well I've always thought of it as a pretty dysfunctional family....bitchy, narrow minded, dull, exploitative, creepy and grovelling to the perceived senior members of the family, brainlessly competitive when theres damn all to compete for, rude to outsiders, and far too damn pleased with much too little in the way of achievements.

there are some nice individuals, but I think somehow they only stay nice by having a life outside folk music. the actual view of the sharkpool and all the chewed up heads gives no sense of wellbeing.

the only nice thing about the world of folkmusic is some of the music.

I was just reading the excellent biog of Bert Jansch - Dazzling Stranger. the actual milieu described is very disquieting when one considers how much most of us devote to this artform. the writer has an excellent grasp of the turns and twists of the various times the folk revival has gone through in England.

Theres one peach where Bert tells Norma Waterson, that he was never booked as a guest after they left their club in Hull. Just for a moment, one glimpses the real fangs of the factionalism monster.