I love it when folk artists entertain on their instruments, including the human voice, and offer well-done material, patter, stagecraft, a good story, and the like. It's a bonus, all of it. I like people who have pounded the pavement, done their homework, listened to others, picked themselves up, and have something interesting or positive or negative to say. Something.

I find this v-thing a false dichotomy, a red herring of sorts. The terms on either side of it are not mutually exclusive, and to try to fit artists into one category or another is presumptuous.

The prison-house of ideas, of dualisms, of taking sides, is of no concern to artists, who maybe play for money or no money, at home for friends, on the street, street-level pubs, club-dates, concerts, festivals, stadiums, or just around the camp fire, and wherever they're happy playing.

One's voice as a folk entertainer is personal, and if it sings and touches people, well, that's good enough for me!

I can think of a filk or two about Druids running wildly through the woo-ids. But that's just ego.

So, which side are you on?

Best ~ Tom Hanway