Thanks, gnu. I take your point - although I don't think these GUESTS meant any harm; they just misunderstood what I was saying and responded from the heart. And I got a little sarcastic in reaction, rather than explaining what I meant without irony. There are obviously a number of well-educated, highly-literate people on this forum, but some of us are probably too clever by half. After all, we don't want people to have to pass a test in order to feel they can participate in discussion about folk music. And of course there are different types of intelligence; the ability to accurately interpret text is just one, and not a particularly useful one at that ...

GUESTS: My point is that it often seems that the Canadian "powers-that-be" do not give awards to excellent Canadian performers unless they have had success in the American market, and then they fall all over themselves to award them. At that point in their careers, they really don't need that kind of recognition. Another award from the Canadian establishment is not going to make much difference to the career of Neil Young. However, if Bob the Flyin', Fiddlin' Barber of Bobville were to have someone stand up at a national awards ceremony and say, "This is one of Canada's greatest folk musicians", it might mean some more gigs for ol' Bob; it might even mean a recording contract.

Hope that explains it, because it's all I have time for at the moment ...