Hi, Ed - I'm in California, probably half a world away from you. Would I agree with your speculation that without Martin Carthy, there wouldn't be a Mudcat? Probably not, but I'm looking from a U.S. perspective.
Until about a year ago, I knew the name Martin Carthy, but was only vaguely familiar with his music. Then Ian HP mailed me a tape. That led me to buy three Carthy CD's and one from the Watersons (think of that, you who question the morality of dubbing tapes). I'll bet you'd say that Martin Carthy has made some of the most important recordings in folk music, and I just might agree with you on that. His recordings make for wonderful listening. It may be heresy to say this here, but sometimes listening to traditional music can get a bit tedious - you have to concentrate too darn hard. Not so with Martin Carthy. He makes traditional music come alive.
-Joe Offer, a recent Martin Carthy convert-