The Golden Thread Project (GTP) is a collective created by Aidan Saunders and Geoff Coupland AKA ZEEL. We aim to show that folksong is a vital, colourful, source of inspiration. The GTP works with artists, writers and musicians to show that every generation can discover folklore and myth anew as a way to connect to the past and understand the universality of human experience. We will follow the golden threads of folk songs, stories, craft and myth through time and across borders of many kinds.

For more information on the Golden Thread Project please click the shield above.

Initially the project started as a collaboration with the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) to celebrate the centenary of Cecil Sharp' and Maude Karpeles travels in Appalachia. Cecil and Maude travelled to rural communities and collected folk songs that were forgotten in the U.K. and ensured their survival.

The Golden Thread Project reached out to 28 Artists and Illustrators and asked them to illustrate or create a comic based on some of the songs collected by Cecil and Maude, resulting in an exhibition, a live concert at Cecil Sharp House and ‘The Golden Thread Project U.K.-U.S.A’ graphic novel.

Artists include : Aidan Saunders, Beau Brannick, Bette Belle Blanchard, Billy Mather, Daryl Rainbow, Drew Webster, Fiontan Fitzgerald, Fran Colomb, Gary Northfield, Hannah Dyson, Hunt Emerson, Jim Stoten, Jonathan Edwards, Jonny Hannah, Kim Fountain, Lesley Barnes, Lord Hurk, Marie Morelle, Mark Stafford, Nick White, Orson Coupland, Peter Lloyd, Rob Nicol, Soju Tanaka, Stephen Fowler, Tommy Brentnall, Woodrow Phoenix, ZEEL.