It just occurred to me: "Is EC BETTER than she's usually judged to be?"

I'm not saying she is, but how would we know? As Jim Carroll never tires of pointing out we seem to have few critical standards, within this field, to judge singers against. Or rather such standards are knocking around out there somewhere but anyone who attempts to invoke them is immediately pounced on as a 'folk fascist/policeman' (I suspect by a vociferous minority who believe that they somehow represent the 'dreaded' majority).

So far our discussions of EC's talents seem to have focussed on:

- Her parentage.

- Whether or not she is popular.

- How much airtime she gets on the Mike Harding show.

I happen to think that EC is an intriguing and original talent and the most important aspects of that talent have tended to be overlooked or not discussed.

Off the top of my head, two such aspects which are more important than any of the three listed above are:

- Her choice of repertoire

- Her use of self-accompaniment (particularly the fiddle).