Malcolm, do you really think anyone who sings folk songs, even (or especially) folk songs from other countries, is doing it for any reason other than a love of music? Wouldn't it be a lot of bother to learn to play and sing music if you weren't actually into it?

I know a lot of people who do songs from a lot of different places. I do so myself, and have in the past been accused of "cultural plundering", whatever that means. But I don't know anyone who learns traditional music for any reason other than a deep love of traditional music. For me, showing respect for a song involves bringing my best skills to it, finding something interesting to do with it in the hopes that others will like it as well, and performing it with passion and integrity. I am much more a musician than a historian, and certainly don't see learning the history and cultural context of a song as being a necessary part of traditional musicianship. I often, but not always, do quite a bit of research about the songs, but I do this because I find it interesting, not because I want to learn whether or not I "should" do the song, or how I should do it, or what instruments I should play it on, or anything having to do with my treatment of the song.

I also freely adapt songs whenever I feel like it, changing the mode, "fixing" the melody, cleaning up the scansion, etc. The music remains tradtional music.

John Peekstok