"Why on earth should anyone want to define it!?"
Because some of us wish to discuss it as well as perform it, and others of us want to turn up at a venue to find that what is on offer is what it says on the tin.
All music is defined as ifs all forms of literature and painting - why on earth should 'the Voice of the People' be in any way different?
For me, that fact that the People have never been considered as having a voice of their own makes it all that more important that we should be clear about what we mean.
"To me there are two kinds of music, music I enjoy, music that I don't."
Very Nihilistic - how do you choose you venues - do they put up a "Wot Raggy likes" sign?
I came into the music at the age of twenty, along with many thousands of my contemporaries - most of the old crowd went when the term 'Folk Club' became meaningless
We were lucky as our deeper interest in the subject kept our engine running at full speed and will continue to do so until we run out of puff
You don't do a music of any sort any favours by dressing it up in different clothes to put bums on seats - all that does is drive out one crowd and replace them with people who prefer something different
No art form can survive that opportunistic approach.
How on earth can I turn away people from what we have collected by saying its not what people want so we're going to give you something else instead?
That is, in essence, what you are arguing.
If people don't want it - tough - their loss
Our collection is archived on the basis that if it has no place in today's world, it might have on in the future
Our Clare collection remains one of our major achievements, when it was accepted by Clare County Library we were able to fulfil the undertaking we made to all our singers in keeping it alive long after they died.
When Clare Council appointed two singers in residence assigned to take traditional songs around the schools using our collection as a basis we are beside ourselves - the next lot would have a chance to hear Tom Lenihan, Martin Reidy and Nora Cleary and maybe get a fraction of the pleasure we got from them
Last week we heard that Limerick Uni is taking our collection, particularly of Traveller material, and making part of their 'World Music Department' and hopefully putting it on line as our Clare stuff is.
Hopefully, before we pop our clogs, we will find a home for twenty years worth of our friendship with Walter Pardon, though I doubt if it will be with any of the UK folk clubs
As things stand, it is more likely to be welcomed by someone in the Six Counties than it is in mainland Britain
"You have made some ridiculous statements about young people and music,"
Then demolish what I have said with argument
I have made no comment on young people, just how that are manipulated by the music industry - I doubt if there is anybody here who can claim they have not been subject to such manipulation at one time or another
"you have said that people are driven away from clubs and music because of awards."
I was part of the Irish music scene in Britain and say many young people walk away from the music because they had been forced into CCE competitions by parents trying to live their lives through their children.
Competitions are for winners, if you're lucky those who don't win become spectators but peer and media pressure makes that an extremely slim option.
Love for and understanding of the music is the only thing that will more-or-less guarantee that young people will hang around
Jim Carroll