Inside the Folkosphere...

Cropredy 2012

2012-02-12T14:14:00.000Z

As announcements about Fairport's Cropredy Convention and the village Fringe events are made, this post will be updated. See News section (below) for further info.

Last update: 13/02/12

Thursday August 9

Bellowhead (time slot not yet confirmed)
Legend

Friday August 10

Joan Armatrading (and band)
Richard Thompson (solo)
The Saw Doctors
Tarras
Ioscaid (Unconfirmed but see News below)

Cropredy Fringe

The Roving Crows (announced by the band via Twitter)

Saturday August 11

Fairport Convention and Friends (inc. Richard Thompson)
Dennis Locorriere (unconfirmed)

More artists to be announced. Please note this is an unofficial list. For the latest official news please see the Fairport Convention website.

News

13/02/12

Fairport announces via Twitter and Facebook: "Cropredy line-up now complete. Just waiting for the lengthy contract exchanges before we can tell you who and when."

08/02/12

Ioscaid (pronounced iss-kidge), a six piece band from Northern Ireland and all aged between 18 and 20, picked up the Young Folk Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. An appearance at Cropredy is part of the prize for the winners of the award.

04/02/12

Bob Marley tribute band Legend will be fulfilling the traditional reggae quota this year with a set on Thursday afternoon. Legend played a rain-lashed Cropredy in 2008, and proved a hit with soaked punters.

03/02/12

The Friday Night line up for Fairport's Cropredy Convention has been officially announced.

Headlining will be singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, making her Cropredy debut.

Joan Armatrading

Irish folk-rockers The Saw Doctors return for the first time since their 1997 appearance at Cropredy. Fairport say this band is one of their most requested guests.

Ex-Fairport guitarist Richard Thompson will be appearing solo on Friday as well as joining the reunion of former FC members on the Saturday night, as the band celebrates its 45th anniversary.

And six-piece English folk band Tarras will be returning, having last played Croppers in 2001.

Other names who are playing Cropredy this year, and who have also been officially released or leaked by the artists themselves so far are: Bellowhead, Dennis Locorriere (ex Dr Hook).

INFO: Fairport's Cropredy Convention 2012 will take place in Oxfordshire, England, on the second weekend in August - 9th to 11th.

One More Day

2012-01-21T14:13:00.001Z

This is rockin'...!

<p>&amp;lt;a href="http://thealbionband.bandcamp.com/track/one-more-day"&amp;gt;One More Day by The Albion Band&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T19:14:00.004Z

Great news – 2012 has officially been named The Year of Folk, Folk-Rock, Singer-Songwriter and Roots-based music! Just like every year since 2006, when FolkCast began... Quite a coincidence, eh? :-)

Thanks for downloading our podcast, reading our blog, following us on Twitter, befriending us on FaceBook and generally being fab.

All the best for the next 12 months. Keep our finger in your ear for the latest news from the best music in the world throughout 2012!

From everyone at FolkCast

Great British Folk Festival 2011 - Day 3

2011-12-05T22:09:00.001Z

An early queue!

Sunday

As Franceska and I left the Yacht Club restaurant after another late breakfast, we were surprised to see a long queue that had formed outside Centre Stage.

“Must be keen to see Fairport Connections”, she said.

“But it’s only 11:15am,” I pointed out. “The doors don’t open till noon and they aren’t on until 12:30pm”.

Processing photos, writing reports and uploading them to this blog takes a little time, so Fairport Connections had been on stage for ten minutes or so before we were able to return – to find “House Full” notices up, and still a queue. Admittance was dependant upon people leaving, and precious few were, so I resigned myself to another standing room only gig.

Fairport Connections - (l-r) Anna Ryder, Dave Pegg, Anthony John Clarke, Gerry Conway, Bob Fox

Bob Fox and Dave Pegg

We eventually gained access just after 1pm. This first appearance of the "Connections" consisted of the Convention's bassman (and occasional mandolin tickler) Dave Pegg and drummer/percussionist Gerry Conway, plus some of the band's regular collaborators, contributors and colleagues: Anna Ryder, Anthony John Clarke, Bob Fox, PJ Wright and Steve Tilston. They performed as duos, trios and more, each performing their own mini set.

Amongst the highlights were Bob Fox’s “The Waters Of Tyne/Big River” which had the audience joining in with the chorus, and Anthony John Clarke’s very funny “Tuesday Night Is Always Karaoke”.

I was unable to see the entire set, as they over-ran (“It’s the first time we’ve done this, and we weren’t sure how long it would last,” Dave Pegg told me later), but we had a pressing engagement in the late afternoon. Franceska was booked to play the flute with a band at the open mic session in Jaks, and I can report that her playing went down very well with the 200+ crowd there.

Some time later...

Martyn Joseph delivered such a storming set that I completely failed to make any notes at all! A highlight of the weekend.

Martyn Joseph

Some people engage with the audience by establishing a bond from the stage – Martyn does it by walking through the crowd and serenading individuals. Many thanks to Dave Hill, who allowed us backstage to capture some images of Martyn’s view of the room.

In the spotlight: Martyn's view from the stage

Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle – "such consummate musicians", says classically-trained Franceska. Me? I just like the noise they make.

As the night ended, we sat and thought back over the Great British Folk Festival experience. Our verdict: a damn good weekend! Can we come next year? And more urgently, now we’re finishing up, can I have a pint? (What, another?!? Ed)

I'll write up my further thoughts and an overview soon, but for now, there’s just one last choice to make: will it be the Pedigree or the Hobgoblin?

Babba

Previous GBFF11 reports

Did you visit the Great British Folk Festival 2011? Send your review and/or photos to us via email and we'll add them to the blog. Or simply leave a comment, below.

Jacqui McShee

Dave Pegg - Mandoman

Peggy 'n PJ

House Full for those with Full House Connections...

Great British Folk Festival 2011 - Day 2, Part 2

2011-12-05T12:31:00.001Z

Saturday Evening

Night falls at Butlin's

I’ve never been what you’d call much of a swimmer, being more of a natural drowner, but FolkCast snapper Franceska Dante persuaded me that a trip to the pool would be Fun. Luckily for you, no photos exist of my dip...

Steve Gibbons - ghosts

Having bobbed up and down in the waves, been powered through the rapids, soaked by unexpected eruptions of compressed air, bubbled, flumed and submerged, your now much-diluted correspondent can only agree. Splash Waterworld serves up huge ladlefuls of Fun ... with a capital “Kersplosh”!

The fun continued with a solo set from Steve Gibbons in Centre Stage, where he let loose the ghosts of Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan and Elvis.

A pity to miss Merry Hell in Reds, but those are the choices that are made at a two venue festival.

A colourful character at the fest

No problem with choosing the mid-evening artiste, though – sorry, Matthew’s Southern Comfort, but Cara Dillon and her band were too big a temptation.

Cara Dillon - warm embrace

With a set that ranged from older numbers to some that were new to me, her glass-smooth, velvety vocals had a near capacity audience held in a warm embrace for ninety minutes. A flawless performance of ‘There’s No Peace For Me’ drew the most applause of the night. Cara recorded the closing song for the Disney film ‘Tinkerbell’s Dream’ earlier this year, and if audience appreciation for ‘Fly With Me’ is anything to go by, she’s going to sell a lot of CDs.

Babba

Previously at the fest

CD business - selling sounds at the Great British Folk Festival

Great British Folk Festival 2011 - Day 2, Part 1

2011-12-04T12:43:00.001Z

Day 2 - Saturday afternoon at Skeggy!

While I enjoy the business of erecting a tent in a field, inflating a mattress, fetching water and brewing coffee on a one-ring gas burner as much as the next man, there’s no doubt that such efforts can be badly affected if it’s raining. Or cold. The Great British Folk Festival may have spoiled me for future events, because I’m now quite keen on having a chalet to return to, where hot water is immediately available and someone comes in every morning to make the bed. A warm and comfortable bed that’s not easy to leave. Luckily, Butlin's take the needs of the lazy festival-goer into consideration, and serve breakfast as late as 11 a.m.

Wobbling slightly under the influence of porridge, orange juice, full English, toast, marmalade and coffee, we decided that lunch would not be required. Quite possibly for several days. To the music, then!

Richard Digance - reliable

Richard Digance is always a good bet for a lunchtime session. You know exactly what you’re going to get. Plenty of audience participation, singalong songs, jokes, sharp observations (“Is a game of charades the very worst time to have a heart attack?”) and one or two items that make you think. It’s a good-humoured wake-up session, and Richard didn’t disappoint.

