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Saffron Hall, Saffron WaldenIn advance of his autumn tour, the polymath folk singer and band weave their magic – and sound the alarm for a world in perilFor as long as there has been folk music, it seems, there has been discussion of its value and purpose. Usually the debate is framed as a binary. Ought folk music to honour the past as authentically as possible, or update it with a restless eclecticism? To which one might add: does folk happen in pub backrooms or does it take place – as tonight’s gig does – in the wipe-clean auditorium of a secondary school, with socially distanced tables and a drinks app?In his recent book, The Nightingale, the author, song collector, former burlesque dancer and vocalist Sam Lee quotes Gustav Mahler: “Tradition is tending the flame, and not worshipping the ashes.” Lee largely agrees with Mahler, his toe in the latter camp. On his 2015 album The Fade in Time, this polymath added Indian shruti squeeze box, Serbian vinyl crackle and Japanese koto to a set of reimagined British traditionals. Continue reading...