The reason I've not been back to defend my statement was that I've been away all weekend - playing folk music as it happens.

My comment about Cambridge Folk Festival was probably unfair and I'm not going to defend it, but I will explain it. My impression is that it does tend to book headliners who are not names I would immediately associate with folk. According to Wikipedia these have included Chumbawamba, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros and The Levellers, while a random dip into the archives turned up Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Now I don't what to start yet another "what is folk" debate, suffice to say that they don't come within my own notion of the term. CFF is hugely successful on its own terms, and I'm not suggesting that its audience doesn't include people with a deep interest in folk music, but at the same time I don't believe it, or some of the artists it books, is representative of the UK folk scene, which is what the Folk Awards should be.

My impression of the Radio 2 folk show may also be unfair, as I don't listen to it very often. Whenever I happen to dip in, it appears to me to lean quite strongly towards Americana, Irish and singer-songwriters. I've nothing against any of these, but I don't think that's a good representation of the UK folk scene either. Perhaps I've just been unlucky.