Paranoia and conspiracy theory are all very well, but the bottom line is here that ENGLISH FOLK is a disparate cultural phenomenon entirely dependent on the passions & enthusiasms of those involved with it on any number of levels from musician, singer, journalist, folk club / festival organiser, producer, MC, radio host, etc. etc. whose only agenda is the love of the thing, rather than its definition. In my experience ENGLISH FOLK is an inclusive musical phenomenon that's about as easy to define as CHRISTMAS. Of course there will always be those eager to tell you all about The Real Meaning of Christmas - taking it back to the events in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago; or yet further to the time when Ancient Druidic Sun-priests first spotted a gap in the Solar Market - but the fact o' the matter is, and in terms of Genuine 100% Folkloric Custom, Usage and Authenticity, Christmas begins when Santa Clause is flying high in the food hall of the Trafford Centre and will 'mean' something different in every single beating heat of every single person who sees Him hanging there. How can it possible be any different?

Same with Folk really. Ultimately Folk is whatever it means to the individual, be it writing comedy songs on uxoricide or shamelessly plagiarising the artistry of Martin Carthy ballads and passing them off as being somehow Traditional. Folk accommodates all shades and shapes of self-confessed Folkie, no matter how broad or narrow their particular Church happens to be; and no matter whether they think the 1954 Definition has any currency whatsoever other than as an in-joke on the same level as the one about the many-haired fellows with the long faces. Folk is simply observing that it can be any number things on any number of occasions and realising that Folk is Right There at any given time, and yet at other times it might not be there at all. Folk is not telling other people what is is, or what it isn't, because right around the corner there'll be someone else telling it differently. Folk lives in our Hearts and comes out in a collectivity which will ALWAYS be about a myriad of unique perspectives, however so impassionedly felt or curmudgeonously expressed, but the common denominator will be the willingness to partake, and call it Folk, and bask in the pure transitory Joy of the thing.

Folk is like Art. What is Art? Is it Art? Who cares? Art is all things to all people. I'm a recent covert to the genius of Grayson Perry who crosses over into much that also defines the Folk Aesthetic too - for me at least. We popped into the wee exhibition at the Manchester City Gallery the other day and were highly delighted, not least by his Print for a Politician, though I'm sure you could re-label it Print for Folkies and have some fun changing the categories too: traddies, singer-songwriters, purists, English concertina players, Anglo concertina players, Folk Police, Death Eaters, Muggles, Morris Dancers, Strawhead fans, Bellamists, Guitarists, Dulcimer players, EFDSS members, non-EFDSS members, Mudcatters, Fylde goers, Sidmouth goers, hurdy-gurdy players, bagpipe players, bodhran lovers, bodhran haters, banjo players, banjo jokers, balladeers (unaccompanied), balladeers (accompanied), head singers, nose singers, naval contemplators, tankard wearers, Folk Righteous, Christian Folk, Pagan Folk, neo-Folk, nu-Folk, no-Folk, post-Folk, Shanty Fans, Chantey Fans, Forebitters Only fans, Catheyites, neo-Cartheyites, Folk Against Fascism, Folk for Nationalism, Whistlers, fiddlers, Comedians, Storytellers, Poets...   

Occupy English Folk Music? Last time I looked, it was already occupied; but the sign on the door said Come-All-Ye and, yeah, that door was forever open to all with plenty of room inside for Thousands or More to pass therein. Folk is big enough and small enough to accommodate all and their mutterings, their loves and their hates, their pride and their prejudice; so much so that one may never say quite what it is, just say that it is there, for better and for worse, in the hope that people will one day just get on with what they do without feeling the need to barf up their sour grapes in public and make it unpleasant for everyone else in the process. But maybe such barfing is part of it too? Which is fair enough, just as long as they are made to clean up after themselves. As in life, we come, we go; we pick up, we let go, we move on; and, as in life, Folk's too precious a thing to waste by moaning over what ought to be when it's always going to be exactly what it is regardless of what YOU happen to think it ought to be.