First, and most important, I like Grumpy. Grumpy rules OK.

Second - what I picked out - directly from the Folk21 pages - was the intention to make folk music relevant to the young. I vaguely remember a review from when Nic Jones was early on, I think it must have been in the Melody Maker because the other magazine was for spotty teenagers only in those days - bewailing the fact that Nic Jones lavished such care and skill on music that was not - and here comes the dreaded word - "relevant". It's a big turnoff word for me, betokening the intent to stop folk music being folk music and make it into snigger-snogwriter/ARSS. Now Al and I may part company here because he is a contemporary acoustic writer and player (and a supremely skilled one too) but that dreaded "relevance" still indicates (I think) a barrier, a filter, to (in the case of what he does) insert the rules of taste of the upper echelons of the relevant societies (or, if you like, the Folk Police) between creation and adoption.

I used to read fRoots. I still have some of the free CDs it used to sleevemount. Very few tracks on any were English traditional (ish) song which is my preference.

I have been on its forums. My impression is a narrower spectrum of views - indeed maybe I should say "permitted views" - than here.

Magazine-wise I quite liked "Living Tradition". Does that still exist?