Maddy Prior, the legendary vocalist of Steeleye Span, is set to appear at The Elgiva next month as part of the band’s Green Man Tour. Celebrating fifty-five years together, Steeleye Span has been a transformative force in folk music, blending traditional sounds with a contemporary edge. Their latest album, The Green Man Collection, features a mix of recent tracks and new versions of classics, including a reimagined Hard Times with Status Quo’s Francis Rossi.
Maddy Prior remains as excited about touring as ever, and she continues to create music that resonates with fans. Her career, spanning over five decades, is marked by a passion for performing and an enduring love for storytelling through song.
Ahead of her visit, we sat down with Maddy to discuss the band’s incredible journey, her enthusiasm for live performance and the evolution of Steeleye Span’s music. Just what is it like to be at the forefront of the folk music scene for over fifty years?
Despite years of touring, Maddy says being on stage still gives her a thrill.
“I used to be terrified,” she confesses, “But it’s gone down a level to anxious! When you are on the stage with the band, it’s just the best feeling in the world – and who wouldn’t want to do it? And you get applause at the end – how good is that?”
When it comes to the material, Maddy explains that while she loves the songs, they all have their own vibe and identity.
“There are songs that I only do rarely because they don’t have enough bounce, or because they’ve got too much,” she says. “Things like like Tam Lin – they are big songs to sing and I can’t do them all the time because they lose something. We have a massive repertoire, luckily, so we spread our set lists across all the songs so that each time they come fresh. If you leave a song for long enough, it sort of greens up again.”
One song that never gets rested, of course, is All Around My Hat, which was a Top 5 hit for Steeleye Span in 1975 and later covered by Status Quo (of whom more later).
“Hat is kind of our calling card – it’s our anthem,” says Maddy. “In some ways, it doesn’t reflect us, really, but I love it, although it’s still hard to sing – it’s one of the hardest things to sing that we do!”
Not a band to rest on its laurels, Steeleye Span is working on new material and will be back in the recording studio next year.
“It’s an exciting band to be in, and whatever we do, I love doing it! If I don’t, I’ll stop doing it and just walk away. But there’s no need – it’s a great life.”
Bedrocks and trampolines
Steeleye Span has seen various changes throughout the band’s history, and this brings a flexibility that means the band can experiment with its music.
“The music that we did in the 70s, and which we spent a lot of time on, is the bedrock of what we do,” says Maddy. “But it is also rather like a trampoline, in that it allows us to bounce off in all sorts of directions. You bounce on it, and wherever you go after that is kind of with the gods!”
Maddy described the material from the 70s line-up as being the band’s “quintessential bedrock” – and with that under their belt, they can move in various directions, and that includes focusing on writing.
“People who come into the tradition generally bring in a writing element, whether their own or songwriters that they like and use – and that keeps it all fresh,” explains Maddy.
Discussing the band’s current line-up, Maddy is enthusiastic. “They’re all great players,” she says. “They don’t necessarily know a great deal about the tradition, but they know quite a lot about Steeleye Span, which is its own thing in a way.”
Maddy explains that Steeleye Span reflects tradition rather than being restrained by it. “We’ve always used tradition in a rather cavalier way, I think, and so it’s become its own thing for us really. But we’ve done more traditional songs than probably any other band, actually.”
Tradition and transformation
Evolution and change are part of the folk tradition – and essential to its survival and relevance. Folk music is often seen as something deeply rooted in history, tradition and cultural continuity but folk traditions have always been in a state of flux, adapting to new influences, technologies and cultural shifts over time and with each generation adding its own interpretations.
This irony is not lost on Maddy who points out that while people don’t change, the whole of the tradition changes everything all the time.
“The whole revival changes everything all the time, and I suspect that was what happened in the past as well, although probably at a slightly slower speed.” Maddy cites Victorian Music Hall, where performers could have a ten-minute set which which they toured the whole of England over several years.
“People didn’t see you every day on the television or one thousand other things on their phones – they went to see the performance at a theatre, and their expectations were completely different from what people’s are now. We do change material, and the band changes, and they all bring something slightly different.
