Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span drove Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald

Maddy Prior – folk royalty, an absolute hero of ours – is touring with Steeleye Span again this autumn 66 years after they started, a life someone should make into a movie. She talks to us here about her undimmed love of live performance and …  

 

… when the height of your ambition is a £3 ticket to Blackpool Pleasure Beach

 

… “Rod Argent, the first boy I ever kissed”

 

… her fox-fur-trimmed Lambretta when a teenage mod

 

… the night Steeleye Span showered their audience with £4,000

 

… seeing Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Josh White and Sony Boy Williamson in St Albans clubs

 

… driving Rev Gary Davis round Britain in a Triumph Herald: “Miss Maddy, you’d make a great nurse! Was that a compliment or an insult?”

 

… “Traditional music is great material to work with. It’s like steel – you can bend it but you can’t break it”

 

… hearing Dylan for the first time (with Donovan) and thinking “this man can’t sing”

 

 … memories of her father who wrote Z Cars

 

… life with Tim Hart: “Living in sin? No, we’re living in Archway!”

 

… Tony Secunda, his spray-can and his promotional stunts – “Win 24 hours with a member of Steeleye Span”

 

… Alan Partridge and the great ‘Gaudete’ moment

 

… the new Steeleye Span album Conflict “about the rip and tear relationship we have with the planet that hosts us”

 

… and Singing For The Uncertain, her course for singers who think they can’t

 

Steeleye Span tour dates here: https://steeleyespan.org.uk/sample-page/tour-dates-2025/

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