"will make a pretty wide audience aware of the traditional roots from which they take their style,"
I used to believe that Bonzo - from the days whan Shirley Ellis recorded 'Rubber Dolly'
It never worked out - they create audiences for what they do to the tradition rather than the tradition itself
The problem with many these singers is that they all have potential but no real interest in the tradition
You mentioned Nancy Kerr earlier - I remember her as a child
Her parents, Sandra Kerr and Ron Elliot are/were wonderful performers (Ron, a tremendous Northumbrian piper died far too young)
I performed with them both occasionally, though they both were far better than I was and Sandra and her former husband John Faulkner, were incredibly kind to me when I moved to London
Sandra visited Ireland shortly after we moved here and gave us an early recording of Nancy - spooky - it was the young Sandra I remember
Nancy maintained what she got from her mother while moving not too far away from the tradition
A great example of intelligent use of the old forms (though I confess I haven't herd her or James for a while)
Jim