<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Mumford &amp;amp; Sons know the knocks against them, but in a new interview with The Guardian, the English folk group brush off detractors who question the band&amp;apos;s authenticity,&amp;#xA0;citing Bob Dylan as an inspiration. &amp;quot;The authenticity thing has never been an issue for me,&amp;quot; frontman Marcus Mumford said. &amp;quot;Not since I came to the realization that Dylan, who&amp;apos;s probably my favorite artist ever, the richest artist for me, didn&amp;apos;t give a shit about authenticity. He changed his name. And modeled himself on Woody Guthrie. And lied to everyone about who he was.&amp;quot;\r\nBanjo player Winston Marshall chimed in, &amp;quot;We get accused of inauthenticity because we play the instruments we play,&amp;quot; but also pointed to British blues guitarist Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac and his background as an example of a misguided focus on authenticity. &amp;quot;He&amp;apos;s from [East London District] Bethnal Green &amp;#x2013; and he&amp;apos;s this fucking incredible blues guitarist. Nothing fucking authentic about that, right?&amp;quot; said Marshall. &amp;quot;But actually there is. He loves it. It&amp;apos;s what he&amp;apos;s good at. It&amp;apos;s not like he&amp;apos;s saying he&amp;apos;s from the Delta. It&amp;apos;s not like we&amp;apos;re saying anything like that.&amp;quot;\r\nAnd despite Marcus Mumford&amp;apos;s Christian family background and supposedly spiritually inclined lyrics, the band makes clear they&amp;apos;re not a religious group. &amp;quot;We said we&amp;apos;re not all Christian, so we can&amp;apos;t be a Christian band,&amp;quot; Marshall said of meeting a fan who asked how they defined themselves. &amp;quot;We&amp;apos;re not all religious. In fact none of us are, really. We, er, we have a full spectrum of beliefs,&amp;quot; added bass player Ted Dwane. &amp;quot;I don&amp;apos;t know many artists who&amp;apos;ve managed to go a career without bringing these things up. &amp;quot;Saying the word &amp;apos;God&amp;apos;, &amp;apos;Jesus&amp;apos; &amp;#x2013; it happens in a million rock songs.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mumford-sons-bob-dylan-didnt-give-a-sh-t-about-authenticity-20121116>