Jim Carroll

I am not arguing for one minute that people are not writing songs Bryan - of course they are. But by and large they are not leaving the greenhouse conditions of the folk club...

Previously you had said -

"However, that doesn't mean that the skills and desire to produce songs in the traditional style or styles have been lost." [theleveller]
Absolutely right; but when I look at S O'Ps shopping list of what passes for folk in some/many of todays clubs I am left with the impression that this is very much on the wan too - please prove me wrong - please.

I'm confused. What ARE you arguing? What are you asking us to prove?

One of the great failures of the revival is that it has failed to engage with the population at large and it has failed to draw the attention of the general public to their own songs - not finger pointing, I was as much a part of that failure as anybody.

Wow! That's a pretty serious ambition. I will be happy if I can persuade a few people to share my pleasure in traditional music. Changing the tastes of the population at large is a step too far for me.

Unfortunately the Universe doesn't start and end in Lewes.

I can't believe that we are the sole audience for those songwriters who come from Cornwall, Northumberland and points inbetween. You seem to think that all other folk clubs in the land conform to the description emanating from the fuddled brain of S O'P.