Last year there was a BBC run contest for people to vote for the best folk album of all time (Yeah, I know, I know...) Anyway, the winning album was "Leige and Leif" by Fairport Convention. Electric and drum kits, you notice?

Ever met anyone introduced into folk music by Steeleye Span?

My theory, for what it is worth, is that people have always used whatever instruments they have to hand to express themselves though music. In an evolutionary-sort-of-way, the things that work survive and the rest don't. I think, for example, that "Yellow Submarine" is a true folk song simply because of the way it has been taken up and is sung by the general population just for the joy of singing.

On the other hand, the things that move me most are the big ballads, so I oftern find interpretations of Child Ballads wonderful, Generally, because they rely on storytelling, the less instrumentation the better. The best renderings I have heard have usually been solo voice.