I'm genuinely saddened by the way this thread has developed. I started it in the hope that it would be a celebration of the increasing popularity of folk music in this country at a time when we are bemoaning the demise of folk clubs, the lack of interest amongst young people and general doom and gloom on the folk scene (which I, for one, do not subscribe to). Whilst it stimulated genuine debate (a good thing), the acrimony that it has created has destroyed some of my, probably naïve, illusions of the camaraderie and bonhomie of the folk music scene.

Whether SL's music is folk or not is immaterial. It is folk-inspired. It comes from a grounding in folk music. It stems from an obvious love of folk music. It is, if you like, a development of folk music. For all of these reasons, I think anyone who cares about the perception, the dissemination and the enjoyment of folk music amongst the widest possible audience should be celebrating. Folk club organisers should be celebrating; record producers (from the big guns to those who produce their own CDs) should be celebrating; all professional folk artists should be celebrating; anyone who has ever felt the need to apologise for their liking of folk music should be celebrating. Instead of which, this debate has done much to reinforce the stereotypes that have held folk music back from being in the musical mainstream and shown a serious and, I'm saddened to say, probably irrevocable split amongst folk music aficionados. Thanks to everyone here (especially ec) who has sought to repair that rift but, after over 40 years of listening to and performing folk music, I really do fear that it is becoming wider and that people are feeling they are being forced to take sides or fall into a gaping chasm.

When I first came into the folk scene in the mid 60s (oh, god, here he goes again!) it was even more of a minority genre and people were delighted to welcome a youngster in and offer help and encouragement, at least in Yorkshire (I am especially grateful to the Watersons and Robin and Barry Dransfield. Then the avant garde were Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn etc. and the first time I came across them was my 'road to Emmaus' moment when I knew, once and for all, that folk music in its broader sense was what I wanted to be part of. I wonder if Seth's music will be that for young people of the periphery of the folk scene but scared off by prevailing traditionalist attitudes. That's the reaction I hoped I would get on this thread.

Seth's music is not throwing the baby out with the bathwater; it's keeping the bathwater topped up and warm as the baby grows up and has offspring of its own.