I'm really astonished at all these guest-type people about. A mere 5 months ago, I joined Mudcat to throw in my 2p worth at a collection of folkier-than-thou, blinkered and insensitive contributors who took it upon themselves to attack and malign an artist who I knew slightly and admired greatly.

I joined because I couldn't quite see how to sign in as a guest and because some things needed to be said in defence of Jim Moray who wasn't even in the country at the time to speak for himself. Since then, I have contributed to a number of discussions, meanwhile observing with a certain amount of horror the narrow-mindedness and petty venom of some people associated with this forum towards any artist whose approach did not accord with their bizarrely narrow conception of what traditional music actually is.

Really, I just don't understand why some of you are here when you are so unprepared to welcome and encourage brilliant new artists with approaches to music that may not have occurred previously to you. I have in mind here not just this thread and its equally acrimonious predecessor, but also that on the Young Folk Awards running concurrently on this forum.

I'm convinced that some of you actually want the music to die with you. I predict that you'll be disappointed...and I really don't care.