'Ask a Friend' invited people in the English folk scene to interview friends, family and acquaintances about their relationship with folk singing in England.

In the autumn of 2022, 22 people with some involvement with the folk scene in England interviewed 61 people outside of the scene. All interviewees had a personal connection to the interviewer and most had an interest in other forms of music, arts and culture, but were not currently involved with folk singing. We wanted to understand why people who are socially close to the folk scene do not take part in it. Interviewees were asked about their culture and arts background, their attitudes and experiences of folk singing. To give us a sense of the interviewees' understanding of key concepts, they also took part in a word association game using seven terms common in the folk scene: ‘folk music’, ‘traditional music’, ‘folk songs’, ‘folk singing’, ‘folk singer’, ‘folk club’ and ‘folklore’.

This report is aimed at organisers and folk singers in the folk scene who want to better understand how they can attract new participants and reflect on how their activities might be seen from an outsider perspective.