Latest release
Latest release
Ceremonial County Series Vol.XIV - Surrey | Greater Manchester
“Everything is sung unaccompanied and performed with Reid’s usual mixture of righteous anger, tenderness and humour, and forms an illuminating snapshot of 19th and early 20th century working-class Manchester. She is a truly engaging performer, and has tapped into a tradition – performance by working-class women – that has been unfairly marginalised in the past. This little pocket of songs and rhymes is more than a historical document, it is folk music as a living tradition, as entertaining as it is political. Reid is one of the very finest exponents of the form, and this twenty-minute slot provides an intoxicating distillation of her talent.”
- Thomas Blake, KLOF Magazine
The Langley Linnet album
“These songs are historically the cultural expression of Lancashire’s many weavers who, during the nineteenth century, were driven by poverty from their handlooms to the mechanised looms of newly-built factories in industrial Manchester. While British industrialism began tightening its vice grip around a fledgling working class, upon whose backs the Industrial Revolution was built, the shattering of communities by labour alienation seemed tragically inevitable. The Langley Linnet is a reminder that community can thrive even under threat. These are far more than the songs of the ancestors; these are strategies for resistance.”
- Dafydd Jenkins
Rough Music - free album download
"Rough-music is an old Hampshire phrase meaning to serenade with pots, kettle, or anything else that make a hideous noise, given to those who disgrace themselves"
Between the University and local people, I managed to get my hands on 20+ songs and even a couple of dances from and about the local area of Hamble from across the county, and recorded some of them in situ, either on the water or on the land.
Created by Jennifer Reid and produced by Wild Museum as part of Peninsula Sounds. Peninsula Sounds is a sound archive project commissioned by Eastleigh Borough Council, using Developer’s Contributions for public art.
“And you’ll find the rest is diddled..” radio show
Trying to get a handle on Hamble was fun, I improvised - listening to the women gossiping in the slow lane of the pool at the sports centre - and stumbled upon a hyper-specific local history society on the high street. I ended up at the University looking at their collections and doing such digging keeps the mind bright. It allows me to see what Lancashire has and map out the whole UK’s folk offerings whilst also appreciating the Hampshire songs in front of me. Themes I expected came up, such as Navy ballads, and others surprised me.
Created by Jennifer Reid and produced by Wild Museum as part of Peninsula Sounds. Peninsula Sounds is a sound archive project commissioned by Eastleigh Borough Council, using Developer’s Contributions for public art.