It is welcome news that the Arts Council of England is giving support to folk music in this way following their support for the EFDSS although it does have to be seen in the context of the major cuts to regional organisations last year. It may just be a redistribution of the same money. The best of luck to the performers on this CD, several of whom we have been booking for years and some of whom we hope to book in the future.

The OP's original question was - But what are we to make of the case put by Colin Irwin in the introduction?

Somewhat confused, I think.

He says "their horizons uninhibited by the pressure of peers and the weight of what's gone before them." which is a rather strange statement for a publication that has Roots in its title. Are the top branches of a tree inhibited by its roots? Surely it is part of what makes it traditional music that it grows from what went before; not to slavishly copy but to build on that foundation.

Colin claims "They've taken different routes to the tradition" and then goes on to contradict himself several times over in the individual write ups for the artists.

Spiro -, a band who've slowly evolved from the Bristol session scene

The Unthanks - Steeped in the rich heritage of Northumbrian folk music,

Jackie Oates - Her song featured here comes from the repertoire of an English folk song treasure house, the Copper Family of Sussex.

Dogan Mehmet - a second generation Turkish Cypriot from Brighton creating an ebullient blend of both English and Turkish folk music,

        (Do's Turkish influences come from his family and he found English traditional music through his school friend Matt Quinn, son of Dan Quinn.)

Nancy Wallace - before rediscovering the traditional music that her folkie parents had plied her with as a child.

Mary Epworth's - First hearing Shirley Collins at the same time as discovering an old picture of her great-great-grandfather playing in a family group, the Jubilee Band, in Norfolk in the 1880s, put her in touch with her roots.

Damien Barber was dubbed the Demon Barber by his mentor, the late great Peter Bellamy.

To suggest that these artists came to English traditional music through listening to World Music on the internet seems a little fanciful.

Ian Anderson says "Then I pressed the case for the Shirley Collins track to put it all in a bit of historical perspective."

Shirley is most definitely not history. Alas, she no longer sings but she spreads the word with her various shows (see her website) and gives voice masterclasses (for instance, 17th and 18th April next year at the Lewes Saturday Folk Club).

Yes, English folk music went through a barren patch and it is good to see it re-emerging but please give proper regard for those who carried the flame. Whether it will benefit from being taken under the World Music umbrella (which strikes me as little more than a marketing label) remains to be seen.