Salut! Commentary

Reporting the Troubles and sneakily catching some wonderful Irish music

As we recoil in horror from the evil of Moscow’s war on Ukraine, and feel disgust at the hard-of-thinking whataboutery of Putin apologists in the UK, let us not forget conflict at home. Even what Mo Mowlam called, when Secretary... Read more →


Dirty Old Town: enduring fascination with - and debate on - Ewan MacColl's song, now 75 years old

When Bill Taylor compared very different versions of Dirty Old Town - the song about Salford that Ewan MacColl wrote for a play in 1949 - in our Cover Story series, there was lively if modest interest. Bill's piece first... Read more →


When people take notice: the Artist of the Week series so far

Colin Randall writes: Unlike the newspapers for which I have worked, on the staff or as a contributor, Salut! Live does not hold editorial conferences (nor, as you'll have noticed, does it publish a print edition). The three of us... Read more →


Fairport's Cropredy, Towersey and far too many more: folk festivals in crisis

Colin Randall writes; Some years have passed since I wrote about folk music for The Daily Telegraph. My role as the paper's folk bloke - "right column wrong newspper," to quote Ian Anderson, blues musician and founding editor of the... Read more →