Sandy, we are total agreement. Thank you for your insight regarding the "functional" role of folk music. I always thought that there was something that didn't quite add up for me about the Newport Festivals. I didn't attend the smaller workshops, though, which might have been more in keeping with the experience I had with folk music. I remember being at the wonderful Folklife festival in Washington D.C. on the mall where there was a small workshop with Nimrod Workman in an intimate setting. It was one of the greatest "concerts" of folk music I'd ever been to. He described his background, the making of his puncheon floor log cabin and the songs he learned as a little boy, many which were traditional. One of the most memorable for me was Horton Barker at the Old Town School. I believe that you and Gerry Armstrong had something to do with that. This being said, I am a fan of all kinds of music including popular and love the old great entertainers such as Al Jolson, Louis Armstrong,and enjoy the modern ones as well such as Whitney Houston. But as you say, it's a different animal than folk music.

Frank