Clare Teal: Even folk like me welcome at magical evening of music

Luckily, I think it turned out to be better than the dish I had originally ordered. And why do the people who design these vast “trendy” yet vacuous wine bars assume that the customers have no desire to hear a single word the person next to them is saying? Not content with ripping up carpets and removing any trace of soft furnishing that might soak up the babble, they then put blaring speakers above every table, or is it just whatever one I happen to sit at?

Muddy and I speedily wolfed our “somebody-else’s-dinner” as we didn’t want to be late for the annual Radio 2 Folk Awards. We’ve never been before and really didn’t know what to expect, although, being jazzers I thought alarms might go off as we entered the building. The folk glitterati assemble from every corner of the country, to celebrate their art form at this increasingly prestigious event, creating a wonderfully warm atmosphere in the process.

I have little knowledge of folk music and although I was very much looking forward to watching performances by some of the best musicians in the land, I wondered if there might be some stuff that perhaps I wouldn’t necessarily want to hear again. Not the case, I more than enjoyed everything I heard, from Bellowhead to Laura Marling to Barnsley nightingale Kate Rusby to Chris Wood to Donovan to Barbara Dickson to The Fisherman’s Friends to the Levellers. It was a magical evening, which is bound to see my record collection grow.

Folk it seems, like jazz, can very easily fall foul of listeners’ preconceived ideas, people decide they don’t like the music before they even hear it. I sat next to DJ Jo Whiley, I was surprised to learn that she was a big folk fan, having been brought up going to festivals like Sidmouth from a very early age. Just across the way, very much within prodding distance was rock god Roger Daltrey of the Who. He made a great speech from which I can conclude that he loves folk music and has very neat hair. “Thou shalt not commit a-Daltrey” I wanted to shout at a particularly persistent woman and her camera.