A pivotal figure in the English folk revival of the 1950s and ‘60s, Billy Bragg has called Shirley Collins “one of England’s greatest cultural treasures”. She has had great influence as a performer.
As a young singer in 1959 she set off from Hastings to embark on a remarkable journey across the southern states of America with legendary folk collector Alan Lomax. The songs they recorded from church meetings, in state penitentiaries and in isolated mountain shacks featured in the film O Brother Where Art Thou?.
Recently awarded an MBE for her services to music, Shirley Collins joins Martha to discuss her life and the music she loves. America Over the Water by Shirley Collins is published in paperback by SAF Publishing, ISBN: 0 946719 91 8
