Ah, I understand Eliza.
"in the line of fire from some very hardline people. She has quite literally had older folkie people approaching her since she was a young teenager asking her in effect "who do you think you are to perform your own songs, why do you think you are better than the tradition?".
I've had it for forty years, but much more so in the last ten due to a certain........but then, let's not go there eh?
I think what we need in the UK is a festival for songwriters young and old to exchange and share our love of the art and craft as many festivals celebrate the tradition. There is room for all but it's not easy to get the creative people together. On the one hand there is the commercial imperative of the big festivals and on the other the bigotry we both abhor. I have recently had the privilege of holding a songwriting week in France, and will be doing so again this year. The enthusiasm of the pupils was like a blood transfusion. I had been so long battling against joylessness and judgmentalism that my own enthusiasm had been finally blunted a little. However, the week rejuvenated me.
I don't know Rose's work but I wish her longevity and an ability to face bigotry with equanimity and a sense of her own worth.