The recent response to the death of Mudcatter Col K, as well as other happenings, has me again questioning just why we develop such an attachment to people we rarely see and hardly know.

I have folkies that I consider to be friends that ..I see probably six or seven times a year (sometimes even less)

Looking back at Nutty's opening post it doesn't appear to me that this thread was supposed to be about "sentimentalised claptrap", "self-serving arses" or "commercial business" whatever the merits or otherwise of that quite different argument may be.

I'm not really a festival-goer and only occasionally go to folk clubs. I do play a lot though, in sessions and in other musical genres, as do a myriad of other 'Catters. Over the years I've had the pleasure of meeting many of them and, yes, there is a feeling of community and of shared interests and frequently friendship too. I think that was what Nutty was talking about and I agree with that.

RS