One last comment - yes, I'm stamping my foot and proclaiming that my definition of folk is the right one, whatever anyone else says. Which is to say, I'm doing exactly the same thing as Al is.

Al thinks the meaning of 'folk' has changed, and changed for the worst: it used to mean entertainers who could play a strange pub and win the crowd over, and now it means kids with Newcastle degrees who can play diddly tunes at 200 mph. And he thinks that, when we say 'folk', we should be referring to Capstick, Brimstone & co - that ought to be the standard we hold 'folk' artists up against.

But the days of Tony Capstick are gone - just as much as the days of Ewan MacColl or the days of Cecil Sharp. If that's what you want 'folk' to be, you're standing up for something that doesn't exist any more, in the face of a reality that's moved somewhere else.

Just like I am.