Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne is a squeezebox player at the forefront of the English folk scene. He is embarking on a tour to promote his new LP Play Up The Music! The twenty-eight year old kindly took time to speak with me.
He also plays in Granny’s Attic with friends he met at school George Sansome and Lewis Wood.
Your grew up in the West Midlands. Where were you born?
Erdington in Birmingham, just in the shadow of the famous Spaghetti Junction on the M6.
From England to the Americas and back again
Your grandparents were part of the Windrush generation. A visit to Barbados, about twenty years ago, apparently ignited your interest in folk music when you heard a Bajan folk band playing an old English tune. Please provide the background!
At that point in my life I had been playing the violin for a few years and I had already started to explore English folk tunes. So seeing that performance wasn’t so much the start of my fascination with folk music, but it was the start of my interest in the relationship between the English folk tradition and the Black musical traditions of the Americas (especially those of the Caribbean), which I have come to explore on my latest album.
Tell us about your musical chronology. Did you delve into the folk tradition first then take up your chosen instruments. Or was it the other way round?
I started on the violin at the age of six, having conventional classical lessons at school. Through learning the violin I discovered and became interested in the tradition of fiddle tunes – initially more Irish and Scottish tunes, but the English material came along pretty shortly after. It is that tradition to which I’ve dedicated the past fifteen plus years of my musical life.
When I started going to folk events and listening to folk albums, I started to become obsessed with squeezeboxes of various kinds, eventually settling on the concertina first, then the melodeon, and the fiddle fell by the wayside.
The choice of instruments
What drew you to the Anglo concertina and melodeon?
I love the very distinctive sounds of the instruments. Their capacity to simultaneously play melodies along with accompaniments or countermelodies allows you to be something of a one-man band. It’s amazing how much sound and detail you can get of out these small instruments.
Cohen’s debut LP, Outway Songster (2017) was nominated for a Horizon Award for best newcomer at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The follow-up, Rakes & Misfits (2021), received similar critical acclaimed.
Your latest LP is called Play Up The Music!, as mentioned above, traces the link between traditional English folk songs and British Caribbean musicians. Please tell us about the new record.
The new album explores Caribbean and African American versions of English folk songs. That is to say, songs that started life in England, made their way over to the Americas and were adopted by different cultures over there. Most of the songs will be familiar, at least in title, to anyone with an interest in English folk songs, but when these Black singers and communities in the Americas adopted these songs, they imbued them with something of their own musical language. The resulting songs are quite different fromtheir English antecedents.
Will it form the basis of your upcoming tour?
Yes, for the gigs on this tour I will be mainly focusing on playing material from the new album. I will be talking a little about some of the fascinating history behind these songs.
The future of (English) folk music
You are a keen student of the folk tradition, published three books on the subject, given talks, and worked with school children, students, and older people. Apart from your incredibly valuable contribution, how do you think the folk tradition can survive, particularly in terms of the younger generation?
I think doing grassroots level work bringing folk music into schools and communities is incredibly important. Bringing the music to people that wouldn’t normally interact with folk music. Access Folk and the English Folk Dance & Song Society work hard to make the folk scene more inclusive and accessible. In my view this is only to be applauded.
Thanks so much for your time Cohen. I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday at The Hoy at Anchor Folk Club.
Thank you!
*It’s a type of boat.
The latest long player from Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, Play Up The Music! (Grimdon Records), is out now.
These are his upcoming live dates:
Thurs, Sept 26: Maidenhead Folk Club, Cookham
Fri, Sept 27: The Music Institute, Guildford
Tues, Oct 1: Hoy at Anchor Folk Club, Southend-on-Sea
Weds, Oct 2: Cecil Sharp House, London
Thurs, Oct 3: Rosslyn Court, Margate
Mon, Oct 7: Folk at the Grove, Leeds
Weds, Oct 9: Hambledon Folk Club, nr Waterlooville
Thurs, Oct 10: Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
Fri, Oct 11: St Mary’s Centre, Chester
Thurs, Mar 20, 2025: Band on the Wall, Manchester
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