Joe O'Donnell

He was followed by fiddler Joe O’Donnell and his band Shkayla, playing a selection of Irish and Breton tunes from the rockier end of the folk/rock world.

The last band of the afternoon session were The Wurzels, always something of a Marmite band in my opinion. If you like their music, they deliver it very well, with lots of quips between songs and much interplay with the audience. If, like me, you’re less keen… well, there’s a lot of alternatives to tempt people here at Butlin's.

The Wurzels

There’s an open mic and jam session going on at Jaks every afternoon, football in 3D over in Hotshots bar, snooker in the Green Baize games room, Adventure Golf, go-karting, a cinema, a spa with hot tubs and many treatments, archery, fencing, ten pin bowling, and table tennis.

Oh, it’s all going on, here in Skegness!

(Check back here soon, I'll be posting more reports by me and photos by Franceska Dante)

Babba

Day 1 at the GBFF

2011 Great British Folk Festival at Butlin's, Skegness

2011-12-03T13:44:00.001Z

3 Daft Monkeys at The Great British Folk Festival 2011

FolkCast dispatched our folk historian, Babba, to the GBFF 2011, held at Butlin's, Skegness. Here's the first of his weekend reports (photos by Franceska Dante)

DAY 1

If there’s one piece of advice that people going to the Great British Folk Festival at Butlins, Skegness, should be offered, it’s “Grab a seat early, or you’ll be standing all night.”

Athene Roberts of 3 Daft Monkeys

This is a very popular weekend, as the packed audiences for 3 Daft Monkeys, Chumbawamba and Ralph McTell proved.

There are two principal venues – Centre Stage and Reds – both capable of holding over a thousand people, and both were full to near-capacity.

Two venues, though, means that hard choices have to be made. I chose to see Ralph’s set in Reds rather than Chumbawamba in Centre Stage, but I’d prefer not to have needed to make the choice at all.

Waiting for Ralph

Any regrets were soon dispelled by a fine set from Ralph, featuring a few songs from his recent album, “Somewhere Down The Road” and a selection of well-loved numbers from a career that’s now in its fifth decade.

Ralph McTell

From the opening “Nanna’s Song”, through newer songs like “Reverend Thunder” and “Around The Wild Cape Horn”, and classics like “Barges” and “Peppers And Tomatoes”, this was a performance that will have pleased not only long-term fans but also those who only know Ralph McTell as the composer of “Streets Of London”.

Which he played… and it’s a magical thing to be part of an audience that is gently singing along, almost to themselves, part of a shared, yet private moment.

Ralph gets twiddly

The recent death of Bert Jansch has left the folk world much poorer, and Ralph shared some of his memories of his sometime collaborator, drinking partner and fulltime friend, before playing Bert’s “Anji”.

Time flows too fast when there’s a master guitarist and songwriter on stage, especially when that master is clearly enjoying playing as much as we were enjoying listening. An encore of “The Ghost Of Robert Johnson” just left a cheering audience wanting more. But then, I reckon that another ten, another twenty songs would not satisfy that want. A set that was worth the price of the weekend ticket on its own.

Ralph McTell on stage at the Great British Folk Festival 2011

Mike Harding responds...

2011-11-24T17:50:00.001Z

Following my posting of my email to Mike Harding yesterday, Mike has replied and given his responses in two emails: firstly a general and very interesting piece about the genesis of the awards and then a point-by-point response to my email. I thank him for taking the time to respond, even though I seem to have made no dent in his attitude.

It disturbs me that such a prominent figure as Mike sees honest concern and intelligent criticism from genuine fans as "moaning" and "nagging", and also that he has such little regard for the democratic process, claiming on one hand that public voting would skew the awards to those who sell the most records and tickets, yet on the other defending the awards for rewarding the same people because they sell the most records and tickets!

As far as I'm concerned I can do no more on this issue at this point. Currently I'm not well and this whole episode is impacting further on my health, and sapping time away from other projects at FolkCast. If you feel strongly about this issue, it's up to you to get involved, to make your feelings known to Smooth Operations and the BBC. I intend to step away from this argument - for now at least.

I've raised what I consider to be legitimate concerns, and received a great deal of support for my views here, on Twitter and on Facebook. Thanks to all for that, it's much appreciated!

There are also some people who have criticised me and others for even daring to criticise the awards, saying we should simply support them blindly and "get behind the folk scene" or words to that effect. Sorry, but that's like suggesting we should not criticise politicians, just support them blindly and "get behind the government". That's not the way we do things in Great Britain - we hold people and things paid with public money up to scrutiny and up to account.

Mike and others have warned that the BBC could even cancel the entire awards if there is "a whiff of scandal or trouble". That would be a terrible shame, but what better reason does anyone need to ensure that the awards are not only "honest and above board" (as he puts it) but can be demonstrated to be so to anyone who suggests otherwise? Only a house built on shaky foundations can be so easily toppled.

If nothing else, I and others such as Emma Hartley who have asked serious, important questions about an issue which involves a large amount of public money have managed to reveal a little more about the mechanics of the Folk Awards than have ever been previously forthcoming from the organisers. We've shown the weaknesses of the system, exposed the confusion among even those at the centre of the organisation. A little more light has been shone into the machine, and that might just help dispel some of the wilder rumours that I've heard about how the Folk Awards work.

It's a start, but I remain convinced that Smooth Operations and the BBC need to take a long, hard look at the whole process in order to win the confidence of everyone that the process of nomination and voting is not only straight but can be shown to be straight. It's too late to do that for 2012, but we'll see if they take the opportunity in time for the 2013 Awards.

At the end of his email Mike makes mention of personal abuse against himself. I want to make it clear that none of that came from me or anyone associated with FolkCast, despite a message on Twitter from Mike that associated our name with it. I asked him to make it clear that it came from elsewhere: he did not do so. He also mentions an "Occupy Folk Awards" slogan. This was from me and was clearly a joke (indicated as such with a smiley), and made in response to someone else's comment. I hope Mike isn't losing his sense of humour!

I'll make no further comment here – you, dear reader, can make up your own mind. Please feel free to add a comment to the bottom of this blog post (I'll publish them all, pro and anti, as long as they aren't libellous!), and to Mike Harding's own blog where he has also posted his thoughts and responses.

At first Mike specified that his comments were not to be published, but in a later email he did give permission. First there's his initial email, and then his point-by-point rebuttal, where Mike's answers are in bold, just as he formatted them in his email. What follows is unedited in any way.

Phil

**************************

The Folk Awards - Some Thoughts

Shortly after I began presenting the folk programme for BBC Radio 2 some fourteen years ago I found myself out in Austin, Texas to cover the South by South West Festival there, recording interviews and making programmes. Nic Barraclough and Bob Harris were out there also for their programmes as was my executive producer John Leonard. One night, as we were sitting round the dinner table I said it was a pity that we didn’t have a Folk Music Hall of Fame similar to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
We chatted on, looking at various possibilities: could there be a Folk Centre somewhere in the Midlands perhaps; could Cecil Sharpe House become a folk music Hall of Fame. We came to the conclusion that getting a building would be difficult – but we could at least have an awards ceremony like the Nashville awards that recognised excellence in Folk.
From that simple idea came the Folk Awards. The BBC put up some money (to hire venues, put up acts in hotels, pay their airfares etc.) and John got on with the work of contacting festival and folk club organisers, record company execs, folk journalist and folk programme presenters asking them to be judges. 
There are 170 of them and each year they are asked to do two things…

1 - sign a form saying that they will not vote for anybody that they have a personal or financial interest in
2  - fill in a form with their nominations for best singer, best new song, horizon award etc.

The forms are scrutinised to check that the judges are not voting for acts they record or represent – none ever have ...EVER

That is all – no swearing to secrecy, no cloak and dagger 

The people who receive the awards do, on the whole, represent the best on the folk scene at the present moment. It may seem to some that unknowns are not represented, but that is the same in any profession – we all have to serve our time. The notion that somebody can pick up a guitar one week and appear at Cambridge the next is just nonsense. There may well be great undiscovered acts out there - but if they’re all that great they won’t be undiscovered for long. I spend hours trawling the web and listening to links people have sent me as does my producer Jon Lewis.

