Secular priests my arse - ditto abstract concepts - why do people insist on replacing serious discussion with such juvenile invective.
Folk music is far from abstract - it has been recorded, researched and documented enough over the last century to be regarded as a reality.
In the time I have been involved I was lucky enough to have seen singers like Jeannie Roberson, Lizzie Higgins, The Stewarts, Harry Cox, Walter Pardon....... and many others, singing songs we recognised as folk songs - not abstractions but living human beings passing on something special.
Some of us dipped our toes in a little further than just listening and singing and tried to find out more - if we got it wrong, tell us where instead of indulging in infantile name-calling. There is sod-all in the way of counter argument on this thread as far as I can see - just armchair musings.
Bryan:
You are right, and I am grateful that there are clubs like yours which continue to live up to what it says on the tin - I don't think there are enough of them, but we've argued the toss about that one in the past.
Cap'n,
'Jim,says folk is not blues and not irish jigs and reels, and not shanties ,and not scottish strathspeys'
No I don't - far from it - I am saying that if club organisers present ALL the music on SO'P's list as 'folk' and (as he did) define it as such, they are incapable of finding their 'folk' arses with both hands.
What is happening here in Ireland should be a lesson for all concerned with the survival of the music. A clear idea of what constitutes Irish folk music, and an application of standards has guaranteed its survival for the next two generations at least.
SOP
The fact that you equate the reality of folk music with the mysticism of the Vatican library explains much about your attitued and your performance.
Jim Carroll