It isn't necessary to be a scholar to want to know more about the background to any sort of music; merely to be sufficiently interested in it to take it seriously and show it the respect it deserves.  That doesn't preclude irreverence, freshness, experimentation or evolution, but it does go some way to ensure that what we do, we do with intelligence and understanding.  Maybe one day we'll get through a discussion without somebody bringing up that blasted horse?

Malcolm