Shambles, your example of FROOTS as a lost cause for representing people who are interested in or participate in producing traditionally influenced music ( of every nationality) was right on the nose. I gave up reading Folk Roots ( I hate the new name) when I moved out here to Brazil eight years ago. I had read it since its Southern Rag days. By '93 I was becoming ever more distressed at its philosophies and coverage. I was recently back in the UK for a few months and decided to pick up a copy, which I duly read from cover to cover ( without the old gusto I must say), then picked up the following months, which stayed at the bottom of the pile of bathroom reading until I left Britain and came back home. I never got past the first article. As a "mainstream"voice for traditionally based music, it sucks. Ian Anderson seems to have become even more megamaniacle than he ever was and I can't even begin to guess who actually buys the thing. But it is symptomatic of the dumbing down of music journalism worldwide, though the Jazz (music) mags seem to keep it going pretty well. Local paper coverage et.al. is understandable, but from a specialist magazine the sort of Kerrang/NME journalism that seems prevelant in the FOLK ROOTS writing is really crass.