Hi everybody!

Just caught up with this thread. First off, I thought "Oh dear, here we go again" - but was pleasantly surprised to see lots of new ideas bubbling up. Special thanks to Gervase for the friendly comments on my article for the Musical Traditions website. One point to add, though. G writes "Sadly there are no real solutions offered... " (in the article). This was deliberate - for two reasons.

a) I wanted the article to start a debate, so I tried to leave it open-ended.

b)I'd already made some (I hope) positive suggestions in a previous MT posting. It had a long preamble, which I'll spare you, but the recommendations were as follows.

One: if it feels good, do it!

If what you do hurts no-one, and brightens up your life (and maybe even the lives of a few other consenting adults), then why allow others to make you feel ashamed? Stand up for your individuality, before the style police make us all into Prisoners. "I am not a designer logo, I am a free man!"(Patrick McGoohan: come back, we need you.)

Two: if it's worth doing, do it right!

You owe it to the tradition bearers of the past to give your best - your very best - to the material they've handed on to you. And if an audience (however small) is favouring you with its attention, you owe them your best as well. The public image of all things folk has been seriously damaged by too many performances that were ill-prepared, sloppily executed, and worst of all, half-hearted. (Morris men please note!)

Three: before you can teach them, you have to reach them When I started out in the education business, the best advice I ever got from a colleague was this: "Wherever you want them to go, you have to start from where they are." This also applies with performers and audiences. So if plan A isn't getting the message across, try plan B. And how do you tell? By watching and listening to your audience, instead of just playing to (or with) yourself, as too many folkies do.

Four: applause from friends is nice, but applause from strangers is even nicer

Outside the folkie ghetto, there are lots of people and institutions who might be attracted by traditional music, song and dance. But they are unlikely to seek us out if we don't go looking for them. All right, so performing for PTAs, in theatre foyers, behind prison bars, inside wine bars, at college balls or shopping malls, may not be as great an ego trip as doing the main arena at Sidmouth. That's if one has the choice, which most of us don't. But as the gangster said, when they asked him why he robbed banks, "that's where the money is." And even if there's no money, a charity gig still advertises your product to potential customers, who might never have been exposed to it otherwise. So it's an investment, as well as a good deed.

Five: stuff the media! activate the grape-vine!

I believe the normal indifference (and occasional hostility) of the media towards our sort of music is an advantage, not a problem. The media are obsessed with fashion. They need a continual flow of disposable styles and icons to keep the consumer bandwagon rolling. So what's in today has to be out tomorrow (until it comes back in ten years time as retro-chic). Being ignored is better than being praised to the skies one day, and condemned to the trash-can the next. Traditional music can spread its message effectively enough by word of mouth, and its electronic amplifier - the Web.

Six: if there's anybody out there listening, please ring

Value is not intrinsic. Things have value only because people believe they are valuable. If one person still believes, really believes, that the English tradition is worth saving, then it is worth saving. So put your hands together: don't let Tinker Bell die!

I wrote all that a year or so ago - but would still stand by it today. Further comments very welcome.

Wassail!