Musical identity can be a hard thing to find

It's taken me a long time to learn what I like like playing.

It's taken the inclings of a stylistic position on all this folk stuff - or rather deciding that such a position is pretty pointless as what I find valuble is making my music fun and engaging. Instead of thinking "I like English and Irish tunes" I'm prefering "I like this kind of phrasing by this player in this tune here". It would be nice if it coalesced into some kind recognisable style, it's a lot easier to find an audience!

But as this stuff has to be memorised and evolved and if I'm doing it for myself then I have to really like the stuff, really like all the qualities of the stuff I'm creating. Otherwise why I do want to live it, to burn it into me?

I decided that I'm happy with my music as long as it is well developed, distinct, possesses a certain clarity and it has a little bit of magic. That's how I like the music I choose to listen to, and the people I interact with too. More importantly, that is the music that I see audiences react best to. It doesn't matter what it is - it has to have a very clear "ness".

If you fall outside of a tradition then you have to realise you're playing a popularity game of some degree. It's been pretty obvious that the desire to make stuff my own way is a bit too strong for me to exist only as a "Classical Harpist" or "Irish Harper" or perhaps any stylistic tradition. I still value them hugely both for their aesthetic appeal and the extreme skill involved in each. I will still play music from those traditions, but if I tried to place my identity inside them I would feel false.