Will Fly: you were asking what prompted the mix. I've been exploring links between black and white music for a long time, and the evolving of African and Bahamian/Caribbean music into rap is another very interesting story. Also the traditional dance music of NW England, and how it interacted via sailing ships with other cultures since 1700. Add the explosion of dance music in Manchester in the last twenty years, link that to the fact there are seven different tunes all called Mancahster Hornpipe, and you have an idea worth pursuing. There are lots of young urabn musicians in Manchester, and they have a powerful musical culture which is evolving quickly and well-positioned to comment on the changes happening in our society. And the urban musicians, let's face it, are a bit more streety on average than most of the youngsters in the current post-revival folk scen: so you get a rather different slant on music. More "folk" in fact, perhaps?(In the old meaning of the word).
ANyway, this project, ongoing in Manchester and Liverpool, is proving very inspiring, to us in the band and to some other young musicians.