The nominations come from the judges on the basis of their personal judgement and are not drawn from the playlist for my programme – whether or not I have played most of them is neither here nor there.

After the first round of nominations 4 names come forward in each category and the judges then vote on these. The end results are announced on the night of the awards together with the Good Folk Award and Lifetime Achievement Awards - these are made to people who have done just that - been good to the folk world or worked all their life in a very special way for folk. 

There are no cliques / cabals or covens.
All we are trying to do is further the music we all love.
I don’t know who the other judges are and I don’t care. I know enough about both the BBC and my producer John Leonard to know that everything is above board.
Trust is everything.

I don’t particularly care whether the names of the judges become public knowledge or not – they weren’t kept secret they just weren’t published.I suspect that both Smooth Operations and the BBC thought nobody would be much interested in knowing who they were – I would however point out that…
 
1 - Judges might not want their names known because they could possibly become the subjects of either lobbying  or abuse.
The lobbying I doubt simply because there ain’t that much money in folk that a big record company are going to start flying Fred Bloggs the organiser of WIlberswick Folk Festival to Cannes. Also I suspect that the folk world – because of its very roots – is fundamentally anti big business and is still at base a world in which honesty and being rooted is very important– you couldn’t find more rooted and honest people for example than Chris Wood and Martin Simpson two of this years nominees. 
Abuse (as from the evidence of this “transparency” campaign) is much more likely.

2 - The campaign to “out” the judges seems to be generating hot air, hysteria, misinformation and personal attacks that are completely unnecessary. I deeply believe that if the names were made known, the trolls that are rubbishing the Folk Awards at the moment would just move on to rubbishing the judges. It’s a no win situation. I for one would just like to get on with making good programmes (please) and would love to be able to open my Facebook or Twitter pages and find it clear of nagging, false information, abuse and silliness (e.g. the recent tweet to “Occupy the Folk Awards”).

The Folk Awards came about because of the music we love - not for any monetary or egotistical gain - it was simply to share the good things of the folk world - and we managed to get the BBC to spend a good deal of time and money working on them. Not everybody agrees with the result but I think that many people feel that it does largely recognise and applaud all the good stuff that is happening on todays folk scene. I too have my reservations about some of the results – but the voting is fair and honest so I accept the decisions. That’s what happens in any voting process. Look at the long list of people who’ve received awards over the years and tell me that people like the Copper Family, Christy Moore, Joan Baez, Spiers and Boden, Chris Wood, Andy Cutting, Nancy Kerr and James Fagin, Martin Simpson, Ewan McLennan, Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy, Jackie Oates, Lucy ward etc. are not worthy of nomination.  

We have one hour a week of folk on BBC mainstream. We should be making it easier for the BBC to work with us, not harder.

**********

1: This criticism is not about trying to knock down the R2FAs, it is all about building them up, making them stronger and ensuring nothing but the clearest, fairest possible representation of the folk scene. Awards of any kind are worthless unless we can all have confidence in the people and procedures involved.

Ans

Why don’t you trust us to do our best? People have been doing since the Folk Awards began. "Clearest fairest possible representation …" most people think it is

2: The R2FAs are funded by the BBC licence payers and therefore subject to scrutiny by the licence payers. This scrutiny is not "mischief making" or "misinformation" but rather a desire to ensure that the awards are not only honest but can be demonstrated to be so. It's about abolishing secrecy and letting in the light of inspection, and about removing the cause for the annual round of whispered accusations of "cliquism", "favouritism" or conflict of interest.

Ans

The Awards are already scrutinised by the Compliance section at the BBC and scrutinised rigourously - since the Jonathan Ross and Russel Brand affair the BBC has been extra extra cautious about anything involving voting / awards etc

3: The criticism is not against the BBC or against you (Mike Harding) personally. Your own contribution to the folk scene, artistically and otherwise, is widely acknowledged and admired.

Ans

No comment

4: The criticism is not about who wins any particular award category in any particular year. There will always be differences of opinion about that, and such debate is not only unavoidable it's also healthy - as long as the reasons for how and why the award has been made are clear and open.

Ans

No awards ceremony in the world publishes reasons why the judges have made their decisions at length - too laborious and we don’t have the staff or time to do it.

In any case I'm not sure the judges would want to sit down and write a resume of their feelings about certain acts - it's not something that is ever done as far s I know. Do ice skating judges write a report? Booker Prize judges?

5: As these are BBC awards they speak for the BBC and, therefore, the nation, yet they are run in a manner that makes it impossible for the nation - "The Folk" themselves - to understand exactly why each award is made, who has decided on it and why. The procedure also denies the public any influence over the awards at a time when it has never been easier to allow it, via registered internet voting.

Ans

You can understand exactly how each award is made by listening to me explain it n the programme - the best duo award is made for the best duo, the horizon award is made for the act that has emerged in the past year that has made the biggest effect on the scene - the judges have been asked to nominate names and have done so.

Public voting via internet voting would mean that people with massive fan bases would swerve the vote every time

6: There is nothing new about these concerns. Smooth Operations must have been aware of them for several years as they have been repeatedly raised not only by fans but also by some very prominent artists, including some past winners of the awards. However, despite repeated public and private criticism and direct questioning, Smooth Operations has chosen to do nothing to address the issue. This has led to some fans calling for closer investigation by the BBC into the procedures.

Ans

Tell me who? name names? Nobody but people not involved or people who have never been to the awards have ever complained to me. There are a handful of people out there whipping this up into an unnecessary storm. Whenever people complain that there are far better acts out there that never get a mention I ask for names - none come forward. Likewise I ask you - who are the acts / individuals etc who complain and what are their complaints.? Name names in the spirit of openness

7: Despite your own public protestations that the awards are "done for love" and that "no ego, no money" is involved you must be aware that winners of a R2FA can potentially receive very large financial rewards, indirectly, thanks to increased record sales, ticket sales, festival appearances and so on. Artists' careers have been made or massively enhanced by winning a prominent music award, and the R2FAs have become the most important award in the British folk scene.

Ans

Do you know that the Young folk Award - which we also run for love and not for money has kick started the career of Tim Van Eyken - Jackie Oates and Jim Moray to name but 3. They've gone on to have great careers. Do you want that to be put under the microscope? Because if you do then - fine but it's just more time and energy spent on investigating a completely honest competition that does nothing but good for the folk scene. We've run that since the start of my show and it has meant a grab deal to hundreds of young folk.

As for the winners of the R2FA furthering people's careers - that is neither here nor there - that is not the point of the Awards - the Awards are a way of saying "thank you" of saying "well done" If you've every watched or listened to the Awards you will have heard me say that at each and every one.

I personally don't like awards or competitions - but I do se ho the R2FA has raised the profile of fok in this country through getting journos and other broadcasters to come and cover it.

My programme was pulling in 70,000 listeners when I took it over it now gets listened to by 860,000. I don't get a penny more than I got when I first started so in real terms I'm worse off. I do this because I believe in it and to be brutal I get mightily pigged off by the constant carping from people nit picking and pushing their own agendas who don;t see that - yes it's not a perfect show and it aint going to please everybody but we only have one hour a week - one hour for god's sake!!

8: The biggest concern about the R2FAs is that the identities and allegiances of R2FA jury members are kept secret by Smooth Operations. The R2FAs tell the world that the winners are "the best" in their category, but when we ask "says who?" Smooth Operations replies "we aren't going to tell you". That hugely devalues the awards, and leaves them wide open to criticism. It has been suggested that concealing jurors' identities is the best way to avoid "lobbying". In fact, all it does is ensure that only those who do know the names of jurors can lobby, potentially creating an even greater distortion of votes. I'm not saying this has happened, but the system does nothing to prevent it happening or to allow people to be confident that it doesn't happen to some extent.

Ans

I think I've answered this in my observations sent to you

I don't give a flying chuff who the judges are and if you want their names and I had them I'd give them you - but the people who are wingeing and moaning at us now would then be wingeing and moaning at the judges - and you know that to be true. The folk world seems more concerned with eating and attacking itself than support ing those who are getting on with stuff and doing and honest job the best way they can.

As the fronts man of both my prog and the awards I take all this very personally. I've repeated over and again that there is no clique or cabal - I only know of 3 other judges 2 of them in Smooth Ops and as I said I could;t care les who the others are.

