We can't go on meeting like this - have you a website Will -or an e-mail. my contact details are on the website.

Open tunings are great, and C tuning is good also. You don't have to play it like MC. hers something i did with it:-
http://www.bigalwhittle.co.uk/id38.html


Carthy is a genius - but i couldn't disagree with him more about the nature of folk music. That view that comes from C. Sharp, Broadwood et al. it was visionary and very productive -it gave us not only Nic Jones, Tony Rose, MacColl - but also Holst, Delius, grainger all that sort of thing.

But its anathema to modern ears. I remember telling a a very nice lady who had never been to a folk club, about a paul downes gig She was coming to me for guitar lessons. She brought all her friends from work, and you can guess the rest. paul was giving it all this heavy trad stuff Sheath and knife, etc. Absolute bloody disaster - she was so nice , she nevr told me - she told my wife!

Similarly I was surrounded by a load of checkout ladies from the local asda, at fylde festival - why had I been onstage less time that all these traddies. the truth is that I'd done my 40 minutes, but time hangs heavy when the traddies are having fun.

I think people like Dylan and donovan changed everything. It wasn't an intellectual thing - just the passage of time somehow - and public sensibilities in folk music means that the music moves on and evolves.