Responsible in no small part for folk music's recent renaissance (as an integral member of Bellowhead he's pushed the genre's once-stifling boundaries with an almost freewheeling glee), Jon Boden is one of the UK's most treasured - and essential - musicians.

Alongside his work with Bellowhead he's also indulged in a side project with John Spiers and has also found the time to pursue an impressive solo songwriting path.

On the eve of the release of his second solo album 'Songs From The Floodplain', FDM.com caught-up with John Boden to talk concept albums, folk's bright future and the pressure of being one of the genre's central figureheads...

FDM.com: Thanks for talking to FDM.com Jon. The release of 'Songs From The Flood Plain' indicates a further third strand to your work as a musician (alongside Bellowhead and Spiers & Boden). How on earth have you found the time to write and record such a fantastic debut solo album?

JB: I had the idea for it a couple of years ago, quite soon after releasing 'Painted Lady' (my first solo album). I've been jotting down ideas for lyrics since then but in the end I had to block out a few weeks and work solidly on getting it written. It took a couple of weeks to record, in between tours.

FDM.com: Tell us a little bit about the thinking behind the record. Would you class it as a concept album?

JB: Yes. I'm a fan of concept albums. I think the less specific the concept the better though so I had to be quite careful not to make too many definitive decisions - much better to leave that up to the listener. All I was sure of was that this was a community/ society deprived of oil. Life without cars immediately brings up so many interesting questions about current human existence that I didn't need to go any further into defining the 'concept'.

FDM.com: Out of the three projects this seems to carry the smallest nod to folk traditionalism. In places I've seen critics even refer to it as a bit of 'rock' record. Was it an intentional movement away from folk music?

JB: Not really, in fact what really interest me about a future without oil is that it is likely to herald the return of social music making in everyday life. I hope that the instrumentation reflects that to some degree. 'Painted Lady' was very much a rock album so SFTF is more of a tying in with different strands of my musical interests.

FDM.com: Will the tour in early March be your first opportunity to take the album on the road? As a musician it must give you an added level of satisfaction to be able to play the music live and connect with directly your fanbase?

JB: Absolutely. It's also the first time I will have performed my own songs live. I'm a bit nervous about it because I take the business of singing traditional songs very seriously, so singing my own stuff will be a bit strange. But I'm also really looking forward to it. I've got a great new band so the tour should be great.

FDM.com: You've become a kind of figurehead for British folk. Are you proud to be at the sharp end of what seems to be such a resurgent musical community?

JB: Absolutely, but I don't think it's about figureheads. The folk scene is growing across the board and it's pretty much back to where it should be - not competing with the pop charts etc but ploughing its own furrow with self-confidence and integrity. It's great to be a part of that process in some small way.

FDM.com: Where do you think folk music can go from here? Bellowhead and Lau in particular have really begun to push the boundaries and contemporize folk music but where do you ultimately see it ending up?

JB: It doesn't really need to go anywhere to be honest. I think folk songs are best when sung unaccompanied or with just one instrument or whatever. Bands like Bellowhead and Lau are hopefully introducing more and more people to the material, but the material itself is so strong and timeless that it just needs to be played and sung, and that's all that matters.

FDM.com: Are you supporter of the 'nu-folk' bands that have had a lot of mainstream success in recent months - Laura Marling, Noah & The Whale etc. Do you think their - albeit watered-down - brand of folk is beneficial to helping grow the number of UK folk music fans?

JB: Personally I see quite a clear distinction between singing traditional songs ('us' songs) rather than pop songs ('me' songs). There is of course grey area with modern songs that try to talk of common experience (which I guess I was attempting to some degree with SFTF), but generally I see the two things as quite distinct. That been said I do generally warm to pop music that has absorbed some folky influence, and if pop bands want to call themselves 'folk' then that's potentially beneficial to the folk scene as people will be more open to finding out about stuff like folk sessions, folk festivals, folk dance etc

Jon Boden's album 'Songs From The Floodplain' is released on 2nd March 2009 through Navigator Records.

Words: Louise Lake