but both Bellowhead albums are something else.

But then I'm not from the school that thinks folk needs to stick to the rules. I like it when people muck about with things a bit, it's supposed to be a living breathing thing after all, not a museum piece.

I remember their first Cambridge Folk Festival appearance. They were quite a long way down the bill but became a talking point.

I'm not sure about your remarks about "traditionalists". Who are these people? Do they exist outside of journalisic stereotypes? I've never heard anyone who professes to like folk music (defined, for the purposes of argument, as the sort of music heard in folk clubs) say they don't like Spiers and Boden because they aren't traditional enough. To my mind, two people playing acoustic instruments and singing are fairly tradtional. Not everyone likes John Boden's voice, but not everybody liked Peter Bellamy's voice either.

(removes straw from mouth and leans on shepherds crook)
Oi loike 'em. Therrre bain't be nuthin wraaang wi' em.

at the Festival Hall back in February, performing "An evening of bawdy song", and thought they were tremendous. They obviously know their stuff, and could do very well just "keeping it real", so to speak, but it's their very sense of fun, irreverence and experimentation that makes them so interesting and so good.

... at Glastonbury during one of the filth years. They were blooming marvelous.

I think I count as a traditionalist, and I've never had a problem with Jon & John, but I've had some great nights. Great performers and great company. What's not to like?

on the TV coverage of last year's Proms. This stonking clip gives a flavour to the uninitiated:

I first saw Spiers and Boden as half of Eliza Carthy's then-band, The Ratcatchers, a few years ago. I'd never heard of them, but thought them dazzlingly good. La Carthy even let Jon Boden step up and sing a few of his own - a couple of splendidly twisted sea-shanties, as I recall.

Since then, in all their guises, they've been never less than magnificent - Bellowhead performing live are the nearest we have to a British Tom Waits show; Spiers and Boden manage (as noted) to almost sound like a 2-man Bellowhead, and their solo albums are just as good. As pointed out above, I've never met a "folkie" who's been less than delighted by their shows, and I agree that the notion of offended traditionalists refers to a vanishingly small constituency, if it exists at all.

I remember Bellowhead's appearance on "Later", where the shots of the other bands' reactions, while Bellowhead were playing, showed delighted amazement. Indeed, several Red Hot Chilli Peppers singled Bellowhead out for praise when Jules "interviewed" them later in the show.