I'm trying to figure out what defines me as a "purist". In addition to all the stuff I mentioned earlier, we have singer-songwriters like Dougie MacLean, Alasdair Roberts, Steve Knightley, Roy Bailey, Belinda O'Hooley and Karine Polwart. We have songwriters' workshops, and a whole series of songwriters' interviews. I've booked Ralph McTell in the past, too. So this "purist" label is a complete red herring.

"I don't really know where the purist get off(apart from being ingratiating with folk legends) but they've said no to a hell of a lot of ordiary English folk, people who thought they had something to express."

Well, a lot of people think they have something to express. A LOT. I get about a dozen approaches every day. Even with 600 events to fill I could not accommodate them all if I wanted to. So I have to make a judgement about what I think is interesting, exciting, and that will excite and interest our audiences. That's my job. It's not to give a platform to every single aspiring singer-songwriter in Britain - it's to put on the best music I can find. If I don't think something is good enough, I don't book it. It's really that simple.


I can only assume I am a purist because I have never booked Al Whittle and a few of his mates.