I was thrilled a few years ago to be invited to a different invitation only gathering. I asked if maybe in a few years I'd "qualify" for Indian Neck. The situation was explained to me, that even regulars can't get in, if they don't register soon enough, due to space limitations. I replied "So, basically I have to wait for dozens of Indian Neck regulars to die, before I'd get in" & they said yes. I was disappointed, but not insulted.

Sure, I'd love to be at a gathering with more famous people than I'm used to making music with. But the famous people & their long time musical friends deserve to have a gathering of their own, with a relatively small number of people. (If you can call 100 people or so small...) It's like having the right to have a personal party once in a while.

It's physically impossible for everyone to make music with one group of people who've known each other for a long time. So if people really want to make music with people that they know, & others they'd like to know, they can start another gathering. Whoever puts the energy into organizing a gathering, should be able to invite who they want. So start your own. Most everything else in the folk world is very public, inclusive, egalitarian. There's room for a few private gatherings without divisiveness.