Nick
I think that CDs and videos are fine for those who have had a degree of contact with folk song - we have huge archive and I'd be happy to supply anything needed from what we have
I think introducing people fresh to the genre is a different thing altogether and needs to be a one-to-one exercise starting from the ground up
We are waiting with bated whatsits to find if the two teachers who have been employed to stale traditional singing around the Clare schools, using our collection as a basis, have achieved anything
Songs of the People were among the best the Beeb ever presented
I admit, his Eastern European stuff was for the aficionados, but we're all entitled to be fed
Raggy
Some of those you mention already do fit into all this - the ones that base their song making on traditional styles.
John Taams acted as music advisor to a film I believe to be the best example of the use of traditional music ever - Ill Fares the Land
As far as what is being discussed here, I don't think they do fit in particularly
If folk song is to continue to function, it has to do so on a foundation based on its roots - you can take it wherever you want after that.
It's not a case of either-or but one of the order you need to do things.
THis is not a "love in" - it's a search for common ground, I hope
Don't agree with you about Bert Nick - I think Folk Song Virtuoso and
Jim Carroll