Battlefield Band: We Work the Black Seam

The problem with 'making folk music more accessible' is usually that it results in versions of well-liked songs becoming indistinguishable from pop songs (If I Had A Hammer by Trini Lopez is a case in point to me). On the other hand, the line is very fine, and I suppose drawing it is a very individual thing. I've heard James Keelaghan dismissed as 'pop-folk rubbish' and Iain MacKintosh as 'sentimental' not for the songs but for the arrangements, which were obviously too rich for the people concerned while still acceptable to me (though admittedly I prefer both artists solo). Everybody will have their own examples - an inexhaustible topic.