You are propably right in one way Hawker. It never died in my tape Recorder or CD play and on my accordion.

You have to see the business though. In the last years it was nearly impossible to see goo british or Irish Artists in Germany. And even if they had been here, there would not be more than 20 people listening.

Theb general interest in this music has died out. It arose again as I mentioned above by Michael Flatley or Loreena McKinnet. An even there i doubt that their fans do really know that they are listening to Folk Music.

Reviving the Folk scene does not mean to take friends to see the old farts (nothing against Martin Carthy, he is a star). It does take new people with a different approach to what a stage show is. No endless tuning, not acting as teacher in hour long introductions about poltical correctness. Then the repertoire should not be copied from other bands. Here in Germany "Irish Bands" nearly have the same repertoire (50% Pogues/50 % Dubliners) and bore people to death. I do not mind seeing a traditional Folk Band on MTV at all. In these days that is how a revival starts.

Ranks