Folk Files

Author: Olivia Harding

Welcome to Folk Files, a podcast hosted by Olivia Harding that seeks to uncover the mysteries of folk music throughout the ages and dive deep into the tangled history of murder ballads, sea shanties, rebel songs, and other music that has withstood the test of time!
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Language: en

Genres: Music, Music History

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Episode #3.4 - There Were Two Sisters
Episode 4
Friday, 24 April, 2026

A harrowing murder ballad in which an older sister shoves her younger sister in the water (and sometimes a musician makes an instrument from the drowned girl's corpse) can be found all over Great Britain, North America, and Scandinavia. But where did it originally come from? And how has the story changed as it's traveled across seas? Find out in this episode of Folk Files, all about "Twa Sisters." Host: Olivia Harding Learn more about the Spokane Fall Folk Festival: https://www.spokanefolkfestival.org/ For more on this ballad, check out the In the Roud podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj8x5X1kCc0 Support Folk Files: https://www.patreon.com/FolkFilesPodcast Special thanks to Aaron J. Morton For a full list of musical excerpts associated with this episode, head to the episode page on the new Folk Files website: https://folkfilespodcast.com/uncategorized/episode-3-4/