THEY ALL HAVE TO SIGN A FORM DECLARING THAT THEY WILL NOTE VOTE FOR ANYBODY IN WHOM THEY HAVE AN INTEREST - THEY DO SIGN IT AND THE BBC AND SMOOTH OPS POLICE THEIR ENTRIES

9: Even those closely involved with the awards cannot seem to agree about who is on the jury. You (Mike Harding) have publicly stated that no-one from record companies is involved in voting, but Smooth Operations have said the opposite, admitting that "agents and record labels" are among those with a vote. This confused and confusing situation is a further detriment to the reputation of the R2FAs, to the BBC as a whole and to the folk scene in general.

Ans

I was wrong about the record companies for which I apologise - lack of knowledge not intention to deceive - and as I stated above they are policed fully - also as I have pointed out before I don't particularly care about the voting process and leave that to Smooth Ops and the BBC Both of whom I trust

10: There are further criticisms including

a) All non-musical awards such as the Folk Club of the Year Award, have been scrapped and so no-one in the folk scene other than musicians is rewarded or even acknowledged for their work,

Ans

I'm not sure why this happened - I think it was because it was getting difficult to get the votes in (this category was voted for by the performers who work in the folk clubs and the returns from them were poor.

b) the awards - either by design or accident - give multiple awards to a small group of "elite" artists year after year while ignoring others artists working hard on the scene.

Ans

Name names. - If Bellowhead fill stages all over the world and sell thousands of albums is it not likely that out of 170 judges many of them will vote for the band as Best Group

Andy Cutting is a world class musician who appears on many many peoples albums - that's why he gets nominated for best musician over and again

There's not much you can do to make somebody popular unpopular and I do wish you would tell me the great acts out there that have never had recognition either by being nominated or awarded

However, these concerns are secondary to the main issue of the unnecessarily obfuscated jury membership and voting procedure.

If these awards were run by any organisation other than the BBC my concerns would be irrelevant, but as these are BBC awards every effort must be made to ensure that they stand up to any scrutiny.

Ans

Is the scrutiny of the BBC itself not enough for you?? Do you believe them when the BBC presents the news? Current affairs? The BBC has a world-wide reputation for truth and trust. The kind of inuendo and suggestion of malpractice that have been coming from some sections of the folk scene are both unfounded and unnecessary.

I'm sure that the BBC, Smooth Operations and you, Mike, as the public face of the awards, want to ensure that the BBC R2 Folk Awards are not only fair and honest but also are seen to be fair, honest and above reproach. You all have the opportunity to ensure that this is the case with a simple revision of procedures and the publication of a full list of the jury members' identities and commercial allegiances.

Ans

Well lets see what the BBC do because - as I said it has bugger all to do with me

Absolutely nothing - I do not make policy at the BBC and I do not control the purse strings of Radio 2 - NADA ZILCH

Clearly it is too late now to change anything for the 2012 awards as the nominations have been announced. But the time is ripe for revision and reinvention. Why not start by asking what "the folk" actually want? I hope that, once the 2012 awards are complete, the BBC launches a full consultation of listeners: what award categories they would like to see, what voting system to use, what level of direct public involvement there should be. Ask people what they want the Folk Awards to be, rather than presuming to speak on their behalf.

Ans

I presume to make programmes on your behalf - do you want to sit on my shoulders as I make each programme telling me you don't like this or that? We also have a regular request show and my post bag is always open for emails tweets or whatever else - and I do go looking for good acts to play - so other than that I don't know what the hell I can do to convince you that I am not some part of a folk plot to keep good music off the air.

A lot has changed in the folk scene since the Folk Awards were first staged in 2000 but there has never been a proper root-and-branch review of the awards themselves, just tinkering with various categories. What started as a simple party in the off season to hand out prizes to the great and the good has grown massively in importance and impact and it's no longer just a jolly fun night out for a bunch of mates. Sadly, the R2FAs are failing to match the role they have perhaps unintentionally acquired: speaking to the wider world on behalf of the cream of the British folk scene.

Ans

That's your opinion to which you are entitled - I don’t think it has changed that much at all - have you been?

It's still a jolly night out the aim of which is to give a pat on the back to various acts - the at being a collective one from the folk world

If you are absolutely convinced that the R2FAs are perfect and cannot be improved and made more robust then continue to do what you have been doing - but be sure that the criticism will not go away just because you tell fans and musicians to "stop moaning" as if it has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with them! These are the very people who pay for these awards through their TV licence, these are the very people who through their daily involvement with playing or listening to music, organising events and taking part in dance and other activities are the living, breathing embodiments of the folk scene. If you want to see this situation resolved then show that you really are in tune with what the folk scene is all about by helping to break down the barriers between the Folk Awards and The Folk themselves.

Ans

Nothing is perfect - but you could help to make it better by suggestions rather than attacks I don't say it has nothing to do with the folk fans all I say is

A - IT IS HONEST AND ABOVE BOARD

B - WE DO THE BEST WE CAN TO PROMTE ALL ASPECTS OF FOLK - NOT EASY IN ONE HOUR A WEEK

C - MUCH OF THE CRITICISM HAS BEEN LEVELED BLINDLY WITHOUT ANY REAL THOUGHT ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT THIS IS. WHERE IS THE EXTRA MONEY GOING TO COME FROM TO DO ALL YOU ASK? WE DON;T HAVE ANY AND THE BBC CUT US BACK EVER YEAR

WE NO LONGER DO SIDMOUTH OR CELTIC CONNECTIONS BECAUSE OF THE CUTS OR EXAMPLE

If you're not totally happy with the awards then now is the time for you to use your position and influence to help bring about the revision and reinvention that's so badly needed. By doing nothing you are supporting a rotten system, sticking up for the establishment and propping up the status quo - and that doesn't sound like the Mike Harding I know. Drive out secrecy! Bring in democracy and openness!

Ans

I think the Awards are pretty damn good and we are very lucky that the BBC spend such a sizeable amount of money one themm

Idon't have a position or influence - I present / produce my programme and the Folk Awards. Policy is decided by the BBC - if you think it's a rotten system run by the establishment then I must be rotten and part of the establishment - I am neither my friend

Seize the opportunity to make these awards what they should have been all along: by The Folk, of The Folk and for The Folk.

Ans

What does that mean? By The Folk Of The Folk For the Folk?

By and large it is - the people who vote are folk in the folk scene - the people they vote for are folk in the folk scene and the music is folk music made for the people who listen

I made my point about intimidation and abuse in the piece I sent to you

I will repeat again that if the judges were named (and I don't care if they are or not) then they could very well be open to the kinds of email and postings I've been getting and they ma well not want to do that

Also can I point out that the BBC hate any whiff of scandal or trouble and while I am 100% sure the R2 FA are honest and above board - all this kerfuffle could well mean that they decide it just ain't worth it

Can't say I would blame them

I have just spent the best part of ¾ of an hour reading and responding to your email

Overall this thing has eaten into time I should be spending listening to music and sorting out programmes - and the abuse and carping at times has been pretty hard to take. The BBC do not take kindly to such slogans as Occupy the Folk Awards and neither do I

Dear Mike Harding...

2011-11-23T18:30:00.001Z

I've been having a discussion via Twitter with BBC radio folk show presenter Mike Harding about the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards controversy, but the 140-character format of that medium makes it difficult for anyone to get a point across. Mike kindly asked me to email him directly, and I have now done so. In an effort to keep all this in the public arena as much as possible, I've copied the email, unedited, below, and I hope to get Mike's permission to similarly post any reply he sends to me.

Phil.

(SENT at 18:17 on November 23 2011)

Hi Mike,

At your suggestion, I'm writing to you directly in a further attempt to put across my criticism of the jury and voting system used by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (R2FAs). Other people have either supported me or made criticisms of their own, but I do not claim to speak on their behalf or to necessarily support them.

You've said that you are tired of what you see as "carping" and "sniping". I'm tired of the issue myself, but feel I have to continue to be critical in an attempt to break through a brick wall of secrecy, complacency and confusion.

As you seem to be under some misapprehension about the motives and the issues, below I've attempted to sum up the issue in 10 hopefully easy-to-grasp points. However, if you want just one "soundbite" it is this:

The secret jury and confidential rules of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards do nothing to engender trust, are detrimental to the standing and reputation of everyone involved and are contradictory to the democratic traditions of the folk scene itself.

Here are the 10 points that expand on this:

3: The criticism is not against the BBC or against you (Mike Harding) personally. Your own contribution to the folk scene, artistically and otherwise, is widely acknowledged and admired.

