Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span drove Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald

Maddy Prior – folk royalty, an absolute hero of ours – is touring with Steeleye Span again this autumn 66 years after they started, a life someone should make into a movie. She talks to us here about her undimmed love of live performance and …   … when the height of your ambition is a £3 ticket to Blackpool Pleasure Beach … “Rod Argent, the first boy I ever kissed” … her fox-fur-trimmed Lambretta when a teenage mod … the night Steeleye Span showered their audience with £4,000 … seeing Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Josh White and Sony Boy Williamson in St Albans clubs … driving Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald: “Miss Maddy, you’d make a great nurse! Was that a compliment or an insult?” … “Traditional music is great material to work with. It’s like steel – you can bend it but you can’t break it” … hearing Dylan for the first time (with Donovan) and thinking “this man can’t sing”  … memories of her father who wrote Z Cars … life with Tim Hart: “Living in sin? No, we’re living in Archway!” … Tony Secunda, his spray-can and his promotional stunts – “Win 24 hours with a member of Steeleye Span” … Alan Partridge and the great ‘Gaudete’ moment … the new Steeleye Span album Conflict “about the rip and tear relationship we have with the planet that hosts us” … and Singing For The Uncertain, her course for singers who think they can’t Steeleye Span tour dates here: https://steeleyespan.org.uk/sample-page/tour-dates-2025/Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.