"Jim, the main critic of modern folk clubs, isn't really interested in the music side of things, it is the lyrics that he is focused on."
You can't have one without the other - I do believe there's a balance to be struck between the two
As far as instrumental music, I don't know enough of what's happening in the UK in that respect, but our work has included recording musicians at length, playing and talking
We also recorded masses of lore, particularly from Travellers
Some of the rarest recordings we made were of a few of the last of the big storytellers, particularly in Clare
We would have included dance if it wasn't for the fact that the dancers here kept demanding that you got up and joined them - they really didn't deserve that !
All these different aspects of peoples' culture are interrelated, that's why they fly under the same 'folk' flag
Change one and you put a question mark over the rest
The term 'folk' came into use as a reference to the lore that was being collected by antiquarians like Tombs, Chambers, Halliwell, Brand and Hone
Jim Carroll