Salut! Live

1 Kate and Anna McGarrigle - sublime sounds from Quebec, rarely better than on this clip. RIP Kate ...

2 * Andy Irvine and Paul Brady - their eponymous album was released in 1976 but remains a classic in the history of folk music

3 * Show of Hands - always a delight to hear on record or see live

4 WAS* Silly Sisters - two essential female voices of English folk, belonging to June Tabor and Maddy Prior

NOW - Sorry but Maddy and June, great artists that they are, must give up their place to Richard and Linda Thompson, inexplicably overlooked

5 * Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick - I once persuaded a good friend, Geoff Carnan, to go with me to see them in a Sunderland folk club even though it meant hitching 30 miles home afterwards and it was his 21st birthday. I vividly remember the joy and the guilt and am pleased Swarb lived long enough to revive the duo in later life. 

6 * Graham and Eileen Pratt - classy arrangements and, from Eileen in particular, stunning vocals 

7 * Bert Jansch and John Renbourn - both lost to us now but for ever remembered for their outstanding guitar playing

8 * Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts - their spell as a duo produced the folk album of the 1990s 

9 * Bob Fox and Stu Luckley - Bob has had other excellent collaborators, notably Benny Graham and a former Lindisfarne member, Billy Mitchell. Nowt So Good'll Pass, with Luckley, was a gem of an album of North-eastern music

10 * Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - I had to find room for my favourite blues duo, whose music I regularly listen to decades after both died

Sadly, the arbitrary limit of 10 meant I had to exclude several other exceptional pairings, including John Spiers/Jon Boden, Maire Ni Chathasaigh/Chris Newman, Nancy Kerr/James Fagan, Tom McConnell/Nancy Cato, Simon Mayor/Hilary James, Jacqui/Bridie and more besides. Apologies to all and plenty of others overlooked. 

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Acoustic bands:

1 Planxty - the ultimate Irish supergroup (first line-up: Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Liam O'Flynn. Paul Brady was among later members

2 Bothy Band - Irish traditional music as good as it gets

3 * Dervish - tip-top instrumental technique and flair crowned by the mesmerising vocals of Cathy Jordan

4 Was * Bitter Withy - recalled from first encounters with the excellent, versatile Scottish singer Barbara Dickson ....

Stop Press: may need to make way for Therapy, so fondly remembered from folk club days in Darlington and Bishop Auckland and by Bill Taylor in Comments below 

5  Bellowhead - gloriously but surely economically challenged English big band. Their clips are made for binge-watching. But still waiting for John Spiers's response to my offer of a gentle plug for his efforts online to stave off poverty

 6 * Touchstone - Irish/American fusion dominated by Triona Ni Dhomnhaill (ex-Bothy Band) and Claudine Langille. The short-lived collaboration yielded just two albums, but Jack Haggerty is one of the pieces of music I'd choose for a Desert Island.

7  * Johnstons - Brady again, part of hugely talented Irish quartet, later trio

8 * High Level Ranters - the cream of North-eastern music and the band that did more thany any other to lure me from rock to folk

9  * The Dubliners - when fronted by the late Luke Kelly, the combination of passionate vocals and fiery musicianship was irresistible

10  * Ensembles assembled or headed by Sharon Shannon or Karen Polwart

There you have my preferences - at the time of writing. It's a feast, but a moveable one. Do not be put off by the folk-dominated lists. Just go ahead and nominate your own, any genre.