"The UK folk establishment has been enthusing about this band..."

Well, as the author of the recent fRoots cover feature on The Devil's Interval (which I hope was noted by those who believe that the magazine never covers English traditional song), I suppose that makes me part of the UK Folk Establishment; I am duly flattered. Speaking as someone who would always vote for Ray Fisher in any poll for "Best Female Folksinger", I'm not about to be impressed easily by "tiresome young 'prodigies' revelling in their own cleverness", but The Devil's Interval are precisely the kind of act I've been hoping to see emerge for many years. Far better versed in the ways of traditional singers than most of their peers (and indeed many of their elders and betters), they are at the same time experimental in their approach - especially to harmony - and full of energy and fun. They listen to old singers (as Anahata rightly points out) but distil elements from their style without trying to sound old themselves. My belief that Peter Bellamy would have approved heartily of what they are doing was based on that combination of respect for tradition and experiment in arrangement, and not on a similarity of sound to the Young Tradition. Yes, Richard, passion and fire can be exciting, but Walter Pardon and Bob Copper demonstrated that it's possible to be passionate about songs without feeling the need to shout.

What certain posts on this thread seem to demonstrate is a reaction against the music media's (hardly new) preference for youth and beauty. Although kicking against this is understandable (one or two of the much-vaunted young stars leave me pretty bemused as well), lumping together Kathryn Tickell and Kate Rusby doesn't get us anywhere. Treat each on their own mertis. If you don't like The Devil's Interval that's your prerogative, but please don't dismiss them as shallow young trendies, because they aren't.