The Old Songs Podcast: Se2Ep10 – ‘The Bury New Loom', ft. Jennifer Reid

The Old Songs Podcast

Today, I'm talking to broadside ballads singer, Jennifer Reid. Although Jenn has been involved in researching and singing these songs for a decade, I'm ashamed to say that she only turned up on my radar when she appeared as the ballad-singing bar owner, Barb, in the recent BBC adaptation of The Gallows Pole. I've since discovered that she's a force to be reckoned with - one of the most passionate proponents of old songs that I've so far had the good fortune to meet. In this conversation, we discuss her background with broadsides, their history, what a ballad hawker might have been, who might have been singing these songs and why, and how Jenn ended up singing unaccompanied traditional songs to a Pulp audience at the behest of Jarvis cocker. Along the way, we chat a little about one of her favourite ballads, 'The Bury New Loom' [Roud V9197]. Pull your ear goggles on and let's get underway.