"Bearing in mind that this thread was started mentioning young and new BritFolk how has it come to your statement that being west of the pond is somehow better? Not saying that it isn't - I have been there and loved it - but I feel extremely lucky that I am in England and experiencing the resurgence that the OP mentioned with such bands as the Unthanks, Mumford and Sons, Bellowhead etc. As you will know if you read my earlier comments, they are not all my cup of tea, but at least they are making their mark and it is very exciting:-)"


I'm not in a position to accurately compare the two countries.   The inference of the initial thread was that there was a faction that "begrude success" of young performers.   You can tell me if that is the case or not, hopefully it was just misrepresented in the initial statements.

Here in the U.S., for the most part, I am seeing a warm embrace to the newcomers that are making waves.   The other night, a network TV series called "The Voice" featured Rebecca Loebe, an artist who plays the contemporary folk scene here in the U.S. When I spoke with her last fall, she was bascially living in her car and traveling the country doing house concerts and whatever gig she could pick up. To see her on national TV was outstanding, and the folk community is strongly supporting her.

Yes, there is a faction of died-in-the-wool folkies that won't accept contemporary singer-songwriters coming out of a folk tradition, but they are the minority from what I see.   We too are enjoying hearing our "new kids" taking up the mantle, and seeing groups like Mumford & Sons (one of my favorite CD's of last year) is wonderful. I hope we have another "British invasion" because I think you have some amazing performers, and I hope our audiences will enjoy them as well.