Folk heroes The crossover appeal of the new wave

In addition to the emergence of a new generation of traditional singers and musicians, there has been an explosion of activity at the periphery, where traditional music blurs into folk.

There's a vibrant left-of-centre alternative-folk scene in Britain. Alasdair Roberts has emerged as an important figure, but the majority are less directly influenced by traditional music than he - singers and groups such as Adem, Tunng, The Earlies, James Yorkston, King Creosote and Eighteenth Day of May.

There's also a growing constituency of young singers and songwriters emerging from the traditional scene to produce radio-friendly music with real crossover appeal - Seth Lakeman, Kate Rusby, Karine Polwart and Cara Dillon. The breadth of the current wave of activity is such that young Dublin crooner Declan O'Rourke, whose album Since Kyabram gets a UK release later this year, has already been appropriated as a folk revivalist.

The rise of folk and traditional music isn't restricted to the UK. In the US, from the underground to the mainstream, huge swathes of today's music bear the influence of America's musical past. Alternative or indie listeners, in particular, have turned in their droves to the folk-pop of Sufjan Stevens, the "freak-folk" of Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, and the burgeoning Americana of artists as diverse as Iron & Wine, Bonnie "Prince" Billy (a collaborator and producer of Alasdair Roberts), Alejandro Escovedo and Salim Nourallah.

One American artist who has been directly influenced by English traditional music is Colin Meloy, lead singer with The Decemberists. With his band he had already released an EP based on the Táin Bo Cuailnge, but this year he self-released an EP of English traditional songs by Shirley Collins. "Traditional English, Irish and Scottish songs have been a fascination of mine for as long as I can remember," Meloy says. "I love the lyricism, the very deliberate cadence of the meter, and the narrative qualities."