Martin Carthy is as important for the attitudes he expresses and represents and encourages as he is for his music.
Back in 1987 New Punchbowl Music, 333 Petersham Road, Petersham Surrey, England, put out a book of songs and hints about how he plays them, called "Martin Carthy - A Guitar in Folk Music". Anyway it's got a great introduction by Martin which all of us who go round and round the "What is Folk" threadmill would do well to read. He cuts through the crap.
Getting hold of the book might be a problem - I couldn't track it down on the net anyway.
But here is a quote which says what needs saying (I think I've probably posted it before, but it bears repeating):
If you listen to folk music from around the world, you are listening to a distillation over thousands of years of people who from nothing have arrived at some quite astonishing conclusions, and these make up an important part of a society's culture. Folk music is not blind, it's not noble savage stuff, it's actually people thinking deep and emotionally, and being able to articulate what they feel in music and dance. Now that I have actually realised it, I am more in awe every single day at just how smart people are. Saying it is boring rubbish and finger in the ear stuff is wilful ignorance, and is an insult to ingenuity and creativity of those ordinary people. That's how important it is.
Amen! If Martin had never picked up an instrument or opened his mouth to sing, he'd be worthy of respect just for writing that.