Celebrating Somerset’s Creative & Cultural Practitioners - Danny Pedler

Danny Pedler is a Somerset based Folk musician, some creatives might know him through his involvement with Take Art. Danny has recently been awarded one of our Creative Commissions for 2025, and so this month we wanted to give him a platform to talk about his latest project which you can get involved in. I started by asking Danny to tell me a little bit about him as a musician.

“I love Folk music, there's something about the history and communality of it that draws me in. I love that the ancient origins of the genre are unrecorded and shrouded in mystery; the traditional material often can't be traced to the people that wrote it, making it a communal resource. The narrative, or storytelling element of Folk music makes it the perfect vehicle to explore modern day issues and include people in a conversation that is relevant and useful.

That's why I've been playing and writing Folk music for over ten years in various lineups including Tarren and Pedler and Pedler // Russell. Since moving to the South West where there is a strong Folk tradition (by which I mean that lots of traditional material has been collected in Somerset and there are plenty of people who play it), I am excited to explore modern stories and weave these narratives into Somerset's rich musical history.”

Danny went on to tell me about where his love for music and songwriting started “My parents were Morris dancers and so these old Folk tunes were the soundtrack to my childhood. Despite being dragged around market towns against my will a lot as a child I developed a love for English Folk music and that has influenced my musical style. I am always careful to keep on the rhythm of the music that is so essential to the old dances.

Songwriting and the creation of new material has always been a part of Folk music. People have always added to the traditional repertoire. Over the centuries the best ones have lasted while others are forgotten. I love the idea that I can add to the tradition and maybe a few will survive the test of time!”

Danny’s Creative Commission application talked about involving the community in writing some new folk songs, so I wanted to know more about where his ideas for the project originated.

“I've spoken about Folk being a vehicle for stories. Through listening to traditional music, one gains an idea of what life was like when it was written. Songs about agriculture talk about people's lives in the fields for example, and Folk songs written in the industrial revolution paint a picture of people working in factories - see Poverty Knock, a song written by a steam-loom weaver in the early 20th century. The opening lines are:

Up every morning at five

It's a wonder that we're still alive

Tired and yawning in the cold morning

It's back to the dreary old drive

It paints a real picture of life as it felt to people living in the past.

Folk music was collected and written down in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since then, the genre we can describe as 'traditional Folk music' has detailed life pre-20th century. I want to write new Folk songs that accurately and emotionally record what life is like now. This grant from the Octagon is allowing me to gain material, before a bigger project funding application, to make into songs. I will be interviewing people in and around the Yeovil area to record their stories that, when added to others, will build a picture of Somerset in the 21st century. During this project I am focussing on getting interviews from foreign nationals and factory workers and these people's stories often go unrecorded and I think need to be added to the Folk canon.

Over the next few months, I will be meeting people and conducting oral history interviews to build an historical resource - a set of modern interviews that will be housed in the Somerset Archives - that will inspire a new album of Folk songs written about, and for, Somerset.”

Danny is looking for people to sit down with and have a chat about their lives, he states to me, and it is true, that everyone is interesting. If you would like to find out more and participate in this project, please email danny.pedler1@gmail.com

Picture below: Danny & Greg Russell who worked with me on a similar project to this in Lincolnshire, Field & Dyke.