The Black British Folk Takeover
A guest post from singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Angeline Morrison, who tells us about a compelling recent event at Cecil Sharp House — one that she hopes will kick off a series.
For a few years now I've been nurturing the tiny flame of an idea very close to my heart — of a day long, festival style event that shone a light on the contributions made by Black British folkies of the African and Caribbean diaspora. As far as I know, nothing like this has been done before. On 4 October 2025 at Cecil Sharp House, The EFDSS made this idea into a glorious reality.
Participants in The Black British Folk Takeover, curated by Angeline Morrison and hosted by the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
I was honoured to curate the day, and wanted to show the great variety, imagination, creativity and texture of Black British folkies' engagements with the folk music, song and lore of these islands. There was so much love in the room, and it seemed to grow all day long.
Mataio Austin Dean of Shovel Dance Collective and I started off the day, with unaccompanied harmony singing of our archival research. We have been plumbing the archives for traditional British songs that mention Black ancestors. This was our first performance of the material, some of which we re-wrote.
Muco came next, weaving a charm over us all with his tender singing in Old English and Middle English, and his playing of the inanga (a traditional Burundian zither). Muco is a true modern-day mediaeval bard.
Muco, and the inanga.
Germa Adan's beautiful set of Haitian traditional tunes and songs, came next. Germa's soaring voice, violin or guitar accompaniment and invitations to the audience to sing along, beguiled us all. Following Germa was Bethany Weimers, an acclaimed folk-pop artist whose unique style has flashes of early Kate Bush and young Sandy Denny. As well as playing her original compositions, Bethany also treated us to some traditional English song. Marie Bashiru then played an incredible set of soulful, folk-filled songs on her acoustic guitar. Marie's research and podcasts about the hidden Black presence in British folk music are well worth a listen too.
Germa Adan.
Border Widow is a duo made up of Chardine Taylor-Stone of Big Joanie, and Hettie Carman. Their DIY punk sound and beats gave a cleansing burst of loudness in the day. Chardine's storytelling between songs explained the origins of each song in English folklore, folk song or folk tradition.
After this came a break in the day, where the audience could get some food, and / or join us in the folk club downstairs, led by the musicians and for anyone in the audience who wanted to join in. It was so exciting to see several audience members arriving with guitars and violins in cases, clearly having read my messages on the socials inviting them to take part. The vision was for us to have some session tunes and traditional singing, as in any folk club. The joyful warmth and love in the room surpassed all my dreams. It was truly a global folk club — we had plenty of British traditional songs and tunes, also a Ghanaian lullaby, a Jamaican folk song, a Ugandan song, and some original compositions too. It felt truly magical. The kind of folk club I've always dreamed about.
After this I had the joy of interviewing two incredible Black British women in folk — Zakia Sewell of BBC 6 Music and author of forthcoming book Finding Albion, and Emma Kathryn, morris dancer, Obeah woman, and author of several books on wild witchcraft. Our conversation touched on vast subjects including the mythic origins of nation, magic in all its forms, and morris dancing.
Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne stole the show with his thrilling virtuoso anglo concertina playing and singing. Cohen shared songs from his new album Play Up The Music (Caribbean and Black American versions of English traditional songs), and told stories from his family life and the collecting process. The great finale was an amazing performance from Calliope, a core duo of multi-instrumentalists Femi Oriogun-Williams and Bianca Wilson. They were joined by Ray Aggs on violin, Remi Oriogun-Williams, who told new myths created by Femi and inspired by the Dorset landscape and tales of giants, and Ella the Great whose stilt-walking and magic was an unforgettable element in the show.
The Black British Folk Revival is here, and it's overflowing with joy and love. Watch this space — there'll be more to come.
Recently hailed as one of MOJO's 'voices taking folk into the future', Angeline Morrison is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter whose work combines a deep love of traditional song, a deep respect for the hidden ancestral voices of Old Albion, explorations and reimaginings of diaspora, nation and history, and a strong belief in magic and enchantment as powerful charms for decoloniality.