Brian Peters -
"What baffles me about this thread is that people are getting so hot under the collar about this 40-50 year-old slice of history."

I realise that you probably know this, Brian, but what the obsessive nature of Mudcat with Ewan and The Critics reflects is the average age of the British contributors here. They came into this music when they were young and when MacColl was a hugely important and divisive character on the folk scene. He remains so for those people. Amongst regulars on this forum are those who have gained an enormous benefit from what Ewan did and said. Those from the Critics Group with the other opinion are not represented here. Recently, I was digitising old radio interviews and came to one with someone who had been a prominent member of The Critics Group. In the interview I mentioned Ewan's name but before I could frame the question about his influence on the interviewee, I was interrupted with "Aaaaargh! No more gurus! We each have to work out own direction... our own salvation."

One of your recent albums * sees you working with artists that are young enough to be your children (ahem, grandchildren?) and I think that this typifies what I think of as your approach. Of course, you recognise the importance of knowing where the scene has come from as it is a guide to where it is going but you refuse to be bogged down in the past. I hope that I feel that I also can learn from the different attitudes of younger performers in my contact with them in conversations and in interviews for radio and magazine articles.

* The Liberty to Choose
A Selection of Songs from The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs
James Findlay, Bella Hardy, Brian Peters, Lucy Ward.

Fellside Recordings FECD257 (CD, UK, June 10, 2013)