10: There are further criticisms including a) All non-musical awards such as the Folk Club of the Year Award, have been scrapped and so no-one in the folk scene other than musicians is rewarded or even acknowledged for their work, and b) the awards - either by design or accident - give multiple awards to a small group of "elite" artists year after year while ignoring others artists working hard on the scene. However, these concerns are secondary to the main issue of the unnecessarily obfuscated jury membership and voting procedure.

If these awards were run by any organisation other than the BBC my concerns would be irrelevant, but as these are BBC awards every effort must be made to ensure that they stand up to any scrutiny. I'm sure that the BBC, Smooth Operations and you, Mike, as the public face of the awards, want to ensure that the BBC R2 Folk Awards are not only fair and honest but also are seen to be fair, honest and above reproach. You all have the opportunity to ensure that this is the case with a simple revision of procedures and the publication of a full list of the jury members' identities and commercial allegiances.

Seize the opportunity to make these awards what they should have been all along: by The Folk, of The Folk and for The Folk.

I want to encourage proper debate with other folk fans on this issue and to that end I intend to publish this email on my blog (http://folkcasters.blogspot.com/), so that others can see exactly what has been said. With your permission, I'd also like to publish any reply you choose to make.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email.

Yours respectfully and in friendship,

Phil

Phil Widdows

Producer/Presenter

FolkCast

http://www.folkcast.co.uk

Folk Awards controversy … the story so far.

2011-11-22T16:50:00.001Z

For those just arriving on the scene, or for those wanting a handy reminder, here's a summation of just what the BBC Folk Awards controversy (2011) has been all about:

TIMELINE:

On November 16 the nominations for the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards were announced.

On November 17 FolkCast asked (not the first time) why the same names keep being being nominated year after year, and also asked just who makes up the "mysterious cabal" which both creates the nominations and then votes on those nominations to find a winner.

On November 18/19 a rather heated row brewed up on Facebook between some folk fans and performers on one side and (mostly) Mike Harding - the 'face' of the Folk Awards - on the other.

To sum it up, some fans alleged that there is a "closed shop" which greatly restricts which performers are even considered for an award, and complained that the people voting in the awards are largely commercially involved in one way or another with the folk scene, either through selling records or festival tickets. The worry is that commercial interests could be manipulating the awards unbeknown to the producers of the awards (Smooth Operations) or the BBC.

Mike Harding told them that they were wrong, that "no record company or executives are allowed to vote" and that fans and musicians should "give up on your moaning and support the folk scene instead". He also suggested that if people didn't like the way the awards were run they should run them themselves, but he did not supply details of where people could apply for BBC funding...

FolkCast reports proceedings of the Facebook row in a blog post.

On November 20 Emma Hartley published a blog featuring an email conversation with Kellie While of Smooth Operations, which gave some more details about the kind of people who are on the judging panel. Contrary to Mike Harding's assertions, it appears that record labels are among their number: "festival organisers, journalists, broadcasters, agents, record labels and so on." In other words, largely people with a commercial interest in the folk scene in one way or another.

Emma's blog post also included a short interview with an (anonymous) awards judge, who seems unsure if he's allowed to tell anyone of his involvement.

On November 21, Emma is telephoned by John Leonard, producer of the Folk Awards (and head of Smooth Operations), who attempts to defend the awards.

On November 22, Emma publishes a further blog post with various suggested points of action.

Twitter messages posted by Mike Harding

Meanwhile, on Twitter (see screen grab, right), Mike Harding again sets out to answer critics and, in response to FolkCast's suggestion that ordinary folk fans are disenfranchised by the awards procedure, says that this isn't the case because "The 150 people who vote are from all over the folk world". He also wrote: "And there's no way the BBC would open it up to the public - can you imagine how abused it could be then?"

FOLKCAST COMMENT:

Mike's stridently anti-democratic stance is surprising - especially as the BBC regularly opens up awards and competitions to public voting or input, ranging from Sports Personality Of The Year to the Radio 2 New Comedy Award via Strictly Come Dancing, and other music awards around the world - including the Scots Trad Awards, the Canadian Juno Awards and even the Brit Awards and the Grammy Awards - also trust the public to vote on at least some categories.

Mike Harding has accused critics of the awards system of spreading "false information and mischief". What false information there has been has come as a result of the secrecy surrounding the awards voting system (ie the correct information is not in the public arena), or from directly contradictory statements or factually incorrect statements made by people working for Smooth Operations (including Mike Harding himself).

As for "mischief", well… folk fans are certainly making trouble for the awards organisers but it's not out of a sense of naughtiness or to make pranks. We question the awards system because we care about the music and the people who make that music, and we want to be sure that those who are rewarded in our name not only receive those awards for honest and straightforward reasons but that the machinary behind the awards is beyond reproach.

THE MAIN POINTS AGAIN

A growing number of folk fans have criticised the awards for being too narrow in their frame of reference and for being exclusive, muddled and for having a voting system which is unrepresentative and undemocratic. The awards repeatedly rewards the same narrow group of performers while ignoring large swathes of the British folk scene, not only other performers but also the non-performing side, which is vital for the continued health of the music.
Smooth Operations have denied that there is a problem, have repeated that the awards are compliant with BBC rules and policy (although what that policy is has also not been revealed), and that the voting system involving between 150 and 170 "folk professionals - including festival organisers, journalists, broadcasters, agents and record labels" is completely free of the possibility of corruption or coercion or conflict of interest.
Folk Awards presenter Mike Harding has publicly announced that the public cannot be trusted to have a hand in the awards, and dismissed all criticism as "sniping", "carping" and "mischief".

WHY THIS MATTERS:

The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards are Britain's premier folk music award. Because they fly the BBC flag, they de facto represent all licence-payers and consequently the vast majority of British folk fans.
Commercially, they can transform the prospects of an act or a record, boosting ticket and record sales and consequently greatly boosting their fees of concert and festival appearances.
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards are widely covered by the mainstream media, and are one of the few occasions virtually guaranteed to give the artists involved publicity outside the folk scene.
The two-CD album produced each year in association with the awards is one of the best selling folk records in most years, which in itself is an important revenue generator for the artists and labels involved.

Harding hits back in folk awards row

2011-11-19T16:00:00.001Z

Mike Harding, genial host of BBC radio's flagship folk show, has reacted angrily to criticism of the station's annual folk awards, telling fans and artists who complained to: "Give up on your moaning and support the folk scene instead" and dismissing other concerns as "total bollocks".

Mike Harding: not amused

Mike also denied that there is any "corruption" or "favouritism" in how the awards are nominated and judged.
Responding on Facebook to folk fan Julian Talbot's strident posting that the awards are "nowt but a load of shite", Mr Harding - who has hosted the awards ceremony for the last 12 years - said that the nominations are "nothing to do with me" but challenged Julian to justify why he thought performers are unworthy.

Meanwhile, FolkCast has received lots of messages, publicly and privately, from fans and musicians agreeing with our blog post which criticised the narrow range of the nominations and the opacity of the nomination and judging process for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, which have become the single most high-profile event on the folk music calendar, attracting widescale mainstream media coverage. Several folk musicians have told us off the record that they cannot comment publically on the awards as they fear being accused of "sour grapes", but that they feel aggrieved at the way the awards seem to constantly favour certain artists to the exclusion of others.

Back on Facebook, as the at-times heated online discussion continued and others added their criticisms of the award nominations, Harding's defence of the awards became more robust.

"You just don't know what you're talking about", he told detractors.

And it's not just fans who are unhappy with aspects of the awards. Folk musicians have added their voices, too.

Bryony Holden, singer with folk band Tinkerscuss, wrote that "there seems a closed shop when it comes to the newer acts. There seems to be some sort of folk 'mafia' - the same names come up all the time and if you're not in, then you haven't a hope in hell of getting much airplay or bookings let alone awards."

Folk performer Buddy Freeman, of Cardigan-based duo Sandwitch, wrote: "the BBC is a closed shop and has been for years there is more Talent kicking around facebook and myspace that would blow away most of the nominated acts ... but the BBC won't even look at them ... its snobery of a high degree."

