Letters to the Editors

Kind regards, Sophie Coquelin (Associação PédeXumbo)

David Rovics @ FolkWorld: #23, #26, #27, #29, #32, #32 www.davidrovics.com

David Rovics: This Month in History and Song

So my website got hacked a couple weeks ago (whoever did it stuck a big Israeli flag on my bio page -- who knows), and in the process of working to reconstruct it I realized I really wanted to make improvements on the "This Month in History and Song" section, so over the course of several days I did... The results are now up and the direct link is:

www.davidrovics.com/historySong.php

Please let me know what you think, if you have suggestions for other dates I should put in there, etc. I think it might be of particular interest to teachers and radio programmers. It's now updated to include my most recent songs and it includes direct links to download or stream each song, plus a "read more" link that gives people more info on the subject at hand.

All for now! Hope to see you on the road and in the streets! David Rovics

Tradheadz

www.tradheadz.com

Hi. This is a decent and worthwhile venture which I hope you will like. I have just launched www.tradheadz.com and invite you to have a look and make your friends and associates who are interested in Traditional Irish Music aware of it. Tradheadz is dedicated to creating environmentally respectful Tee-Shirts specifically designed for Musicians and Fans of Traditional Irish Music.

Thanks and regards, John Hogan

Russian Song

www.tubinshlak.com

Hello, I have a friend who is a folk singer-songwriter and a translator of the songs of Russian bards. I wonder if you might be interested in linking to his website from this page. His information is: Mika Tubinshlak - Original Songs & Russian Music Translations - www.tubinshlak.com. I enjoy FolkWorld very much, and have returned to it many times over the years. Thanks so much for providing such an informative resource!

All best regards, Denise Enck

Dutch Song

Hello. Don't know if anybody reacted on the letter of Mary Boerebach? But maybe she is searching for this song. Best wishes, Peter Koene

Peter Koene @ FolkWorld: #24, #26, #28, #33, #33, #35 www.peterkoene.org www.madlot.nl

Het dierbaar ouderhuis (F. van Herzeele)
(met dank aan Corry Verhoeven voor het sturen van de tekst)

Wie kent er iets op aarde, wat meer ons heeft bekoord.
Van zo’n onschatbare waarde, een meer aantrekkelijk oord.
Als ‘t plekje waar we leefden en kenden vreugd en kruis,
Wie zal het ooit vergeten, het dierbaar ouderhuis,
Wie zal het ooit vergeten het dierbaar ouderhuis.

Daar werden wij geboren, vertroeteld en bemind,
Omringd van moeders zorgen en vaders liefste kind.
Daar leerden wij te strijden, in ‘s werelds woest gedruis,
Maar vonden weder vrede, alleen in ‘t ouderhuis,
Maar vonden weder vrede, alleen in ‘t ouderhuis.

En moeten wij eens scheiden van wat ons ligt aan ‘t hart,
Toch blijft die band ons binden, verzachtend onze smart.
Wij trouwen en wij zoeken ons wel een nieuw tehuis,
Doch waar er een te vinden, als het dierbaar ouderhuis,
Doch waar er een te vinden als het dierbaar ouderhuis.

Vaarwel geliefde woning, gij lustlot onzer jeugd,
Wanneer wij u herdenken, klopt ons het hart van vreugd.
Waar God ons moge voeren, in paleis of kluis,
Steeds zal men U gedenken, Gij dierbaar ouderhuis,
Steeds zal men U gedenken , Gij dierbaar ouderhuis.

www.greentrax.com

Review CDs

Dear Dai Woosnam, I want to take issue with you on a review you did some time ago, of the Catriona McKay and Chris Stout album "Laebrack". I also wish to thank you for your kind personal comments about me.

The issues I raise are as follows:- "But one thing you do infuriates me. I put it down to you being an ex-copper. You are almost alone as record producer in defacing your CD back covers with these ghastly white stickers bearing the words in unrelenting black: PROMOTIONAL COPY - NOT FOR SALE" and then, "So when it comes to folk CDs, all the more important to allow a reviewer to sell-on his recent review albums".

