Phil Colclough is an English contemporary folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 singer and songwriter. His best known works, cowritten with his wife, June Colclough (born 1941, died 12 October 2004), are "Song for Ireland" and "The Call and the Answer".

June and Phil Colclough both came from North Staffordshire

North Staffordshire

North Staffordshire describes an area of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It contains the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and the City of Stoke-on-Trent. The Stoke and Newcastle areas make up The Potteries Urban Area, whilst the Moorlands are largely...

, England, and both had careers in education. Phil had been a navigator in the Merchant Navy, which provided source material for some of his songs. The Colcloughs founded the first folk music club in Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

 in 1960. In 1966, they moved to London, where they were members of the Critics group led by Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...

 and Peggy Seeger

Peggy Seeger

Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...

; they eventually left the group due to bitter disputes stemming from MacColl's "authoritarian tendencies".
In the 1970s, the Colcloughs returned to North Staffordshire, where they produced a folk music radio program for BBC Radio Stoke

BBC Radio Stoke

BBC Radio Stoke is a BBC Local Radio station in England, for the area of North and Mid Staffordshire, north east Shropshire and South Cheshire. The station began broadcasting programmes on 14 March 1968 as BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent....

.

"Song for Ireland" was inspired by a trip the Colcloughs took to the Dingle peninsula

Dingle Peninsula

The Dingle Peninsula is the northernmost of the major peninsulae in County Kerry. Its ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of Ireland.-Name:...

. Described as a "modern classic", it has been recorded by numerous artists, including Dick Gaughan

Dick Gaughan

Richard Peter Gaughan usually known as Dick Gaughan is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs.-Early years:...

, Mary Black

Mary Black

Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....

, and The Dubliners

The Dubliners

The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...

.