Ian

It would be useful to hear how you found and why you like the music?

Here in the UK, I don't think there is anything wrong with the music, when people are exposed to it, they like it. Good examples of this are Riverdance and music from The Titanic, which have brought Irish music to the general public's attention. The wonderful music from Bonnie and Clyde and Duelling Banjos, which is just about the only exposure to US styles that we get here and a few other examples.

The problem here in the UK is not folk music but 'folkies'. These are the self-appointed guardians of folk music, who's eccentricities, earnestness, herd-instinct and clothing are the easy targets for the ridicule you mention. They are responsible for putting people off the music, but they are, I hope I am right in saying, a dying breed.

I only hope that the new, younger devotees, who I see, with delight, adopting almost every instrument and style, do not end up making the same mistakes.

I wonder what the situation is in other countries?