Twaddle

Mike Harding responded: "You are so so so wrong" and said that a lot of folk music found on the web is "self indulgent twaddle"

However, he also threw a little more light on the kind of people who decide who the awards go to, citing a selection of folk club and festival organisers, folk journalists and university lecturers who run folk courses as the arbiters of taste and judgement. Previously, the BBC has said that a panel of 170 "folk professionals" vote on the nominations and then the awards. However, the identities of people on the panel is kept top secret.

Clearly hurt by the criticism, including one post suggesting that people may fear that "big PR & record companies [are] buying the awards", Mike wrote: "No record cos or execs are allowed a vote the BBC screen them all. There is no corruption and no favouritism. You just don't know what you are talking about.

"I do this job cos I love it. 3 gigs at Sheffield City Hall would pay me more than I get from the beeb for doing it."

For the first time, the 2012 folk awards ceremony will not be held in London but instead moves to the 1,730-seat Lowry Theatre in Salford, which is alongside the BBC's new home in the North West of England. The ceremony will be staged on February 8th and, again for the first time, some lucky folk fans will be able to attend in person, with all the tickets being quickly snapped up at £10 a time within hours of going on sale.

Digging holes

Mike Harding then rounded on his critics: "Give up on your moaning and support the folk scene instead - the awards aren't perfect but the fact that tkts [tickets] sold out in 2 hrs means that there's a hell of a lot of people out there that appreciate what we're trying to do."

"You all remind me of the blokes who stand round watching workmen digging holes in the road telling them they're not doing it right. As my gran always used to say - "if you think you're all that good then do it your fxxkin' self."

Several people supported Mike Harding's Facebook comments by clicking the associated "like" button next to his posts, but still others reacted sternly. Hugh Songsongwriters (which may not be his real name...) told Mike: "Shame on you Mike... have you lost all your Rochdale roots? As for folk talent you must have gone deaf as well or just to old a fart to listen."

EDIT: Our friend Emma Hartley has been in contact with Smooth Operations, the independent production company that runs both the Radio 2 folk show and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Her questions have unpeeled a little more detail about how the awards are run. Read her blog here.

You can see the thread on Facebook here and I've included five screengrabs of the conversation below, just in case any comments should accidentally be deleted in future:

Stickies stick to their favourites

2011-11-17T10:57:00.001Z

The nominations for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2012 (aka The Stickies) have been announced. You can read the details here - but if you do you will be confronted by a photo of Mike Harding and Donovan. You have been warned!

So, music fans, what do you reckon? Some great musicians are nominated, but it's a shame that they seem to be pretty much the same musicians (bar a change or three) that were nominated last year. And the year before. And the year before...

Amazingly, Jon Boden is nominated as Folk Singer of the Year, in the Best Duo (with John Spiers) category and in best group with Bellowhead, and he pops up again with his bellowing big band with a nom for best live act! Now, Mr Boden's a busy boy and all that, but even so this does seem to be rather excessive.

Bellowhead

And it's not as though he's been neglected by The Stickies in the past. In fact, Jon won the Folk Singer of the Year award as recently as 2010, when Bellowhead collected the best live act doorstop - which they also won in 2008. And in 2007, when they were also Best "non-live" Group … which is an award they won again in the 2011 awards.

In all, Bellowhead has won seven Stickies in the last six years. OK, already, we get the message - the
mysterious cabal which puts these awards together with all the transparency of a lead-lined concrete wall thinks Bellowhead is rather good.

Awards serve several purposes, but surely the main one – beyond the esoteric concept of rewarding the "best", as though music is a sporting competition that can be judged by such parameters – is to help propel and promote musicians who might otherwise struggle to get the recognition they deserve. Bellowhead have recognition coming out of their many, many ears. They are already selling out venues on tour after tour, and it really matters little to anyone whether they've won seven awards or eight, nine or ten. Giving them another armful could actually be considered harmful to the folk scene as a whole, suggesting domination by the big band and stagnation from everyone else, which is certainly not the case.

Bellowhead aren't the only Radio 2 favourites. Elsewhere in the awards, The Unthanks get four cracks at various categories, as does June Tabor (with or without Oysterband). Martin Simpson gets three noms. He's great ... but he's won six Stickies since 2002. Isn't it about time to give someone else a chance?

Home Service (dubbed The Home Service by a confused BBC website - no, that's your tradename, Auntie!) also gets two nominations: as Best Group and Best Live Act. Now the rejuvenated Home Service is a great band, but aren't those two categories actually the same thing? It seems so, as three of the four nominees in the Best Group category also get a nod in the Best Live Act category.

Meanwhile, there's still no recognition for anyone in the folk world outside the performing elite: no awards to the folk clubs, the theatre venues or the festivals that keep the live scene alive.

Sticky - an award yesterday

As usual, the Stickies are a wasted opportunity ... as opposed to an opportunity to get wasted, which is what they usually boil down to for the happy band of insiders and hangers-on who get invited to the presentation ceremony where the free booze reportedly flows like, er, free booze...

Well now we're all invited – at a price. For the first time, in 2012 the awards ceremony will not be in London but rather in the Beeb's new home of Salford, most appropriately at The Lowry theatre. Where better to hand out models of matchstick men? Tickets cost you a tenner (it's already a sell out). Take your own bottle, as the bar prices are crippling.

GBFF Competition Winner

2011-11-16T19:42:00.001Z

The winner of our October podcast competition to win a pair of weekend tickets, including accommodation, for the Great British Folk Festival at Butlin's in Skegness is:

Ben Sutton of Leeds, who correctly told us that Skegness is in Lincolnshire.

Congratulations to Ben, and thanks to everyone who entered the competition.

And it's not too late to go to the GBFF. Full ticket details are available at:
http://www.bigweekends.com/your-break/67404

REVIEW: Ricketts rocks shanty town

2011-11-02T14:57:00.001Z

One of the benefits of working on FolkCast is that sometimes you get invited to gigs. Chris Ricketts launched his new CD in Portsmouth, and he sent us an invite to the show.

Chris Ricketts: new album is a Victory

It was excellent, as is the album "Port of Escape". Chris mainly sings shanties, but these are shanties with new folk/rock arrangements - "shanty rock", as he calls it. He's toured Canada and played festivals in Germany and Poland, but this is his first CD. I knew we were in for something different when he mounted the stage carrying a Flying V electric guitar, and so it proved. Different, but both new and traditional at the same time.

Yes, he and the band rocked, but they also brought a different focus to some shanties when they took them at a gentle, reflective tempo, emphasising the melody rather than the strict beat of these working songs.

Backed by bass (acoustic, electric and double), fiddle (acoustic and electric) and drums, Chris explored the shanty tradition thoroughly, with genuine respect and knowledge of the genre, while making familiar songs sound fresh, new and vital. His approach brings out aspects that can go unnoticed, like the purity of the melody or the elements of loneliness and homesickness in the words, especially when he treats the shanties as songs, rather than the rythmic chants we know well.

Yet he and the band rocked the house, too. Starting one shanty by singing accapella the first stanza of "I Fought The Law" (and pausing so that the audience could sing back the "I fought the law and the law won" lines), then going into the traditional shanty lyrics with stabbing electric chords and staccato, spare drumbeats just proved that a good angry singalong song is the same anywhere, whether it's labelled "shanty", "New Wave" or rock'n'roll. And no, I can't remember which shanty was involved. I was enjoying myself far too much to make notes. I also had a gob-smacked classical musician hanging off my arm, absolutely loving the noise that folk/rock makes.

I have no hesitation in recommending "Port of Escape". Details of how to get it are on his home page and it's worth the tenner he's asking. If you'd like a preview, download October's FolkCast and listen to the final track, Chris' gorgeous version of "Leave Her, Johnny". You won't be able to haul a sheet in to it, nor wind up an anchor, but when it's robbed of the tempo required for those tasks, you'll find out what a lovely song it is.

Babba

Who is the new John Peel? We all are!

2011-11-01T07:24:00.000Z

It's a great shame that John Peel is no longer with us. When the downbeat DJ was alive and kicking he took it upon himself to listen to an awful lot of awful music, so that we didn't have to. If he was still here he could have performed the same filtering service on the inaugural John Peel memorial lecture, delivered by Pete Townshend, and just brought us the bits that were in tune.

However, in the absence of the venerable Peel, I'll attempt to do the job.

Pete Townshend

Just what is the old Windmill Whoover on about? Well, if you've not heard or read Townshend's talk - or even if you have and still can't make head nor tail of it - here's the very short version: "Me, me, me, me, me, me! Pay me!"

Here's the even shorter version: Pete is worried.

