From er...Ruth Archer

>>>>I don't really think of SoH as a folk band, which is the reason it is rather anethema to me that a song like Roots should win favourite folk track of all time. Theytt are a rock-pop band with some folk influences. It is also a very recent song. But as their Teenage Fanclub on HRT will no doubt be voting like crazy, it probably will win, in the same way that people like Robbie Williams often top the polls for Most Influential Artist of All Time. Completely skewed and not at all representative, but telling about the sorts of people who indulge in repetitive voting.
"We've lost more than we'll ever know round the rocky shores of England......"

yeah - but happily the insurance will cover most of it, eh? Have you stocked up on the Age Renew makeup and face glitter, Lizzie? <<<<



Echoes of Loughborough fill my head here. ;0)

Now then Sweet Pea...

Thank you for your kind message. First of all I have my glitter on as I type this to you...and very sparkly it is too! I Love it!   
;0)

Secondly....Are you serious????? Age Renew make-up????


Heck Ruthie Baby, I'm a Show of Hands Chick, I don't need that...but I tell you what..I did get some money-off vouchers for "Gee You Sound Old And Crabby' cream in Boots the other day, so if you'd like to send me your address....I'll forward it on to you. I've heard it's particularly good for downward pointing wrinkles around the mouth area, often favoured by those Anti-Show of Hands Lasses out there...I always like to lend a helping hand to those of er...a somewhat Emotionally Wrinkled Disposition. ;0)

And now...to the more serious points of your post....

The Anti Show of Handers are still recovering from the fact of course, that on the first ever Public Vote in the Folk Awards, Show of Hands WON Best Live Act. Smooth Ops then had to change the Public Vote System to something more er...obscure where Show of Hands wouldn't be known about, such as Best Singer With Finger In Ear....Best Person Able To Talk About Cecil Sharp's Underwear Whilst Standing On One Leg...Best Person Able To Bore People Rigid With 52 Verses Of A Child Ballad etc....and on top of that..well....all hell broke loose on the messageboards didn't it!   Chuckle!

Whoopeeee Smiley!! :0)

"It was fixed!" they cried..."Transport them!" "There can surely be only ONE or TWO pathetic Show of Hands fans out there and therefore they must have voted a million times over!" was heard around the gardens of Cecil Sharp House.......

And still The Show of Hands Spin is going on now...but this time 'they've' started it BEFORE Show of Hands have even won ANYTHING!

Oh...Isn't this lovely! I LOVE IT! Great Big Grin Smiley!! :0)

Now then...repeat after me Ruthie Baby..

"The reason Show of Hands win Public Votes is because they have a huge amount of er...PUBLIC who vote for them and those thousands of people vote for them just one time each..and it truly is not just one fan who votes a thousand times over"

Show of Hands are way beyond needing to do anything like that....take it from one who's seen the way their audience has just grown and grown and continues to grow all the time...Heck I even had to travel from Sidmouth to Truro recently to see them, because I left it too late for both of their Exeter gigs, which sold out almost immediately! Still...I got my tickets for their third Royal Albert Hall gig early....I'm not silly! :0)

Yup! Isn't that AMAZING! The World's Most Wonderful Wandering Minstrels, who've worked their backsides off, for the last 15 years or more, gathering their fans around them, writing songs that bring in thousand upon thousand of people, getting people to openly share their music with their blessing.....who are funny, entertaining, highly professional, warm, welcoming and incredibly supportive and helpful to young folk acts...are actually LOVED and hugely supported by their public!

Show of Hands fans aren't Teenagers on HRT, although I'm seeing more and more young people at their gigs these days and Steve Knightley went down as sensationally as Seth did at Exeter Uni a few weeks back, where nearly the entire audience was young people..They LOVED Steve's songs...particularly Roots!

Neither are Show of Hands fans Apathetic Trainspotters. They may not know the order that Cecil collected his songs in...they may not even care...BUT they recognise two incredibly talented musicians when they see and hear them. They recognise also that their music should damn well be everywhere...AND they also recognise that Show of Hands, along with Seth Lakeman, whom Show of Hands supported for years...and still do...are doing HUGE amounts to bring people into FOLK music and they WILL support them.

I KNOW! Isn't that AMAZING?????

AND....Steve and Phil are bringing them in Dancing and Smiling...and sometimes Ranting too, because of the power of their songs! YUP!

Not only that, but so very many of their fans go on to discover vast amounts of other folk/acoustic musicians from there. Take a look over at the Show of Hands fansite, Longdogs, and you'll find many, many other musicians talked about and discussed on there...You'll also find many musicians in there too, who are Longdogs themselves.

I'm afraid that Steve and Phil are a bit of a Folk Phenomenon. Wanted by the major festivals in this country, because they know that where Show of Hands are...so too are the crowds...and those crowds absorb plenty more artists around them when they come to the festivals..and so Folk Music grows and gets spread around and made stronger...for our children and for theirs..

Of course, perhaps the only festival that may not choose Show of Hands could possibly be Loughborough, as a certain Miss Crumpet, who runs that, apparently would rather have 'pins stuck in her eyes' than go to one of their gigs....A shameful thing that she chose to write on the BBC board. Shameful WHOEVER it had been written about in my opinion. But..best to move on from that dreadful remark....

From Eric The Red:

>>>>I seriously have to wonder if Lizzle Cornish has ever heard any real folk music if she thinks wannabee pop band SOH and the latest boy wonder Seth Lakeman are representative of English folksong, they are both soft pop FFS<<<

Helloooo Dave! :0) No, you can't come round and borrow my Bob Fox, Jez Lowe, Barry Lister, George Papavgeris, John Tams, Duncan McFarlane, Nic Jones, Eliza Carthy or Demon Barbers CDs or any of the others either..no matter how much you beg me Dave! Chuckle!! ;0) Oh and Dave...ALL of those artists, and many more, have come to me PURELY because of my finding Show of Hands music at Sidmouth that time.

And as for 'Roots'.....well....every single word of that rings true to me. Perhaps you have to live in The West Country to see how our roots have been destroyed....and also to see how hard Steve, Phil and Seth are working to help plant new seeds...making new roots come up through those old ones...and bringing some knowledge of those roots BACK to the people of The West Country.


Oh...and if anyone wants to take me on over Roots...please...be my guest. ;0)


Lizzie :0)