This thread is getting more intersting as it pays out. Great that many responses are coming from those who have spent a lot of years listening to those primary sources and assimilating the sound and feel of the old songs. It's a treat to soak up the singing and playing of people who learned the old songs and tunes from family and neighbors, and if we didn't get our music that way, then we can hear what collectors preserved for us by taking those recorders into the field or transcribed collections in books--like your grandmother's work, Nancy-Jean. I've been lucky to have gotten to hear with my own ears some of the early musicians who are now dead...but anyone can still get to hear what they sounded like via recordings. And to be sure, they made a big impact on me, and influenced my singing in subtle ways. The point is, if a wannabe "folksinger" has never listened to the old stuff, the songs they choose to sing and even write themselves aren't likely to have the feel of old stuff. This sounds a bit corny, but I think we all filter the songs we like to sing through our individual "paintboxes" and it comes out with the colors that are in there. I'm about to leave Vermont for a week for a visit with daughter, and will come home with a new Mac G3--terribly exciting, but may be off line for a bit. I'm looking forward to checking Mudcat with a lot more speed when I get back--keep this fine thread going. j