Sounds of the Earth – January

A montage of music and natural sounds including an Antarctic fur seal and her pup, Yellow-billed storks, and a Himalayan snowcock.

Kris Drever on Orkney

The guitarist, singer and songwriter Kris Drever was born and brought up on Orkney, the archipelago off the Northern coast of Scotland which is steeped in history. The walk starts in the main town of Kirkwall with its huge sandstone cathedral commemorating...

The Last Oozings – Cider Making in Somerset

Britain has lost 90% of its traditional orchards. So, seven years ago the villagers of Haselbury Plucknett planted a Somerset orchard: 35 cider apple trees, all old varieties with names as gorgeous as their colours - Kingston Black, Sweet Crimson King, Sla...

Bonus Xmas Episode: The Sheffield Carols with Jon Boden, Bella Hardy and The Melrose Quartet

In search of the festive spirit of Christmas – and bearing gifts -  we travel to the Peak District and Sheffield to hear the area’s unique local carols. Along the way we collect music from Jon Boden, Bella Hardy, The Melrose Quartet and the singers of...

Sounds of the Earth – December

A montage of music and natural sounds from the Abernethy Forest in the Scottish Highlands, coniferous woodland that is home to chaffinches, wren, willow warblers, mistle thrush, Scottish crossbills and more; we meet an Oscillated Turkey, native to the rain...

John Jones and the Reluctant Ramblers walking to the Wickham Festival

This episode has by far the largest cast of walkers we’ve ever assembled – and the most musicians.  The lead singer of Oysterband John Jones started walking from gig to gig and singing on the way long before our podcast was invented. He’s done it al...

Sounds of the Earth – November

Relax with a calming mix of music and natural sounds - from the chirping of nesting seabirds on a remote island to night-time in the marshes of Trinidad, sounds from the banks of a mighty Kenyan river and the waking dawn in the heart of Southern India.

The Sounds of Al-Andalus

A journey in sound across the lands intimately associated with Al-Andalus, medieval Moorish Spain and Portugal. Starting in Granada at the glorious Alhambra Palace, we hear the running water of the fountains that adorn the palace as well as the sound of mo...

Listening to Lalibela

In 1968 Redzi Bernard's mother arrived in Lalibela - Ethiopia's holy city - on a mule after an arduous trek through the mountains. Earlier this year Redzi recreated her mother's journey and when she arrived in Lalibela she discovered a timeless world. Just...

Downtown Nashville, Tennessee

Think of the American South and one man-made sound plays out evocatively across the landscape: the horn of a passing freight train. For a century and a half it's been almost synonymous with the idea of America, particularly where the rural blends with the ...

Sounds of the Earth – October

A montage of music and natural sounds from farmland in Somerset where willow warblers, robins and swallows merge with the faint chirp of crickets; a group of white rhinos going about their daily business in KwaZulu Natal; a troupe of busy white-throated Ca...

Nancy Kerr along the Kennet and Avon Canal

For twelve years, the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nancy Kerr lived on a narrow boat, travelling the length and breadth of England’s inland waterways. As she walks on the towpath with Matthew Bannister, she tells how the experience inspir...

The Signal-Man

Renowned field recordist Chris Watson follows the sound of signal bells, and finds himself in a Gate Box on a stretch of the East Yorkshire railway, listening for trains and birds with signalman Dave Beckett.

Season 4 trailer

Featuring: Nancy Kerr along the Kennet and Avon Canal, John Jones and the Reluctant Ramblers walking to the Wickham Festival, Kris Drever on Orkney, Peggy Seeger in Iffley and Bella Hardy in Edale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

Bonus episode: Six Songs from Season 3

Featuring: “Never Any Good” by Martin Simpson;  “Charm On, Goldfinch” by Beth Porter; “Union Miner” by The Unthanks; “Salty and Sweet” by John Smith; “Lavender Song” by Lisa Knapp;  “A Precious Place” by Duncan Chisholm Hosted on ...

Bonus episode: Martin Simpson at BBC Countryfile Live

Martin Simpson performs some of the songs from his new album “Rooted” and talks to Matthew Bannister on the Big Barn stage at the BBC Countryfile Live event in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

Duncan Chisholm at Sandwood Bay

Sandwood Bay, at the far North Western tip of Scotland near Cape Wrath, is one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK. This wild, isolated place inspired the Scottish fiddle player and composer Duncan Chisholm’s album “Sandwood”.  He takes Matthew ...

Lisa Knapp in Tooting

The singer and fiddle player Lisa Knapp takes Matthew to the south London borough of Tooting where she was born and brought up. She performs songs with links to the area and tells how she stumbled across the Tooting Tragedy – a story of neglect and ill t...

John Smith in Brixham

John Smith is known for his delicate and intricate guitar work, honey-and-gravel voice and songs of lost love. He was born in Essex, but brought up in the seaside town of Brixham in Devon. Struck down by illness as a child, he took up the guitar and practi...

Sounds of the Earth – July

A montage of music and natural sounds from a sunrise recorded in Cluny House Gardens in Perthshire; the call of a lyrebird captured in the eucalyptus trees of Hastings State Forest in southern Tasmania; a woodland in Minsmere, Suffolk where tawny owls, nig...