that make up this, his sixth album. We also hear from the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year Jon Boden (Bellowhead, Spiers & Boden) who is poised to begin recording a folk song a day for a whole year. Boden is undertaking the challenge to raise the profile of social singing in the UK; most of the song recordings will be unaccompanied, just as he once learned them in pubs. He will have to expand his already impressive 240-song repertoire by nearly half as many again in order to complete the project. From 24 June (Midsummer's Day) one song per day will be made available to listen to on the project's website, afolksongaday.com.