“The words “folk music” had been invented in Europe, way back in the nineteenth century, that meant the music of the peasant class, ancient and anonymous” Pete Seeger

BBC FOLK CLUB of 2010 WINNERS 'The Magpie's Nest' has grown from the enormous success of being simply a monthly night at the Old Queen's Head pub on Essex Road into a collective of promoters and enthusiasts of folk, world and traditional music. The question is: how could we not? After nearly four years in the running, the original founders of the club, Joe Buirski and Sam Lee, have discovered such a wealth of talented musicians and bands to work with, and have been comforted by a resurgent interest in traditional music amongst the public, in the media, and within the music industry as a whole, that expansion was inevitable.

 
“The Magpie's Nest” now represents an umbrella organisation determined to continue to promote quality new, traditional and roots music at various venues across London and at Festivals up and down the country. The Magpie's Nest has grown and blossomed into an ever expanding collective, with new nights, new ideas, new music, and new venues across the capital - all reflecting and representing the diverse and divergent styles of music we care to label “folk”.

 
The two primary strands in the development of The Magpie's Nest are labeled Two For Joy and Folklahoma! Both promise to bring you new and exciting events at both familiar and new venues, and both promise to remain true to the founding mantra of the Magpie's Nest: “New Folk, Old Folk and No Folk” - in other words, in providing a platform for the entire spectrum of the 'folk' music genre: from veteran performers and purveyors of the tradition through to those influenced by traditional material and creating solely new music. The difference? Two new teams, two new sets of eyes and ears, and a doubling of the capacity of The Magpie's Nest Collective to bring you exciting events and outstanding live music.