Understanding and addressing the issues people face in accessing and participating in culture.
Fay Hield
she/her
University of Sheffield
Contact Information
Email Address
f.hield@shef.ac.ukBiography
As an award-winning folk singer, Fay Hield has toured and recorded with the biggest names in folk music, both as the founder of supergroup The Full English, as well as her own band The Hurricane Party. With albums released by the prestigious folk label Topic Records, she has won many accolades as well as a nomination for the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Fay is also Professor of Music at the University of Sheffield, running the FLF project Access Folk to lead research around increasing and diversifying participation in folk singing in England.
Research
Project Title
Defining ethnomusicological Action Research through the regeneration of English folk clubsProject Summary
Since the height of the folk revival in the 1960s, we’ve seen a major decline in folk clubs and fewer people taking part in other folk singing events in England. There is little indication that many new people are finding their way into folk singing communities. With Brexit and growing discussions of the impact of colonialism and empire on culture and national identities, it is also a time for many people to question what Englishness is and how they can connect positively with their national cultural identity. For folk singing to remain relevant in 21st century England, new singers and enthusiasts need to engage with both the music and the meaning of a shared English identity. To that end, the Access Folk research project is using participatory research methods to explore ways to increase and diversify participation in folk singing in England.