Womenfolk
Podcast Description
Womenfolk tells the fascinating stories of women working in roots music, both on stage and behind the scenes. Maria Wallace hosts interviews with female artists and creatives across roots music genres, highlighting the interconnectedness of artists and folk traditions around the world. Maria has been a grassroots music promoter under the name True North Music for over 10 years, hosting concerts in Yorkshire and booking UK tours for some of the finest artists in folk-roots, bluegrass and Americana. Maria won the Yorkshire Gig Guide’s Outstanding Promoter Award in 2017, attended the Leadership Bluegrass programme in Nashville in 2019 and was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s IBMA’s Industry Involvement Award in 2021. She is also a singer and songwriter herself, and is passionate about championing women in roots music. We want to acknowledge the support of Arts Council England, whose Developing Your Creative Practice grant enabled Maria to bring you this pilot season (4 episodes) of Womenfolk.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast's content centers around women in roots music, showcasing topics like the dynamic experiences of female musicians, the evolution of folk traditions, and exploring personal journeys within the industry. Episodes may include insights from successful artists like Hannah Read and anecdotes about the historical significance and influence of women in genres such as bluegrass and Americana.
Womenfolk tells the fascinating stories of women working in roots music, both on stage and behind the scenes. Maria Wallace hosts interviews with female artists and creatives across roots music genres, highlighting the interconnectedness of artists and folk traditions around the world.
Maria has been a grassroots music promoter under the name True North Music for over 10 years, hosting concerts in Yorkshire and booking UK tours for some of the finest artists in folk-roots, bluegrass and Americana. Maria won the Yorkshire Gig Guide’s Outstanding Promoter Award in 2017, attended the Leadership Bluegrass programme in Nashville in 2019 and was nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s IBMA’s Industry Involvement Award in 2021. She is also a singer and songwriter herself, and is passionate about championing women in roots music.
We want to acknowledge the support of Arts Council England, whose Developing Your Creative Practice grant enabled Maria to bring you this pilot season (4 episodes) of Womenfolk.
Welcome to Womenfolk, and my delightful conversation with Hannah Read, an acclaimed Scottish fiddle player, singer, songwriter and guitarist currently living in California. I first met Hannah around 10 years ago (the house concert we discussed was actually in December 2015!) and have always been blown away by her wide-ranging talent, her beautiful music and her zest for life. This conversation was recorded in late February 2025, and is published as Episode 2 of Womenfolk (the trailer was Episode 1).
Womenfolk is a new podcast telling the stories of women working in roots music, on stage and behind the scenes. Maria Wallace (True North Music) hosts in depth interviews with female musicians, songwriters, creatives and organizers. Please subscribe to the podcast and share the episode far and wide!
The theme music (”The Old Ways – instrumental”) was written by Maria Wallace and features Jay Bradberry (fiddle), Mike Giverin (mandolin), Lucille Williams (double bass) and Phil Stott (guitar). Copyright © and ℗ 2025 Maria Wallace. All rights reserved. This episode also features some music clips from Hannah Read’s album The Fungi Sessions Vol 1, with her permission. Copyright © and ℗ 2023 Hannah Read.
Links:
Follow Womenfolk on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/womenfolkpod/
https://www.facebook.com/womenfolkpod
Follow Hannah Read on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/hanread/
https://www.facebook.com/hannahreadmusic
Listen to and buy Hannah’s music at
https://hannahread.bandcamp.com/music
Hannah Read official video for Silverphae from The Fungi Sessions Vol. 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs6YXirGXA0
Hannah Read & Michael Starkey perform their version of Anaïs Mitchell’s Shenandoah:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biaQbyVU6Xw
Hannah Read performing with Julien Baker & TORRES on The Daily Show on US TV recently
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8HuGF4ac0E
A version of the tune about the session scene on the Isle of Eigg, Wes & Maggie’s Ceilidh Croft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQbtIYjm07s
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