He's worried that good music isn't being heard, he's worried that musicians are being ripped off, he's worried that the music business model that made him a multi-millionaire has collapsed and that the thing that's replaced it is not up to the job. And he's worried that the hole left by John Peel's passing has also not been filled.

He wants Apple's iTunes to stop being just a massive store and become a record company. Not one of the greedy, short-termist, account-led record companies that so comprehensively screwed the golden goose from the post-Punk era onwards, but one of the enlightened, caring, nurturing record companies of yore which would actively seek out new talent and happily spend money to help them to blossom, investing in their talent in the long-term.

Pete wants Apple-brand musicians to replace the marketplace open to all. This would be a great idea … if you happened to be one of the few musicians that this avuncular Apple label chose to support. If you weren't among that happy number then the sound of slamming doors would be more deafening than a Keith Moon drum solo.

Pete wants the BBC to become Spotify, and use the license fee to pay every musician in the world the kind of money you get for being played on the radio. That's a sum measured in pounds rather than the hundredths of a penny that Spotify deals out per play. And that's a good idea too … if you want to bankrupt the BBC in minutes flat. For instance, everytime Pete's 1966 hit Substitute is played on Radio 2, the BBC pays out something like £80 in PRS fees. Imagine applying that to the Spotify model, which streams thousands of songs a day.

Oh, and Pete wants people to stop burning CD copies of his records for their friends, because their friends should bloody well buy their own copies! And, presumably, should you happen to play My Generation to a member of the young people of today, in an attempt to teach them what proper music sounds like, you should pop a cheque in the post to Pete, just to cover the copyright violation, OK?

John Peel

There, in rather more than a nutshell, is Pete's nutty lecture. There was some even more wacky stuff about wanting to cut the balls off various people (including himself), but let's put that aside for now. Oh, and he also insulted Led Zeppelin! That's always good for a laugh.

Like a lot of older men (Pete Townshend is 66), Pete yearns for a golden age when everything was good, and fair and groovy; a magical time when he still had his hair and his hearing and, if he should choose to release a record, it would be played on the radio (and the radio people would pay him handsomely to do so) and then the public would realise exactly how groovy it all was, and go to a shop and bloody well buy it! You know … the good old days.

But today, thinks Pete, even if he could be arsed to release anything that wasn't the umpteenth repackaging of Tommy, no-one would play it on the radio. And even if the public did hear it, they wouldn't buy it - they'd wait until one of their friends burned them a copy instead. Or they'd torrent it illegally. Or listen to it on Spotify, which pays in fractions of a button for every zillion plays. This makes Pete very angry indeed, and he starts looking for scissors and fly zips.

Once upon a time, when Jack was still Happy and the Bus was still Magic, only a select few people wrote and recorded songs. If the song was commercial pop then jolly old daytime Radio One would happily play it, and if the song was a bit more "challenging", arty or avante garde John Peel sifted out the real crap, played the rest, and we were expected to tune in at midnight, pay attention and make a note of which records we were to buy from the local record shop on the morrow. Happy days.

Making and distributing a record in the Sixties and Seventies was expensive, and the record industry jealously guarded the golden goose. Today, making and distributing music is so easy that every third person I know is in a band with a new album due out soon.

iTunes: "A digital vampire"

Songs used to be released in their hundreds a week. Now they seem to be released in their hundreds of thousands. Anyone who has recorded their own music can sell it, easily, via iTunes. But Pete's not happy about that. He says Apple is "a digital vampire" bleeding the work of artists and extracting an "enormous" commission for doing very little.

He also compares iTunes to Northern Rock, for some reason. Northern Rock was the British bank that crashed and burned after buying deeply into the American junk mortgage market, and was the first to have to be bailed out by the Government when the junk hit the fan. Why does Pete thinks Apple and iTunes are anything like Northern Rock? I Can't Explain... Let's file it away alongside the bit about balls, eh?

Pete isn't dismissive of the internet, and he isn't ignorant of the multiplicity of easy-to-access platforms open to all. He names them, everyone from Soundcloud and YouTube to blogs like this one, from LastFM to podcasts like FolkCast. But, says Pete, none of them help him buy a new Fender to replace the one he's just smashed up, because either they don't pay to play music or they pay so little that it's not even worth counting it. He's tried to make another million from putting music on internet streaming services and - Hey! - he won't get fooled again…

Pete's angry, and he's confused. He yearns for the past when record companies ruled the world and decided who would be allowed to make and sell records. Well he would, wouldn't he?

He was lucky enough to have a) the talent, b) the opportunities and c) the luck to be successful. Without all three of those elements you'd never have heard of Pete Townshend. The history of popular music is littered with the career corpses of people just as talented as Pete but who didn't get the breaks or on whom Lady Luck refused to smile. They just got the door slammed in their face.

How unfair! But the world isn't fair; never has been. However, at least now, thanks to the internet, the playing field is a little more level, and everyone can play.

Yes, the talent is there and the opportunities are there, but luck is in just as short a supply as it ever was, and success - at least mega success like Pete's - just as hard to come by, and more transitory than ever. This year's Justin Bieber can easily becomes next year's Shayne Ward.

Fortunately, most musicians don't aim to be megastars like Pete. Away from the mainstream there's a very healthy music scene in all kinds of genres which sees all comers able to play their music at gigs, and easily distribute their records worldwide. They don't make fortunes, but they are able to make music, get it heard, and make a living - and that's almost entirely thanks to the internet, the "digital vampires" so bemoaned by Pete. Where the music business used to be about keeping doors shut tight, the Net hasn't just opened the doors but smashed them off their hinges!

The smartest artists know that, unlike an anonymous torrent, a burned CD copy of an album being passed from one fan to a friend is worth much more in the long run than the few quid they might (but probably wouldn't) otherwise have got. What's happening is that someone wants to share not only the music but also their love for it, and when they do the love is likely to increase, and create new fans who in time will pay not only for CDs or downloads but also for gig tickets. In the folk world, Show Of Hands positively encourage the CD shares. They can't count the number of their CDs that have been copied and passed around, but now they know how many it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Is this you?

In among the nonsense, the nostalgia and the balls, Pete Townshend has a point. There are too many people who take advantage of the free availability of music of the internet and who never pay for anything. These are the real "digital vampires" - the sponges who neither create music or promote it but simply soak it up, refusing to acknowledge the value of the work of those who do create or promote.

Pete calls for a return to Peelism, but we no longer need a John Peel to give us access to exciting, interesting new music. All we need is a computer ... and time. Today we can all be John Peel, just with a click of a mouse.

Don't have the time? Don't worry. Just turn to the "digital vampire" - iTunes - and you'll find hundreds of specialists who do. These are the real John Peels of the 21st century: the podcasters.

Cropredy Quiz Competition result

2011-10-18T14:32:00.001+01:00

Thank you to everyone who entered our recent Cropredy Quiz competition. The winners have now been drawn at random from all the correct entries and they are: Nigel Plant of Hampshire; Roger Brown of West Sussex; and John Kanes of Kent.

Congratulations to them! Their prizes of Cropredy goodie bags are on their way!

The correct quiz answers were:

1) Over 600 (According to Peggy, how many CDs do Fairport receive annually from bands keen to play at Cropredy)

2) Belgium (in what country was the festival where Peggy and the Fairports saw both 10CC and Musafir?)

3) Richard Thompson (which former FC guitarist was once grabbed by The Dubervilles?)

4) 70 (How many years old is Steve Gibbons this year?)

5) Roy Wood (Who was top of the bill on Friday night at 1998's Cropredy Festival?)

6) Prescott Manor (Name the house where FC first played a fundraising gig in Cropredy in 1976)

7) Belfast (In which city did Gareth see Horslips playing earlier this year?)

8) A361 (What is the number of the road that runs from Banbury to Daventry?)

9) Red Lion & Brasenose (Name the two pubs in Cropredy village).

Folk Lookalikes 5

2011-10-16T18:07:00.003+01:00

Dear Sir,

I wonder if anyone has noticed the similarity between Fairport Convention's bass player and human pyramids champion (1971-1995) Dave Pegg and former Genesis lawnmower impressionist Peter Gabriel. Are they, by any chance, related? I feel we should be told!

