It's an interesting question. I go when I know the person personally and am invited. I have generally been disappointed when someone heartilly recommends someone. I don't have the same taste as most people. I often like acts that people don't really care for. There has to be a lot of music in it for me to like it. By this, I mean a kind of sophistication, not complexity but someone who has really studied their craft albeit folk or whatever. I don't care for singer/songwriters much because I believe that the genre is oversaturated and overpromoted. There are very few songwriters that I really like because I compare them to ones who have left a lasting legacy. Tom Paxton, Tom Lehrer, Woody, Jean Ritchie, Stan Rogers, Eric Bogle, sometimes Gordon Bok, but I also admire the Broadway show writers because the best of them had complete mastery of their craft. Sondheim, Hart, Harbourg, etc.

I am not a usual audience so I don't see much.

I will be interested in traditional folk performers because you hear so little of them today in coffeehouses and the like.

I read all I can about the people that are out there and make my decisions based on what I've just told you.

Frank Hamilton