I was about to say how typical it was of Mudcat that your thread about the worst imaginable sounds in folk should still be in soaraway mode, 99 hits when I looked a minute ago, while the appeal for recommendations is now slipping, apart from this little bump up the ratings, into oblivion

But I won't. You've been set on the right path here. i'd personally go easy on the whole Topic Voice of the People collection until you've heard the sampler someone - Ruth? - promised to send. It is heavy going, even if there is some magical material in there.

Try the new Brian Peters album, "Songs of Trial and Triumph" but certainly look up the Young Tradition and more recent harmony groups and DEFINITELY June Tabor, even if there is a piano. I would also recommend anything by Bob Fox, or Graham and Eileen Pratt, but I haven't the technical know-how to be sure as to whether it is a good idea for an unaccompanied singer to follow my recommendations to artists who use instruments