To go back to an earlier comment "I think there's a problem that anyone who is successful gets slagged off automatically by some people in the folk world, just because they are successful"

Surely this applies to other genres. I can remember a mate of mine being appalled when Nirvana broke through, as he knew about them when they were just another underground punk-ish outfit.

But I reckon in the folk context it's not simply "just because they are successful". It's not a genre of obvious mass appeal, so in order to be succesful it seems that you need to make it sound extra pretty and easy on the ears. Folk for people who don't like folk, indeed.

There's a lady I sit with at work who says she likes folk music, but in truth knows little beyond Kate Rusby, Show of Hands and the Oysterband. These acts have been succesful because they're dressing up their shop window in a way that attracts the less committed passer-by. Fair enough, but that doesn't mean the more passionate folk fans are being bitter just because they find these acts to be pretty insufferable.