A lot happened in 1996. The summer Olympics took place in Atlanta, the Euros took place in England, and the first Game of Thrones book was released!
It was also the year that two young folk musicians decided to start playing together, and thirty years later, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan are celebrating their partnership with a special gig on 27 February!
We caught up with Nancy and James to talk about the importance of livestreamed music, what they like to do before a show, and their plans for the rest of the year.
30 years in folk music, that’s incredible! What has been your highlight of working together over the years?
A personal highlight for us was our mainstage show at Cambridge Folk Festival in 2019. We had a brilliant audience and had a fabulous time – and invited several great friends and guests on stage with us, including Maddy Prior and Tim Van Eyken.
We remember saying to each other after the show, “Well, if that was the last duo gig we ever did, we would be happy that we went out like that!” Ironically COVID came shortly after, and for a short time it looked like it might be true!
Fortunately, live work has survived, and another highlight was our 30th anniversary show at the end of 2025 at Cecil Sharp House.
We’re very lucky that you’ve played many shows with us; we livestreamed with you both four times in 2025 (Sanda Kerr, Kerr Fagan Van Ekyken, Melrose Quartet, and Simpson Cutting Kerr). What is it about livestreaming music that is so empowering for both artists and folk fans?
That’s incredible – thank you for all your support of our work!
Speaking of COVID, obviously live streaming became extremely important to artists and audiences alike during lockdown, but it’s become more than that.
It gives us a chance to reach people who for many reasons can’t attend a gig, including people with access issues, people in other countries (which includes James’s family), and people who just really enjoy the experience.
Cat (McGill, co-founder of Live to your Living Room) often talks about Live to your Living Room being a community, and it’s always nice to be invited into a community to share your music and stories!
James, you present a weekly folk show with Sam Hindley (Live at Sam’s) called Thank Goodness it’s Folk, where you talk about the latest releases and interview special guests. If you could interview any folk artist on the show, living or otherwise, who would it be?
What a great thing to speculate on! We have had some wonderful living guests, including some of our biggest heroes – June Tabor, Linda Thompson, Andy Irvine, and Martin Carthy, to name a few.
So I’ll go for a great departed folk artist – I would love to have interviewed the great Norfolk folk singer Walter Pardon. He had such an incredible repertoire and was by all accounts a lovely man.
He died the year that Nancy and I decided to pursue our life in folk music as a duo – 1996.
We understand that Cat has promised to take you out for fish and chips before your upcoming gig with us! What’s your typical pre-gig ritual?
We like to arrive early at a venue and explore the locale a little if there’s time.
We always appreciate a good fry-up – fish and chips are famous pre-gig food for singers and were the preferred dish of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger! The grease lubricates the vocal apparatus well.
(We do refrain from adding scraps on gig nights though!)
What else is on the cards for you both for the rest of 2026?
We’re flying to Australia at Easter to headline the Australian National Folk Festival, along with James’s family band The Fagans, who we haven’t seen in a long time. We’re really excited, it will be a short but very sweet trip!
Nancy has a new solo album underway, Melrose Quartet are putting together a CD of Music Heritage Place, and James will be doing his first gigs with his new trio Bouzouki III alongside Jon Doran and Benji Kirkpatrick. So lots to look forward to!
Find out more about Nancy and James’s latest projects on their website: www.kerrfagan.uk Nancy and James will take part in a very special livestreamed performance at Foxlowe Arts Centre on Friday 27 February 2026, celebrating 30 years in the folk world together. Buy your tickets on our website.