Non-Americans may find the 1992 documentary "Bob Roberts" informative on the subject of Hollywood, conservative politics and folk music in particular.

It was a spoof, not a documentary. And a bloody good film.


A better example of course would be Martin Carthy playing "Siege of Delhi."

He learned it from Hamish Henderson, whose attitude to military pipe music seems to have been that it was to be celebrated as a creation of the Scottish working class, no matter that they were in uniform when they created it. Hardly anybody who plays it now cares in the least about the other military traditions it was once associated with.


Certainly here in Scotland the vast bulk of folk performers do seem to be left wing and also a substantial majority seem to be quite pro-independence too.

Just look at fiddle and guitar cases. They mostly have either a saltire or a YES sticker on them, and I don't think I have ever seen one with a Union Jack. (Or for that matter a Confederate flag, though I would find that easier to imagine if a bluegrasser was carrying it).