So which one are you?

I see myself in them all actually; some days you'll find me the merry outsider, gooble-gobbling away with the best of them - other days I'll be recoiling at the abject horror of this very freakish thing that has been called Folk...

I think Jack Campin was referring, at least in part, to the constant barrage of noise (usually pop music) that is forced upon us, and the fact that this has increased significantly over the past few decades.

And this interferes with - er - Traditional Music how exactly? Up in Edinburgh I flee from bagpipe & djembe duos - generally for the nearest shopping arcade (or better still Ocean Terminal) there to heal my soul with piped pop. Walking down Picadilly in Manchester you'll get mbira, kora, blues guitar, rock n' rollers, folkie fiddlers, string quartets, homeless penny whistlers and hip-hoppers - and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Until that is some Traddie comes along and starts to lecture me on musical righteousness at which point I reach for my pistol wondering which of us knows the most deserving misery.

Just listen to me, he who avoids those local folk clubs that use PA systems...