Compare and contrast the contributions from 'Nager', on the 29th Jan, and 'bubblyrat' on the 30th Jan. Seems like inter-generational paranoia is alive and well in the contemporary British folk scene - but does that bode well for the next 20 years?

About 25 years ago I did a floor-spot at a Folk Club in Birmingham. Afterwards the great Charles Parker (of 'Radio Ballads' fame) came up to me and gave me some tips on improving my singing. Now I could have characterised this as 'nosy old git slags me off in Folk Club and I'm never going to one of those again!!'. But I didn't because (i) I had a great respect for Charles, and trusted his judgement, and (ii) I'm not noticeably paranoid (although they are out to get me!). Criticism can often be well mean't and, in my opinion, it's important to be able to distinguish the negative from the positive kind.