It's also the same John Leonard, who, on the Smooth Ops website had a little 'joke' going. If you want to contact them, send in a complaint etc..you were taken to a page with a photo of their 'Customer Care Manager' giving two fingers up his public.

This was taken down last year?, or some time quite recently, after a few people complained. I complained about it years back, but it was completely ignored. I wrote a 'Dear John' letter on the board which was also completely ignored.

When I arrived on that board, I used to praise the Mike Harding show, and so I was Smooth Ops 'darling' for a while, that all changed when I started to shout out about them, and was one more thing that contributed to me being banned.

How can you get a team to listen to you when they are led by a man who has that arrogant attitude?

It must be around 5/6 years since I first found that Folk and Acoustic board, and in all that time, people have been saying exactly the same thing, that the same artists are nominated over and over, that none of the judges are known to us, other than Ian Anderson, or he once was a judge, and that the Folk Awards are NOT representative of the folk music world at all.

It's grossly unfair. It's like a monopoly. Year after year dozens of new artists are blocked from having their names put forward, by a man who, imo, doesn't give a shite about the music or his public, only himself, and his 'nearest and dearest' in the folk world.

Maybe it's time for placards and banners to be held high at the annual Smooth Ops party, which I've no doubt is paid for out of *our* money. Bring the protest songs to the very arena itsef and take over the Awards and finally, let the people be heard.

I always remember Bruce Dickinson a few years back, saying that more diversity was needed, desperately needed, to be brought back into music, and he was there to present an Award to The Oysterband for their 'Big Session Volume II' pleading that they'd be allowed to sing Steve Knightley's 'Country Life' (Show of Hands were joining them on stage) as it was such a great song..but nope..that wasn't permitted either.

John Leonard got it right with The Radio Ballads, but he should darn well stop nominating so many of his pals (or at least, they're 'pals' in my opinion, but I could be wrong - that's for Smooth Ops Lawyers) and listen to his public and then, listen to the MUSIC being produced by hundreds of bands and solo artists who are forever locked out of a Select Club, which has a Members Only sign on the door.