My friend who is a member of a new Shropshire band called Driftwood sent their CD into the Nonny James show. She played several tracks from the CD, offering some constructive and negative criticism throughout, but why oh why did she add further insult to injury with her opening comments which referred to my friend (who is black) having a reedy, folky and very strange voice which "doesn't have that "wonderful, black girl voice".

Maybe Nonny herself, being such a talented, intelligent and thinking woman in a fortunate enough situation to get herself heard all around the world, would like to follow that up by describing what that "wonderful black girl voice is!"

My cynical stereotypical, pidgeonholeing thoughts has ideas about what she could have meant, but her comments just left me thinking that now I know why the folk scene is so predominantly white! Shame on you Nonny James.