Ahead of their visit to Birmingham Town Hall on 31st October, where they will be promoting 2025’s Conflict, their first full studio album in over five years, Maddy discussed 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?

“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?”

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!”

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!”

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.”

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!”

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!”

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.”

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.”

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!”

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