Greg,

You ran the risk of being misunderstood when you stated "the biggest fans of 'rebel songs' are in fact drunken Irish Americans".   

On the first Sunday of November in 2004 my wife and I did a little opening set for Derek Warfield who was travelling thru Kentucky (yes, the pub is called O'Neill's) with a bunch of young musicians performing the repertoire from his "Wolfe Tones" days.

There were no less than eight dozen native-Irish out for the show. There were good few stable hands and backstretch workers but also a significant representation of gentry bloodstock agents, farm managers and owners. I was thinking that Warfield would be facing an uphill struggle with this demographic.

When the songs hit the air, the place went bonkers. In fact, I have never witnessed the rebel repertoire embraced with such enthusiasm. I'd say Warfield was a bit stunned himself. The scene clearly invalidates the generalization that you asserted in your posting of a few days ago (quoted above).

On a side note, that scene from a few years ago recently caused me to reflect on some of the themes that Paul Laverty explores in his screenplay for the film, "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" - but that might be better explored in some other thread on some other forum.

All the Best,

Dan Cummins
Sober
Irish American