I think part of the problem is that old-time music isn't at its best when it's just being listened to. To get the most out of it, you have to play it or dance to it. As a contra and square dancer, I'll take a driving old-time band over a bluegrass band any day of the week. The music plays differently, too, when it's played for dancers than when it's played in a circle on a porch. Not that one is better than the other, but when a good band is truly interacting with the dancers I think even Martin would have to agree there's a drive and an edge to the music. And ever since I was in Bruce Molsky's band lab at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in 1989, I've learned what a joy it is to sit in one of those old-time jams with my guitar, being the drum and bass, and hearing the fiddles and banjos get inside the tune, making subtle changes with each repetition. But as my dad used to say, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla. And butter pecan.

Aloha,
Mark