Please, enough already! He made a joke about something you're interested in. Big f***ing deal! As a jazz fan, I'm not surprised Somerset folk singing sounds like hell to him. I very much doubt anyone here is a great fan of rap either (I'm sure it sounds like hell to you) and nor will Howells be either, probably, but rap, folk, jazz, opera, chamber music and the rest will all coexist under the banner of "music", regardless. And therefore, they will all receive attention from the Arts minister, and if he doesn't like the music personally then he should be professional enough to do the job regardless. As indeed he is doing, if ppl bother to look away from the knee-jerk soundbites spoonfed to them by low-grade papers looking for a story.

He's doing his job, and well. He has nothing to apologise for. And...

You Have Nothing To Complain About.
You Have Nothing To Complain About.
You Have Nothing To Complain About.
(repeat until message gets through...)

Graham.

PS. For myself, I think the Wurzels are an untalented bunch of wankers with the same appeal as a car wreck, ie. ppl look bcos they can't believe it can be that bad.

PPS. He's Welsh. Somerset folk-singing is NOT his cultural heritage, nor is sean nos or African drumming.

PPPS. Sorry, but misreporting and quoting out of context really gets my goat.