some interesting thoughts Sandman.

A lot of artisrs I knew found it difficult to work their magic outside of folk clubs, which generally have polite attentive audiences.They are or can be very nice indulgent audiences.

(Which is why , if you go and see a folk artist you often get lumbered with twenty minute support act supplied by the organisers kids - a sqeaky clean pubescent in training for Britain's Got Talent.)

On the whole though I'm not sure the bathing in milk and honey has really been to the advantage of folk music. Certainly none of the great folksongs have such effete origins.