“I’ve never wanted people to play exactly what the person before them played. Whoever comes in brings an element of their own musicality – but there is also the Steeleye way, and players have to take that on board as well, because otherwise it would go off in a thousand crazy fragments, which you don’t want!”
Maddy describes the approach as holding onto the centre while letting new strands flower around it.
“When you’ve got such good players, you don’t want them to be bored. They’ve got to have something that works for them and that lets them have their moment.”
On the road again
With 26 dates on last year’s tour and 21 dates on this year’s, Steeleye Span are a busy band. And it’s a physical process for them all, with three or four days of full-on rehearsals before they even go on the road.
“We know we have to pace ourselves, but that is tricky for the first few gigs while we are still not entirely sure how the gig is working,” Maddy explains. “Plus, we often make changes, as things that seemed like a good idea in the rehearsal room don’t work so well on stage.”
With a different set each tour, things are always exciting – and then there is the speed.
“We do the tour in about three or four weeks – and that’s great for me. For the first week I’m terrified, by the second week I’m in the zone, and by the time I’ve had enough, the tour comes to an end. An ample sufficiency!”
Roll with it...
Steeleye Span embraces both traditional folk and a contemporary-influenced sound, and Maddy says the sound will always be evolving to a degree as different people bring different things to the mix.
“It is especially interesting being in a band for long time, but any band has its own sort of remit, whether that is verbalised or not,” says Maddy. “And that’s why bands that break up come back together, because you can never take that remit anywhere else, but it still exists. The same goes for tradition – stray too far and it becomes meaningless. All bands have a purpose and a reason to be, and they often don’t recognise it till they leave.”
Looking at you, Gallagher brothers.
“There’s something in the one situation you never get anywhere else,” says Maddy. “There are other musicians, they may be better, they may be easier to deal with – but it will never be that. And whatever situation in music you’re in, it’s its own thing, always.”
Maddy explains that one has to enjoy it for what it is but for most people, it takes quite a while before they recognise that – and they don’t often have the chance to repeat it.
“I’m sure that Noel and Liam recognise themselves that there’s something in Oasis that they don’t get anywhere else. It’s not about money – who knows whether they need it – but it’s its own thing, and it’s irresistible when you’ve enjoyed it.
Democracy rules
The Green Man Collection features both new material and reworked classics, meaning the band has had to decide which classic songs to revisit, and how to balance this with introducing new tracks to fans. Luckily, the decision-making process appears to have been angst-free.
“Because I’m the last man standing, as it were, a lot of that choice is down to me,” laughs Maddy. “But in fact, the record company play a key role as well. John Dagnell, who is my manager and the band’s manager makes suggestions, and unless it’s something I really don’t like, mostly I go ‘OK’. The other band members have their say as well, but in the in the end it’s me and John that make that kind of decision.”
Of course, if other people are are exercised by something, they absolutely speak up.
“It’s a light democracy, if you know what I mean,” says Maddy. “None of the band are folkies, although they know about Steeleye Span. I know about folk music as well and I have been here a long time, so I know how it works!”
Telling a tale
Steeleye Span have their take on Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding on their new album and it plays to the band’s desire to add in a contemporary element.
“It’s a great song. I’d heard Swan Arcade do it back in the back in the day, and I thought of Shipbuilding when we were looking at subjects and ideas.”
Written during the Falklands Conflict of 1982, Costello’s song hearkens back to the prosperity of traditional shipbuilding areas in Merseyside and Tyneside while also highlighting the futility of war. In the folk music tradition, Shipbuilding tells a story, painting a picture of a community in a place in time – so it is no wonder it spoke to Maddy.
“It’s what we do. We do it very differently, but it’s it’s such a great song. I am a words person, but when I’m listening to other people, quite often it’s not the words that hit you. When I sing them, however, then the words are what I use to make a connection.”
Looking to the future, Maddy says there are a couple of songs that are “hanging around” and which might make an appearance on the next album and tour.
“We have always done other people’s songs; we did the Rockers Encore for a long time, and we have done Lay Down Your Weary Tune and similar. Sometimes we try things, and they don’t work so we junk them. Then there is a kind of writing that just works for us; I did one by Todd Rundgren, called Honest Work, which is another song about societal change – it’s one of those songs that hits you.”
