it is undeniable that he publicly dissed Jim Causley in an extremely unmusicianly and unfriendly way.

On the contrary, Diane - it is very deniable. I denied it then and I deny it now. My dissing of Jim Causley's approach was based entirely on how far such muso-slickness had pushed the pervading folk aesthetic away from its Traditional roots. It was a simple statement of fact, couched in terms of general preference and a general concern for the current state of The Revival where such MOR blandness is pretty much par for the course. I never once questioned their musicianship or their talent - heaven knows it takes a lot of both to play music like that. I feel similarly about The Corrs, Riverdance, Irish Woman, Queen, Tijuana Brass, The Cliff Adams Singers, The Carpenters, Abba etc - great musicianly talents all, but music which ultimately binds me to the Traddy cause, replete with vernacular genius, human warmth and noise-aesthetic which I find in the music of Traditional Musicians the word over but which has been expunged from mainstream Folk Music.

Note, however, that I did not direct my comments at Jim Causley personally; I simply expressed an opinion about the nature of his music in the context of a broader discussion about the imaginary impact of blogging on actual CD sales and the broader cultural considerations of mainstream commercial & concert Folk Music. That Joan reacted with what amounts to a barrage of personal abuse is therefore, I feel, entirely unjustified whatever her personal feelings about my work might be. We come to Mudcat as equals, to discuss our concerns and express our opinions - not to be roundly abused for so doing - and certainly not by those with the far-reaching influence of Joan Crump.