Yours,
Sol S. Buryhill

Previous Folk Lookalike
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A Plea From Babba

2011-10-11T21:23:00.001+01:00

As soon as one Story Behind The Song is researched, written and recorded, I start thinking about the next one. Usually, I have a song in mind, or someone has kindly suggested one, but very occasionally I have a good story and go looking for an appropriate song. Such was the case the other day when I thought it might be fun to tell the story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot for November's FolkCast.

I was astonished to find that there are no folk songs about him! At least, none that I can find. I'm certain that there must have been a few that were written in the years following, but nothing seems to have survived.

So I'm appealing for help, FolkCasters! Do you know of any songs that feature Guy Fawkes? They don't have to be traditional, just songs that will fit into our folk/roots/singer-songwriter format. To save you wasted effort, I know that Attilla The Stockbroker wrote and recorded "Guy Fawkes' Table", but it's not really about the Gunpowder Plot; and I know about the nursery rhyme "Remember, Remember"... but I can't find a recording of the entire song!

Obviously, time is short to get this done and I need any suggestions as soon as possible, and certainly by the 28th October. Either leave a comment below or email me via FolkCast.

Many thanks for any assistance on this one. As ever, if there's any other song that you'd like me to feature in Story Behind The Song, just let me know.

Babba

Bert Jansch, RIP

2011-10-06T14:48:00.000+01:00

FolkCast co-presenter and musician Ken Nicol pays a personal tribute to Bert Jansch, who has died at the age of 67.

I’ve been thinking of who had the biggest impact on my guitar playing - my sister, Brenda, or Bert Jansch.

It was the mid sixties and, although Brenda never did play the guitar, she’d arrive back ‘up north’ on occasion from her studies in London armed with vinyl, the likes of which would not otherwise have found its way to Lancashire so soon. She was my bearer of inspiration, and never had I been more inspired than when introduced to the 1965 debut album, Bert Jansch.

Bert’s style fascinated me from the word go, and there seemed something particularly individual and deeper within that set him apart from all the lighter, smiley, everybody-sing-along type of folk music out there. I’m sure some thought the subject matter of his songs to be at least “grey”, maybe even depressing, but that suited my mood of the time.

'Needle Of Death', 'Rambling’s Gonna Be The Death Of Me', 'Running From Home' ... songs soaked with understatement and beautiful introspection.

Bert Jansch: 3rd Nov 1943 - 5th Oct 2011

The other thing was this guitar playing technique of his, it wasn’t logical at times, but I knew I needed to figure it out so I would spend my evenings next to the gramophone player, lifting the arm back time-and-time again to the same location of a track in order to work out the precise notes of a passage. And how many of us toiled for hours to play Bert’s version of Angie?

Bert Jansch was not just a huge influence on my early guitar playing days, he’s in there somewhere, a part of what I am now. A modest and unassuming soul, I believe he’d struggle to grasp the influence he had on so many of us.

LINKS:

Bert Jansch website

Ken Nicol website

Sorry to mention the X word, but...

2011-09-27T16:56:00.002+01:00

'Tis the season! The season when here at FolkCast we start seriously looking at putting together the Seasonal Selection Box ... and we need your help. Or, as advertisers would put it, we need YOUR! help.

The Seasonal Selection Box is our annual turn of the year podcast, specially dedicated to winter and ... you know ... Xmas. If you're a musician with a song about the mid-winter time, about the Christmas time festivals, about New Year, let us hear it. And if you're a poet or monologuist and would like to contribute a reading, let us hear that too.

Full details of what we're looking for can be found here.

FolkCast and Cropredy 2012

2011-08-25T15:20:00.002+01:00

As listeners to Edition XVI of Fairport's Cropredy FolkCast will have heard, we at FolkCast are delighted to announce that we have been invited to return as the official podcast of Fairport's Cropredy Convention in 2012.

Our podcasts for this year's festival have been downloaded more than 35,000 times by listeners across Britain and around the world and have brought a new dimension to a fabulous event. For the first time festival-goers - and potential future festival-goers - got a fully featured preview of all the artists on the bill, complete with examples of their music, along with great, amusing stories from members of Fairport Convention, the musical hosts of the world-renowned event that is now in its fourth decade of life.

In addition, FolkCast pulled back the curtain to reveal how a major music festival is produced, talking to Festival Director Gareth Williams in depth about all aspects of rhe work involved in turning the little Oxfordshire village of Cropredy into the annual Fairport's Cropredy Convention, and boosting the local population from a few hundred to around 20,000.

We also spoke to some of the villagers themselves, to learn what they think about the yearly arrival of thousands of people on their doorstep. Their reaction? They love it! The festival does so much good for the area that it is unlikely that the village could survive and thrive in the way it does without the annual economic boost.

During the festival itself we recorded interviews with a wide range of people - musicians, fans, celebrities, Morris men, villagers and festival officials - and uploaded daily podcasts "live" from the field, sending a taste of the Cropredy magic out around the World Wide Web for everyone unable to attend. 

Now thoughts turn to 2012, which is set to be an even bigger event than normal as Fairport Convention clock up 45 years as a band. FolkCast will be on hand to put the best of the fest directly into the ears of thousands of listeners.

We are indebted to Wadworth - brewers of the beers of the Cropredy Festival - for their generous sponsorship and support, without which the podcast would not have been possible.

All 14 editions of the 2011 Cropredy podcasts will be available for free download until the end of this year via http://www.folkcast.co.uk/cropredy or via the iTunes store.

For a foolproof guide to downloading and playing podcasts, click here.

August's podcast show is out now

2011-08-21T23:35:00.001+01:00

FolkCast 064 for August and September 2011 is out now: download here.

In this show there is new music from: Helen Dorothy - Bateleurs - Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts - The Albion Band - The Cecil Sharp Project - David Serby - Nick Tann - Ken Nicol - Acoustra - Red Kite Rising - Steve Blackstone - Phil Beer - The Saw Doctors.

A sailing ship - prime territory for shanty singing

There's some mystery history involving a shanty with Babba in The Story Behind The Song, and Ken Nicol reveals details of his new, Ouija board-inspired stage show, The Glass Chronicles!

August on FolkCast

2011-08-05T17:15:00.002+01:00

Hi FolkCasters!

As you'll have noticed, we've been hard at work recently with the preview podcasts for Fairport's Cropredy Convention. I really hope you've been enjoying them, whether or not you're off to Cropredy this year. Hopefully, they've given a "peak behind the curtain" at how a major music festival is produced, as well as supplying some excellent and at times exclusive music from Fairport and their guests.

Babba, Jo and I (Phil) will be at Cropredy, of course, and we'll be podcasting 'live' every day from the festival field, the village and backstage, so do watch out for those special shows. We plan to capture the essence of the festival and squeeze it into your ears! If you are at Cropredy, keep an eye out for us and come and say hello.

Once Cropredy is over (and we've all got home and recovered from what promises to be a massively busy weekend!) work will begin in earnest on August show - edition 064 - and I've already got lots of excellent new music lined up for that from the Cecil Sharp Project, the Saw Doctors, Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts and more. So, it won't be until the week beginning August 22nd that 064 will hit the web.

After that, Jo and I are taking a break down in the West Country, so there will be no FolkCast in September – but we will be back with a bang in very early October!

If you're on Twitter or Facebook remember to follow or friend us there … but only if you want the very latest news from the worlds of folk, folk-rock, singer-songwriter and roots-based music.

Keep focused on FolkCast!

Phil

Folk Lookalikes 4

2011-08-05T16:31:00.000+01:00

Dear Sir,

Further to the correspondence from my former fiancee, Miss May Morning of Maidenhead, concerning the similarity between Phil Beer and Bill Bailey, I am shocked to see that her infatuation with Show Of Hands continues despite it forcing our separation. It was Miss Morning's fascination with Mr Beer's musical partner, Steve Knightley, that caused me to leave her and move to Ireland.

Yes, I walked out on one May Morning... and who can blame me? She was constantly comparing Mr Knightley with her other "fantasy man" (see attached photo), and I could see there was no future for us.

Yours brokenheartedly,

I. M. A. Farmer,
Galway

Folk Lookalikes 3

2011-08-05T10:31:00.006+01:00

Dear Sir,

I wonder if anyone has ever noticed the similarity between West Country "multi-instrumental wizard" Phil Beer and West Country "multi-instrumental wizard" Bill Bailey. Are they by chance related?

Yours,

May Morning (Miss),

of Maidenhead.

Phil Beer

Bill Bailey

More Folk Lookalikes: No 1 and No 2
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