Short version: We aim for 50% of our music to be from artists based in Cornwall and Devon. The other 50% is material whichs fits in the broadest definition of Folk Music - almost all from the UK.
In both categories there is a balance between new material and older stuff and a prefernce for independent musicians rather than "stars" - except in the classics & elders category where you might find the likes of Bob Dylan and Fairport Convention.
We have two overlapping priorities for the music we play:
The first is that we aim to showcase music by artists based West of the River Exe - ie all of Cornwall and most of Devon (also known as Greater Cornwall) - the land of ruuged coastline, rugged moors, small farms and rugged people. Farming, mining and fishing are the traditional industries and have inspired a vast body of songs and music. In this area we do not feel constrained by the Folk label - we'll play any genre of music so long as it is performed by local independent artists. Folk, rock, rap, reggae, r'n'b, drum & bass, metal, choral, classical, even pop if it is original and local is all welcome.
The second priority is Folk music in general - in the broadest possible sense - from the wider world. By this we mean music that is played and performed by people (ie folk) as well as the successful highly rewarded and marketed artists who have their roots in "Folk" music. Within this we give no precedence to stars or established well recorded artists over a competent group of schoolkids from Tavisatock, or a bunch of mates who like to sing together down the "proper" local pub (we still have a few pubs - but they are dying fast, overwhelmed by the lure of big screens and fizzy hyoer-cold "beers" in chain pubs)
So within those two main priorities we aim to feature the new over the old (although that has its place as we all stand on the shoulders of giants who came before), and the independent over the managed, Once a local artist starts to find commercial success - a record contract, filling bigger venues, with marketing and PR muscle behind them, we will still play their music if it can be called Folk music in some sense.
Obiously the music has to be recorded in for us to be able to play it - but that doesn't mean you have to have a CD, or be played on a commecial service like Spotty-fi or AmazappliMuzic. If you've made a self-recording on a phone and it sounds good to you, and to us, then we'll play it. But we do have some quality standards - the sound quality needs to be good, the balance between voice and instuments good, minimal background noise.
So all of that has given us, so far, a library of several thousand tracks by several hundred artists all of which form the basis of the default playlist. That's about a solid week of music 24hrs a day. We then pull out some tracks to be played in featured segments or to be given higher priority in the general playlist.
Examples include the weekly WhatsOn tracks from artists performing locally in the next few weeks. This goes out after the main listing at 6pm on Sunday and 10:30 and 6:30pm on Monday and Tuesday. Those tracks also get added to the Featured list which plays one track after every 6 songs from the genral list.
An Elders and Classics segment goes out at 09:00 or 15:00 on alternate days and both times on Sunday - that features music recorded before 1980 to remind us of our cultural history and inspire the coming generations. We also have occasional Classic Albums segments where we will play a classic influential folk album in its entirety, usually with an introduction or commentary between tracks.
Smaller segments featuring songs about a particular theme - are dotted throughout the week.
We also seek to promote local independent live music in the community. This starts with the weekly WhatsOn roundup of coming gigs and sessions which is followed by 45mins of tracks from the artists who are playing.
We've been doing live broadcasts from Cornwall Folk Festival every year for the past 4 years (everything from the FAR stage - you can find the recordings, warts and all, in the podcast section of the website.)
If you are an artist or venue with an event in the next 3 or 4 weeks then please let us know either by posting a comment to the call or info on the facebook page, or simply by emailing
