Broadside Hacks Folk Collective Release Collaborative Album ‘Songs Without Authors Vol.1’

London-based Folk collective, Broadside Hacks has released a collaborative compilation album titled ‘Songs Without Authors Vol.1’ (Broadside Hacks Recordings).

Additionally, Broadside Hacks unveiled a music video for ‘Gently Johnny’ Live at Real World Studios, a teaser for an forthcoming project in collaboration with British Underground and Arts Council England. First published by Cecil Sharp in 1916 (titled ‘Gently, Johnny, My Jingalo’), the song was later arranged as ‘Gently Johnny’ for Robin Hardy’s 1973 folk horror film ‘The Wickerman’.

Founded by Campbell Baum of the band Sorry, Broadside Hacks is a new collective formed by like-minded musicians with a wild curiosity for traditional, radical folk heritage. The new album comprises members from a variety of bands and musical projects including Katy J Pearson, Pixx, Junior Brother, Lankum, Goat Girl, Sorry, Yorkston Thorne Khan, Gently Tender, Blaenavon and more.

The concept for ‘Songs Without Authors Vol.1’ features re-works of traditional songs with no set origin, where either the song or the lyrics has no known author. It is a way to return to how folk music existed before the Victorian song collectors began putting everything down on paper and codifying the tradition. Indeed, it is bringing life back into the songs, making them live and breathe again, within the singer’s own right.

‘Songs Without Authors Vol.1’ starts in the deep roots of folk, later flowing into contemporary realms. Speaking about the project, Broadside Hacks say: “Songs Without Authors was put together by a mixed company of musicians who share, above all, a passion for honoring our heritage in song. The marvel of Folk music is, in our view, its ability to find relevance in all times and places, while remaining essentially local. In this way, a Folk song may remain firmly rooted in a village, town or province, while being taken up by individuals who are centuries and continents apart. They are collaborations surpassing time, place, and genre. In this compilation, we have embraced this spirit of Folk. We do not believe that these songs should be preserved in stasis: they survive by their reinvention. They are the property of everyone and no-one, and our joint inheritance.”

Katy J Pearson writes: “I have always loved folk music but since being involved with the Broadside Hacks community my knowledge and understanding of folk music has widened. I think folk music is so vital and such a precious part of our heritage. I think it is also very healing!”

“I engage with folk music because, in all its forms, it serves as a sort of aural archaeology. It allows us to trace the ins and outs of ordinary living from eras out of our own time, and when we sing or play these musical relics, even relive them.” adds Junior Brother

“Folk holds onto stories that some wish we’d forget, and re-writes stories long erased. Folk music can fit hundreds of thousands in a tiny room, because all the folk who ever played a song come to visit when it is played again.” says Shovel Dance Collective.

All profits of this album will be split between:

Focus Ireland, a non-profit organization working with people who are homeless or are at risk of losing their homes across Ireland. 

Scottish Trans Alliance, aA charity working to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Scotland, inclusive of non-binary people. 

Sistah Space, aA charity working with African heritage women & girls who’ve experienced domestic or sexual abuse or who have lost a loved one to domestic violence.

Buy Songs Without Authors Vol.1’ (Broadside Hack