Having just read The Imagined Village by Georgina Boyes, I have been pondering 'The Tradition', 'The Folk', 'The Revival', 'Folk Songs' and so on as we often do on this site.

It seems to me that various people: Sharp et al early on, EFDSS in the 30's and again post war, McColl et al in the 60's wanted to paint old songs into a bigger picture, create a hypothesis that would explain so much more. The I.V. tells that story so well. With hingsight they seem to have got some things right and much wrong.In the end the songs remain. We have some idea where some of them came from and the context in which they lived.

The Folk Clubs of the 60s until the present day and their assorted residents, guests, festivals and recordings have revived an interest and made available thousands and thousands of old songs and supported the creation of thousands of other songs that are best enjoyed in the small community context that helped the old songs to survive in the first place.

I enjoy Bellowhead, Whapweasel, Salsa Celtica and Duncan MacFarlane in those big loud, venues but the old songs work best where they came from: small community spaces where the stories will come best out of the songs and the chorus will join us together in a shared experience.

I guess we are more aware of Kate Rusby, The Unthanks, Keir & Fagan, Crucible and various winners of the Young Folk Awards. I feel sure that their are thousands and thousands of young singers and tune players who just need the space to develop and access to recordings of those old women and men who were sources of old songs and the other 'older' women and men who have carried them for the lat 40 or 50 years.

I know a little space where they will definitely get a chance to try a few things out.

L in C#
The Beech tonight