The Folk Union Hanbook
This is the introduction to The Folk Union. It is a 50 page essay of five parts each addressing one of The Folk Union’s founding values.
This edition is RISO Printed in Scotland.
“Of course, this creates pressure though. The culture and tradition itself have always been, and should still be, free and open access.
Barriers should be taken down rather than put up. Money can obviously be an enormous barrier. Another issue is that folk is communal, yet the revival infrastructure is built on individual labour. Those two things don’t always sit very comfortably together. It's another example of the gap between the culture and the scene. They have different goals and take different perspectives, something which isn't always properly acknowledged. If everything remains unpaid, then the revival is unsustainable. But if everything becomes commercial, then the culture begins to feel enclosed and transactional...”