I've been scratching my head over this one for awhile. One thing I think we shouldn't do is water folk down to make it more palatable to the masses. Despite sporadic spikes in interest (the folk revival, the folk craze), traditional folk ain't gonna be mainstream. But hey, that's a good thing. I think there's more interest in folk among 20-somethings than most of us realize (and, no, I'm not talking about Ami DiFranco). I went to a show recently that with scant promotion pulled in a packed house, and I was one of the few gray beards in sight. The rest were in their 20s and 30s. All there to hear young performers. Someone did Lakes of Ponchatrain. Someone else did a John Prine song. Along the way all did memorable original folk music. It turns out that there's a vibrant local (SF Bay Area) folk, bluegrass, old-time scene attracting young performers and fans that is mostly under the radar of the traditional folk movement, not to mention the media. Performers like Laura Veirs, the Be Good Tanyas, Noe Venable, Jolie Holland, AJ Roach, Mica Lee Williams, Sean Hayes, Rachel Garlin, the Crooked Jades, the Old Joe Clarks and dozens of others are out there taking traditional music and giving it a little modern spin and coming up with something fresh and vital sounding. Many of these performers come from the punk and alt rock scene and have gotten bored. After hearing a lot of the great old music now readily available on CD (the Lomax Collections, the Smithsonian recordings, the folk rockers of the 60s and 70s), these young performers are finding an emotional depth and honesty and raw energy in folk that they couldn't find in other forms of rock and pop. Maybe there's a new spike in interest just starting to make itself known. Time will tell, but something seems to be stirring.

What should the response us old-timers be? Support and encouragement by seeking out the new performers wouldn't hurt. The performers mentioned above all have self-sponsored web sites. Just put their names in search engines, go to their sites, and listen to their songs. It's a great way of circumventing the corporate control of the airwaves, in the true DIY folkie spirit. So, we keep putting on festivals and shows, and we invite the new performers and they bring the young uns looking for an alternative to MTV crap. See? It's easy! Well, not easy, but it's happening.