I play in a UK dance band (based in Oxford) that plays for callers who specialise in "English Country Dance". We play tunes from all over the UK and a few from Europe, the USA and the Middle East and also a few original tunes. The band has an accordionist/harpist who is half Welsh, a multi instrumentalist who is half Swiss, a fiddle player from Essex and myself who has a bit of Scottish blood, but mainly Essex! What does that make us?

And to return to the thread, I seldom get to hear other dance bands, because I'm out playing, but the few times I have heard Whapweasel, the remind me strongly of a band from the "Two Tone" era, but with a melodeon player. I ploughed through the sound samples of quite a few bands listed on the Webfeet web site and the Whap's sound no longer seems unique in English country dance music. One thing that does slightly concern me in modern English Country Dance bands, is the trend to overlook the wealth of traditional material that is available; likewise, there are some callers who feel the need to keep inventing new dances. Is the baby following the bath water?