Hi,

Following my enquiry about contact info for Roger and Helen Holt, I had a number of replies from people in the UK folk music world. So I'm thinking that Mudcat would be a good place to post on another matter-musical.

After a 15 year haul in academia (culminating in a PhD in philosophy), I've recently returned to song-writing and performing. I'm a solo musician: acoustic guitar and voice. After spending some time in the USA & Canada (where I finished my studies), I got bitten by a certain species of country/bluegrass bug, and my guitar style has become that American-flatpicking-alternating-baseline-boom-ching kind of thing, e.g., Doc Watson, Jack Elliot. (I love this style as you can get a really full-sounding rhythmic accompaniment going for a song, and slip in some run-ups and run-downs between the vocal lines.)

Song-writing-wise, I'm blending traditional American country/bluegrass story-telling structures/themes with philosophical, spiritual and political ideas. (People who have heard me think a lot of my songs sound very "Waylon Jennings" in style -- though, to my knowledge, I haven't heard anything by this guy! -- something I must rectify soon.)

From surfing the web, it's evident that there's a big country music thing going on in the UK (festivals, line dancing and so on). But, from what I've gleaned so far, it seems predominantly focussed on musicians doing tribute/cover versions of country music classics.

Anyway, I'm trying to contact/network people in the UK (musicians, promoters, publishing & record company people) who are into the kind of American style I'm working in, but with the emphasis on *original* material.

Hoping I'm not alone!

By the way, I live in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Dave Wheat