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For someone who fell in love with folk music because it seemed (to me) to speak across time and place to some kind of universal human condition, it's more than a wee bit depressing and infuriating to find BNP leader and recently elected MEP for North West England, Nick Griffin, professing his love of the genre (he's a massive Kate Rusby fan).
The party's recent attempts to co-opt folk music as one of their chief soundtracks have enraged many of the musicians whose recordings have been licensed for compilations currently on sale via Excalibur, the merchandising wing of the party. English folk stalwarts Phil Beer of Show of Hands, one of the most ethically and politically astute bands on the southern scene, and Ashley Hutchings of The Albion Band, are both featured artists.
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I've learned to take email criticism of gigs from audience members on the chin. Having said that I figure if someone has taken the time to email me at all then I owe them at least a minute's consideration. Sometimes I learn something useful from this approach: whether it's that the acoustics in a venue were too rackety or the toilets too smelly; and other times I learn only that it's totally impossible to please everyone. Just as well I don't expect everyone to like what I do. I mean everyone is entitled to their own tastes.
But earlier this week I got an email that raised my eyebrows. It was from a woman who'd had a truly rotten time at a recent gig, so rotten in fact that she said she'd think twice about coming to one of my gigs again. Oh dear.
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