Folk - Adrian May

When I asked Adrian May for some tips on writing a good folk song, he told me that “a folk song is usually traditional and there is much to learn about narrative and direct emotion from traditional songs – also listen to music hall and punk. Then you have the historically vibrant and the powerfully idiomatic.” May has been part of the English folk music scene since the late 1970s, and now teaches creative writing and song lyric composition at the University of Essex, so he knows a thing or two about writing a good song. These days he writes mostly about “human frailty at its poignant and funny extremes – for example, hating football, and love in middle age.”

May makes a welcome return to Lewes on Thursday when he plays at The Royal Oak and his set will “mix comic and serious songs, all with an English flavour.” He is looking forward to the gig and says that The Royal Oak “is one of the best clubs in the country and it is a compliment for a humble songwriter to be there. The audiences are kind and intelligent. Vic and Tina are the sort of people who give Folk a good name.” If you are unfamiliar with May’s work, and would like to sample some before you head out to the gig, you can hear his 1989 album Out of Love online (click to listen). KA