Hey Susan,

I typed my name in the "From" box twice earlier today (at least I'm pretty sure), both times in this thread, and came up as "GUEST"-only the first time, and Guest-with-my-name the second time.

We'll see what happens this third time.

Why don't I join? I stumble across Mudcat about once or twice a year, spend a couple of days lurking and sticking in my two-cents-worth here and there, and disapear again. (I like the figurative "sound" of my own rhetorical voice almost as much as the actual sound of my singing voice.) Right now, I'm having an easy week at work (the boss is away and the mice will play), but next week I'll be gone again for a while.

My on-and-off participation is pretty much a matter of nostalgia. I spent several years in my early 20s persuing music full-time but eventually drifted away. I'm still an enthusiastic listener and unabashed audience-singer, but by now I have such bad arthritis in my fingers that I'll never again play my beloved old D-18 with the same intensity and dedication.

Also, my primary musical interest was once centered on Delta-type country blues and has developed in the direction of gospel, jazz, and especially the classic r&b of my adopted hometown, New Orleans. Such a blues-centric orientation seems to be less and less the focus of this group, which may once have been the down-home African-influenced American tradition but seems now to be more interested in the British-Isles, Childe-ballad side of the folk music spectrum. Nice enough, certainly, but not my cup of firewater.