The early Bob Dylan and Tom Paxton show how a contemporary artist can work with the tradition of those artists you mention in the very forefront of their minds.

I think if you chaseup some of the references that the sleeve note writer wrote on the early Dylan albums - Bob Dylan and freewheelin'. He was a very aware young man and he borrowed from the best.

there was a rather super book called The encyclopaedia of Folk Music - which was almost entirely American and I think it mentioned The Clancys. But it could open a few doors for you - if you could find an old copy.

best of luck. Paul Oliver's classic album The Coutry Blues is a very good compilation album. Personally when I first started out I found singers like Peter Paul and mary and Koerner Ray and glover more palatable than people like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson - but they are the real deal, when it comes to the blues.

Blues singers who worked the profitable part of their carrer with a white audience like Josh White, Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - are easier to listen to in the first instance. I found Robert Johnson, very African sounding and harsh initially - but he is totally unique, his rhythms are complex, his skill at songwriting almost unparalleled.

What I'm say is, just follow your instinct, but don't let initial impressions be lasting ones. A lot of these peole are great artists, and don't be one of thos people who go round saying Picasso is rubbish. Keep an open mind.