I think that one of the problems is that Shambles himself is a very good songwriter and he gets his his feathers ruffled when he hears someone putting down songwriters.

I can see his point, and having read some of his lyrics, I see that he has very high standards of professionalism.

It is my opinion, though, that the people turning out the crap are the ones that are degrading our art. I resent sitting down listening to rubbish when I've paid for something else.

It seems now that if you can play a few licks on the guitar and you have a 'sound' that is somewhat reminiscent of one of the greats then you are a folk singer.

Being one myself, I love singer/songwriters and am prepared to cut them quite a bit of slack. However, I am not very tolerant of paying for a performance where the so called singer either can't get the message across or never had a message in the first place.

So, you singer/songwriters out there (not Mudcateers of course) give us a break.
If you're booked as a folk singer, sing at least a couple of traditional songs.
Have at least one or two good or 'entertaining' ones of your own.
Forget your 'sound' we came to hear 'you' not some Dylan sound alike.
Leave us humming a tune when we leave.
And we'll fogive you anything else.

Bert.