I'm in full agreement with whoever started this thread..(and no..it wasn't me) It's the one thing that worries me at so many gigs I go to (not Seth or Show of Hands, or The Demon Barbers or Bellowhead etc)...that there is hardly ever anyone under 40 in the audience...Sidmouth for instance, in my opinion, needs far more younger people to be drawn in.....and far more younger acts too.

But in answer to this comment...from Happy Go Lucky MacKenzie:


>>>When a person is unpopular, and is given a hard time, the majority of people change their outlook and try to fit in.<<<

Is that about an artist, or a particular poster I wonder? If it's about an artist...well why on earth should they change the way they are, purely because the Folk Police don't like them?

If it's about a poster...well...why on earth should they change the way they are, purely because the Folk Police don't like them?

And again....


>>>When a person is unpopular, and is given a hard time, the majority of people change their outlook and try to fit in.<<<

Really? Personally speaking I never run with the majority.

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you like everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~e.e. cummings

Here you go MacKenzie...a 'Traditional' Jewish proverb:

"If I try to be like him, who will be like me?"

Or..as Judy Garland said...

"Always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of someone else"

That's my girl! ;0)

Personally, I don't want Seth to be like Ewan MacColl...or Bellowhead to be like The Spinners...Nor do I want to be like you MacKenzie, or Ruth either...

Long Live Young Folkies, Open Minded Folkies, Non-Controlling Folkies.
Long Live Free Range Folkies and Free Range Human Beings..

From Ruth:

"I think the Folk Police are a myth. What I DO think is that when you go into any community with which you are not familiar, there are certain rules of engagement. Firstly, you do a lot more listening than talking for an awfully long time. You accept that you can learn a lot from the people around you, and you ingest that knowledge -"

The Folk Police are VERY real, but...they are getting less and less, as the younger generation moves them along...

Rules of engagement??????

Have the Folk Police now got Rules Of Engagement? Gadzooks! Are they now forming an army?

And WHO makes these Rules? Are they Traditional or Non-Traditional Rules?

Were they invented by the First Ploughboy Singer/Songwriter or by Ewan MacColl?

And exactly how long are you supposed to keep quiet for?

Heck..no-one told me I wasn't supposed to say ANYTHING!!!! I just heard the music, fell in love and started writing...

SILLY ME!!!! I didn't read The Terms Of Engagement!

Being a folkie is SOOOOOO complicated isn't it....No wonder I don't fit in! ;0)

Still at least my kids are always the youngest people at some gigs or folk clubs. At least my kids are the er...ONLY kids at some gigs and folk clubs....But nope..that's not part of the rules is it..taking your kids to see folk acts......because apparently I should be sitting in total silence somewhere, reading my "How to be a Masonic Folkie" Handbook, listening, taking notes, bowing and cowtowing, worshipping at The Holy Altar of Ancient Folk and generally being devout and demure...

I need to stop going to the gym. I need to get rid of the highlights, throw the make-up away, stop dancing, stop raving, stop writing, stop loving, stop listening..to the music at least..and just listen to the Folk Police instead...because they and they alone KNOW about folk music...and Crufts...and the right kind of Pedigree that one should have to be either a performer or a member of the audience...

Sheesh..How could I have been SO dumb!

However, things ain't going to change. I'll still love this music, and not bide by your rules or your regulations....because..It's my music too...

So there! :0)