A Musical Portrait of a Durham Mining Family

Audio documentary is a narrative non‑fiction form created specifically for listening. It blends reportage, interviews, archival tape, field recordings, narration, and montage to present real events, people, and ideas. Unlike audio drama, which stages fiction with actors, audio documentary prioritizes factual storytelling and journalistic ethics while borrowing dramatic structure, pacing, and sound design to deepen engagement. Its craft relies on careful research, on‑location sound, and editorial shaping to build scenes and a clear point of view.

Interview is a spoken-word recording genre that documents a conversation—typically between a host and a guest—focused on biography, creative process, cultural context, or timely topics. Although not musical in the strict sense, interview releases are integral to the music ecosystem: labels and media have long issued press-only promos, radio transcription discs, fan-club LPs, and CD box-set extras featuring interviews with artists. These recordings foreground voice, narrative, and authenticity, often serving as historical primary sources that frame an artist’s work and era.

Northumbrian folk is the traditional music of Northumberland and Tyneside in the far north-east of England. It is best known for the distinctive Northumbrian smallpipes, a bellows-blown, closed-chanter bagpipe whose naturally staccato articulation shapes the region’s crisp, ornate dance tunes and variation sets. The repertoire centers on reels, jigs, hornpipes, and slow airs alongside narrative songs in the Geordie and Northumbrian dialects. Common keys are D, G, and A for fiddle- and pipe-friendly tunings, with modes often major or mixolydian. The music balances nimble instrumental virtuosity with strong local song traditions, evoking maritime life, mining, and rural landscapes along the English–Scottish Border.