Well I spent most of my life as a pro musician doing the singing juke box sort of gig. I learned country songs, irish songs, old folks songs -as the gig required. And okay - the primary motive is to put food on the table. But in the process - you DO learn a lot about the virtues of these forms of music. You learn the rhythm the song writer has uncovered which makes people join in with the chorus, and which gets people up dancing.

Thats why such a lot of this 'in the tradition' stuff has no inner guts. The songwriters have learned their craft in nice folk clubs with nice people fawning over them.

Thats why such a lot of it stays in hundred acre wood with Winnie the pooh, the folk mafia and their adherents in the media. It has never aspired to anything greater.