Wonderful story, well told, Adam. And very good question! Not a good musician myself so am not really qualified to say but I also notice that people play faster and faster nowadays, which is very off putting for some players and listeners alike! I do like English and Scottish stuff more than Irish and I occasionaly used to go to the The Peveril of the Peak where we were sometimes treated to Klezmer and East European tunes which I found wonderful. My friend John Snelson, no longer with us sadly, used to play anything that you can blow down there, including highland pipes and bombard, to great effect at times. Looking forward to some informed opinion :-)