I started celebrating Seth from the moment I first heard him play. I wrote about him, many times over....and was villified for it. I continued to write about him, saying he would be the one to bring thousands of young people into folk music, just as Show of Hands have done.

Now it seems, others have finally opened their eyes too. I cannot tell you how glad I am to read this. And it's extra wonderful to know that Ian Anderson, a one-time Seth Basher, has now become a huge fan. Well done Ian, I knew you'd get there, eventually. ;0)


Oh..and Richard, of course Seth is a Folk Hero. Why? Because he has over-ridden every foul word that has been said about him, by those who have tried so hard to do him down. He put his last money into The Mercury Awards, he has never let go of his well-mannered, gentle, friendly attitude to people. He has simply got on with things, playing the music he loves, in the way that he loves, in the places he loves. He's still a Dartmoor lad, preferring the peace of his moors to the buzz of the city highlife. He still turns up in his same t shirt and jeans, 'same ol' Seth'..

He was raised in a folk family. The first time I ever saw Seth, and his brothers, I didn't even know who they were. They were children then, at Buckland Monachorum Fair, one summer. It was the village next to mine, Horrabridge, where I then lived. I heard these voices, wonderful voices! There was a huge crowd in the street, listening to a family, singing, just standing there, in amongst the ancient houses in that pretty Dartmoor village..singing, for the pure joy of it.

They were The Lakeman family.

Here is Seth's dad, whom I'm sure some will know on this board.

Geoff Lakeman and his band:

Speakeasy myspace

In the Lakeman's you have Geoff, Seth, Sean, Sam, (and their Mum, of course) Kathryn Roberts,(married to Sean) Cara Dillon, (married to Sam)...and Kathryn and Cara now each have twins, so there are already four little Lakeman's to celebrate for the future, whilst you also celebrate their Uncle.

They are a folk family, an important folk family, and an ever-increading one.

So all of those who try to paint Seth as some pop star should be ashamed of themselves. Equally those who now try to say that he has only got where he has, because of his looks..and yes, he's had that thrown at him too, by bitter people. Well, many years later, I *heard* Seth before I ever saw him, just as I did with Show of Hands, and I knew that what I heard was special. It took me a while to realise that he was from the family I'd seen so many years before.

I said back then that he was like a firework, the way he played, his energy, etc. Well, that firework was a rocket, which has now exploded into the night sky, showering those colourful sparks over thousands of people, all of whom stand there looking up, with smiles on their faces, as songs about their past now rain down upon them.

Folk Hero?

For revolutionising folk music? You bet!

For bringing in THOUSANDS of young people? You BET!

For bringing in excitement, young blood, driving beats that pound through you and make you feel alive? YES!

Seth has a great band behind him of course, of Sean Lakeman, Andy Tween and Ben Nicholls. And it's great to hear their guests on this brilliant CD, Steve Knightley, Cormac Byrne and Kathryn Roberts amongst them.

And how the folk world undervalues Kathyrn Roberts. She has such a beautiful voice!

You know, the bad and negative attitude that has followed the Lakemans around, and those associated with them, simply because they dared, when they were Equation, to sign with Warner Bros..and so became pariahs to the desperately narrow-minded and unpleasant people who never let them forget that, should now stop.

Hell, in actual fact, Seth has stopped it himself, hasn't he! :0)

So Folk Hero? You betcha, Richard!

Because many people would have faded into obscurity after some of the things The Lakeman's have had to endure in the 'folk' world..but Seth never gave up....and he was supported hugely by Show of Hands, for a long time, so thanks to them as well.

Well done Seth! Sock it 'em!!

And I would tell you about the time he played Sidmouth, and what happened, but, there's little point, as this message will, I've no doubt, shortly disappear.....


Lizzie