And new things are presenting themselves all the time.
“There’s there’s such a lot of talent out there, and the tech is so good now, you can find out what people are doing all over the world,” says Maddy. “You can kind of wander through writers and songwriters, and you hear all kinds of things out there!”
A family affair
With a history spanning over five decades, it is no surprise that Steeleye Span’s fanbase is as ever-evolving as its music.
Maddy feels the music resonates with both long-term and new audiences.
“There are people who have followed us for a long time, but we also have fans who were brainwashed in the car by their parents,” she jokes.
“But I love that because our band is a family thing to them. Our music reminds them of their family because they grew up with it, protesting it, but still singing along to all the songs in the car.”
I confess to Maddy that I am one of those fans, brought up on my mother’s love of Steeleye Span, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.
“That’s exactly it! And, of course, we have fans who have found us on the internet and enjoyed our music and come along to see us live for the first time,” she says. “And hopefully, we repay that curiosity with great plays and a full-on gig. Some of first-timers think folk music is gentle and quiet – they certainly get a surprise at our gigs!”
Speculate to collaborate
The new album features a collaboration with Francis Rossi of Status Quo, and Maddy explains that she has known the band – albeit at a “sort of distance” over the years since the Pinkpop festival in the Netherlands in 1974.
“We spent a night a night with them swapping stories and of course, their stories are much more outrageous than ours – we were in awe of their anecdotes!”
Maddy also did some work on Rossi’s solo projects, and Status Quo covered Hat and the latest collaboration “just came about.”
“We asked him, and it was very easy for him to do and he said ‘yes’,” she explains. “It was great – I went to see his solo show which was super and very very funny.”
Maddy references Steeleye Span’s 1975 collaboration with Peter Sellers who played the ukulele on New York Girls, the closing track on the album Commoners Crown.
“Our work with Francis just came about like it did with Peter Sellers, you just ask,” she explains. “The first thing is having the bottle to ask – or at least pushing the manager up the front!”
In terms of future collaborations, Maddy explains she is participating in a Neil Innes tribute at the O2 this November.
“All the remaining Pythons and everybody will be getting together, and it’s going to be a great thing to do. And I like things like that, that put me out of my comfort zone. I’ll be asking myself why I agreed to it when I get there, but then I’ll be on stage and seeing everyone else and it will be lovely.”
Keep on keeping on
There is pressure on artists and bands to stay relevant, and Maddy explains that Steeleye Span achieves this by just keeping working.
“Our manager and organiser John Dagnell has kept up on the road and working – and we are very much a live band,” Maddy says. “We do record, and we have got a massive back catalogue, and John has been very instrumental in keeping it going. He’s sympathetic to what we do, he understands it and he knows us. He also knows what we’re capable of – and what’s likely to happen in any given situation!”
Maddy’s love for performing shines through. “I just love doing it,” she says. “Half-an-hour before every gig I go: ‘Why am I here?’ But but apart from that, love the rest of it!”
Despite being in her seventies, Maddy has no plans to stop touring.
“Time will tell,” she laughs. “I enjoy it, even though it’s as hard as it’s ever been. But I don’t do really long runs of gigs, and I get to have a day off every so often – that’s what we call a travel day!”
A successful Span
Steeleye Span have had an extensive career, making a significant contribution to folk and rock music – but what of the future? How would Maddy hope to be remembered in the musical landscape?
“Well, as being a part of it! And that Steeleye Span has been its own thing, but in a genre that’s amorphous and pretty vague,” she says, adding that the word “folk” doesn’t mean anything, really.
“At the same time, there is a kind of consciousness. We do quite a lot that would be considered heavy rock, and I like that. I’ve always been a dancer and a bopper, and that’s where I came from. I love dancing to music – if I hear music, I want to move to it.”
Maddy goes on to explain that wondering whether you will be remembered isn’t really important as you’ll never know the answer, and she cites Van Gogh as an example of this.
“All you can do, all I think I’ve done and all I want to do is to have done a good body of work.”
