Dick Gaughan, Glasgow-born singer and guitarist, has been a major influence on the international folk and topical song scenes since his days with Boys of the Lough in the 1970s. As the (UK) Guardian newspaper notes, "his voice is made from girders and shoots out over steel-fingered guitar-picking, unconstrained by fashion or singalong fakery, always urgent and moving." Dick carries on the musical tradition of the Scottish working class, and, by extension, the working class of the world. He grew up with the old Scottish ballads as well as the politically oriented work of folks like Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. "Scottish and Irish traditional music always had a large part of itself which would now be regarded as political," he says. "Folk music is dangerous stuff; it's subversive to admit that ordinary working class people have a culture and artistic merit." Along with the seriousness of his commitment, Dick has the black humor of his Celtic forebears and a bite and directness that are anything but sentimental. Last year Dick released Redwood Cathedral (Appleseed), an album of thought-provoking classics and originals.