The Folk Music Hour

David Calder presents the music he loves in The Folk Music Hour, with the aim of rekindling listeners' interest in acoustic music in the Anglo-American tradition, including NZ folk song, and world folk music such as that heard at WOMAD in New Plymouth's beautiful Brookland's Park.Almost all music has a folk origin: blues, jazz, rock and even so-called classical. As Big Bill Broonzy famously said - "all songs are folk songs; ain't never heard a horse sing!"Arguably the first Kiwi to make a living with a mandolin, David spent some of his musical life playing bluegrass, but was performing in the folk boom as early as 1964. He was playing in Europe and the UK in the 70's, dabbling in folk rock and pop in California in the 80's, and creating a country garden in the 90's and teaching children to read.These days, kind of retired, he is free to pursue any of the musical paths he loves: song-writing, tuition, and performance with guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer, even bass; playing jazz, folk, blues and originals. Or to just kick back and listen to Bach or Grappelli ...He is a long-standing performer of NZ folk, and maintains a love affair with US old-time music nurtured since Doc Watson's LPs first made it to these shores. A natural entertainer since his debut on radio aged six, David thinks radio is the perfect performance medium.

Recent Episodes
  • The Folk Music Hour 13-04-2025 Bow [Replay]
    Apr 13, 2025 – 0:54:17
  • The Folk Music Hour 30-03-2025 More Funny Folk
    Mar 30, 2025 – 0:58:28
  • The Folk Music Hour 23-03-2025 Covers Again
    Mar 25, 2025 – 0:56:31
  • The Folk Music Hour 02-03-2025 Trad by Mod
    Mar 3, 2025 – 0:58:36
  • The Folk Music Hour 23-02-2025 A Complete Unknown
    Feb 24, 2025 – 0:55:9
  • The Folk Music Hour 16-02-2025 Woverview 2025
    Feb 17, 2025 – 0:58:54
  • The Folk Music Hour 09-02-2025 Free as a Bird
    Feb 10, 2025 – 0:58:40
  • The Folk Music Hour 02-02-2025 Pop Goes Folk Again
    Feb 3, 2025 – 0:59:5
  • The Folk Music Hour 26-01-2025 Pete Seeger
    Jan 27, 2025 – 0:58:43
  • The Folk Music Hour 19-01-2025 Martin Luther King Day
    Jan 20, 2025 – 0:58:34
  • The Folk Music Hour 12-01-2025 Acting Folk
    Dec 16, 2024 – 0:58:25
  • The Folk Music Hour 05-01-2025 Sandy Denny
    Dec 16, 2024 – 0:59:27
  • The Folk Music Hour 15-12-2024 Compliments of the Season
    Dec 16, 2024 – 0:59:33
  • The Folk Music Hour 08-12-2024 Mixtape 18
    Dec 9, 2024 – 0:58:51
  • The Folk Music Hour 01-12-2024 Duets
    Dec 2, 2024 – 0:58:56
  • The Folk Music Hour 24-11-2024 Songs of the Sea
    Nov 25, 2024 – 0:59:18
  • The Folk Music Hour 24-11-2024 Songs of the Sea
    Nov 25, 2024 – 0:59:6
  • The Folk Music Hour 17-11-2024 Folk Fusion
    Nov 18, 2024 – 0:59:12
  • The Folk Music Hour 10-11-2024 Five Hundred
    Nov 11, 2024 – 0:57:19
  • The Folk Music Hour 03-11-2024 Farewells
    Nov 4, 2024 – 0:59:12
Recent Reviews
  • Loridans1
    Very Well Done!
    I feel bad for Kiwis. From being considered elite troops by the likes of Rommel to being gelded by Prime Minister Karen. Sad. But setting aside the series coming out of a nation presently under the thumb of pols led by an angry grammar school teacher any podcast choosing to showcase the incomparable Sandy Denny deserves five stars. Thank you so much for that episode! I appreciate a podcast that is obviously a labour of love put together by a knowledgeable and generous host.
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