Good question, Michael.

There's a lot of power in live performance, particularly in the case of folk song IMO. However, I didn't want to turn my own course into a series of concerts and, more importantly, I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I wasn't getting people to listen to some of the great traditional singers of the past.

So, with three down and four to go, I've had one evening devoted entirely to 'The Singers', which included several recordings each from Sam Larner, Queen Caroline Hughes and Phil Tanner. I chose them partly because their singing is powerful and their repertoires remarkable, and partly because all three have interesting and well-documented life stories. I've also played recordings of Phoebe Smith, Joseph Taylor, The Coppers and others (bear in mind my topic is 'English Folk Song'). In the talk on 'Folk Revivals' we'll have everything from Butterworth's 'Banks of Green Willow' to Bellowhead.

How do the recordings go down? Well, I dare say a few people are baffled or even shocked - Queen Caroline is a bit of a jolt if your idea of a female folk singer is Maddy Prior. On the other hand, people have asked, "Where can I get hold of recordings?" and "Is this kind of stuff on Youtube?" and, when I asked what they thought of the first Sam Larner recording, I got back "He's a good singer!"

I do also sing a couple of things in each lecture - probably more in the next one on Child Ballads. But I think it's important to show my (mostly non-folk) crowd what the songs sounded like before Cecil Sharp and Bert Lloyd got hold of them, and to illustrate the wonderful craft and artistry of musically untutored fishermen, farm labourers and gypsies.