Studying the material is a wonderful thing to do in itself, there are so many layers and they go back to the year dot. I get a bottle of gin most years and put it in a jar with some brown sugar, and bung in berries of all kinds as and when they are in season. Then at Christmas you drink this gorgeous reddy-purple nectar, and every mouthful has your whole diary of the summer in it. You dont get that in an ordinary drink. That's what folk-songs and tunes are like, theyve got all that stuff put into them, and it's all there for you when you play it.
EC: I want to talk Kurds with you, would you get in touch if you have a minute(and I have a couple of good tunes for you too). My email is boatband(at)cwctv.net