"I'm totally confused as to what 'The Tradition' is." "Aren't we all?"
No we're not - the tradition is recorded researched and documented in many hundreds of published works, it is defined in dictionaries and encylopeadies, it is to be found in recorded example in archives all over the world and most importantly, it is to be found and immortalised in the voices of such TRADITIONAL singers as Walter Pardon, Tom Lenihan and Texas Gladden - all of whom knew what the tradition was and said so when asked.
And yeas - it is about history and preservation - otherwise the big ballads will never survive the present revalists who almost collectively seem to have developed 'acute goldfish-memoryitis' and eternally whinge about their being "too long".
The more of the many diverse and important aspects of folk music that attract attention, the better its chances of survival, and those who argue that all you have to do is sing, need to take a hard, long look around and count up just how many new and young faces are appearing at the geriatric-filled clubs.
A workable, (if in need of intelligent up-dating) well-researched, recorded and documented definition exists and is to be found in most good dictionaries, and until somebody comes up with an alternative, that is the one that will be passed on for future use.
I have never read such self-promotional, self-congratulatory, mindless waffle.
Jim Carroll