May I put Dai Woosnam clearly in the picture, as follows:-

1. The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society DEMANDS that such a sticker is applied to all promotional copies sent out. If other companies are not doing this then they are in direct contravention of MCPS rules;
2. I do not send out promotional albums in the knowledge that the reviewer may sell them on. In fact I regard this as a breach of trust between the reviewer and myself and when I find our promotional albums being offered for sale we invariably strike the offending reviewer from our promotional list;
3. Unless you can give me an unconditional undertaking that you will not sell on review copies of Greentrax albums then I must ask you to give no further review copies to Dai Woosnam. If you are unable to give this undertaking then FolkWorld will be immediately be removed from our Promotional List.

May I emphasise that I am very disappointed and appalled by such action. Ian Green

»... First let me get something off my chest. It concerns this label, Greentrax Recordings. I yield to nobody in my admiration for Ian Green and the fine work he has done in making his label (in a relatively short time) become by far and away the pre-eminent Folk Label in Scotland, and really become a candidate for the same title (“pre-eminent Folk Label”) for the whole of the UK. He has a nose for EXCELLENCE. When you see the word Greentrax you just KNOW that you will be getting nothing less than the very best in its field. And liner notes tend to be literate and proof-read (it was real shock to see A.E. Housman’s name misspelled on their recent Eric Bogle album, whereas with many other labels such a mistake would have been par for the course). So I salute you Ian. But one thing you do infuriates me. I put it down to you being an ex-copper. You are almost alone as a record producer in defacing your CD back covers with these ghastly white stickers bearing the words in unrelenting black: Promotional Copy – Not For Sale. These stickers CAN be pulled off, but it has to be done with great care and very slowly, or you take half the text with the sticker! I used to be a book reviewer, until I gave up in despair on the popular novel. But the one thing we never had on our books were such stickers. It was always accepted that book reviewers keep their books in mint condition and then sell them at a heavy discount to selected bookshops. It was seen by the Book Trade as only fair, since book reviewers in the main are massively underpaid for their reviews. So when it comes to folk CDs, all the more important to allow a reviewer to sell-on his recent review albums. Because none of us get paid for this malarkey, whether print or online reviewers. So there. That’s what I think. That’s got it off my chest. These things are better “out” than “in”. But in a way, in my case, it is all rather academic. Why? Well, because there is no danger of me wanting to re-sell any of the Greentrax CDs I have reviewed down the years. And certainly not this one. From the start, despite my hackles rising at that sticker, I was determined to do the proper thing and give it a fair wind. And am I not glad I did. It was a delight from start to finish ...« (Dai Woosnam)

Response from Michael Moll, FolkWorld Editor: I do agree with Ian that Dai’s comment was inappropriate, and as a result we have taken Dai’s comment out of his review. Having been already for a while a “non-executive” editor, I have not been aware of the inclusion of this comment until I received Ian’s email. FolkWorld generally takes the strong view that the views and opinions of its reviewers are respected no matter if they may upset the artist or record company – as long as they appear well founded. However, in this case, it is not (just) about a disagreement of Dai’s view, but I find the comment inappropriate for being included in a review in this magazine. This is out of three reasons:

1. Reviews in FolkWorld are first and foremost there to inform readers about CDs, thus the content in the reviews should be relevant to the reader who is considering whether to purchase a CD. The “not for resale” sticker Dai refers to has no relevance whatsoever for the buying public, and will not be of interest nor should it be of influence for the reader. As this is only about a small sticker, it also does not compromise the reviewer’s ability to get a full picture of the album as it will go on the market.
2. As Ian says, the inclusion of the sticker on review albums is a requirement of the recognised body for music publication, thus if there was criticism this would be inappropriate to be taken against one record company following this requirement. Even if this was not the case, in the folk music market which often tends to be a marginal affair, I believe that record companies should take appropriate steps to avoid inappropriate re-sales of free promotional material, thus we should not criticise them for this fully legitimate approach.
3. I agree with Ian that the intention of the reviewer to commercially sell the review album after the review should not be in the ethos of a folk reviewer in a not for profit magazine like this – no matter if they are paid for the review or not (and the latter is the case in FolkWorld!). I fully accept Ian’s view that selling review albums on would be a breach of trust between the reviewer and the people submitting review material – even more so if the album features such a sticker! It clearly would be against our ethos to support the folk music scene.

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© The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld; Published 11/2009

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