Re: BBC TV ALERT: Madagascar music documentary

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 13:03:44 +0100
Newsgroups: uk.music.folk
Size: 1,406 bytes

On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 16:52:23 +0100, Dick Gaughan
<email-address-deleted> wrote:
>Hmm, that could be misinterpreted and give a very false
>impression.
I take the point; another major reason might be that the Celts had a
stronger reason than the English to maintain a national identity.
Still, the reason /I/ encounter a lot of Celtic music -- apart from my
searching it out -- surely has a lot to do with the way it is
promoted. And when I visit Ireland, away from the big cities, and see
all the "no singing in the bar" signs (except in the karaoke bars), I
get the impression that its present survival owes the industry more
than you credit. Of course, the heart of any music's survival is
those who love it and perform it, but one has to hear it to come to
love it in the first place, and the opportunities to hear music is
becoming ever more controlled. At the moment it seems to me that
Celtic music is "acceptable", so people hear the industry-controlled
version and some then seek out the roots. On the other hand,
traditional English music doesn't seem to be "acceptable", doesn't get
heard by the public at large, and so doesn't get a healthy feed of new
blood. It's unusual for me to go to a folk club and not be the
youngest there (I'm 47); if there is anybody younger, more often than
not they're the son or daughter of a folkie (and more often than not
they're the guest performer!)