BBC Radio 2 Folk Show Wednesday 21:00

10 April 2024 Shaun Keaveny sits in, with with live guest Martin Simpson.

17 April 2024 Shaun Keaveny explores folk music, with guest Olivia Chaney.

* Saturday 20 April 2024 01:00; Repeat from Wednesday 20 September 2023; Paul Simon talks about his life and his latest work: Seven Psalms.

Now aged 81, Paul Simon is an outstanding artist of his generation, writing strings of extraordinarily successful and well-loved songs across nearly 70 years of music-making. Speaking in New York, he recalls early experiences on the British folk circuit during the 1960s, and talks about his new album, Seven Psalms, a seamless song cycle that evolves over one 33-minute track.

In an extended interview with Mark Radcliffe, Paul recounts how the title came to him in a dream, and discusses the recurring themes of the piece. He talks about mortality, creativity and spirituality, and about collaborating with his wife Edie Brickell and with the vocal ensemble VOCES8.

There's also a chance to hear Paul performing in his first BBC radio session in 1965, as he remembers the London friends who gave him that early opportunity. Paul also talks about his present ability to perform, and his ambitions for the near future. Artist Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse) is running a free exhibition of sketches, inspired by Paul Simon's Seven Psalms, in London during September 2023.