I think you have a good start with Dylan, Guthrie, Seeger, Leadbelly and the Weavers. You might just try looking more closely at the artists you are interested in. I began following threads long before discovered Mudcat. Listening to Dylan, reading Anthony Scaduto's biography of Dylan, I became more aware of Guthrie's legacy to American music. Hank Williams and Jimmy Rodgers laments to train whistles, tuberculosis and the moon suddenly didn't seem square, but very relevant. I dug out my old Clancy Brothers albums since Dylan had borrowed heavily from them(Yeah, he stole quite a bit, but Liam didn't seem to mind). I began playing Irish dance music, eventually getting pretty good on the tin whistle. I began learning Irish Language and became aware of a whole body of work and style of singing that seemed so foreign to me, yet so comfortingly familiar. I became interested in the Carter family and appalacian ballads and saw that the social awareness in a lot of the music of the 60's and 70's did not spring out of a vacuum, but connected with themes that emerged, remained constant and is preserved in countless songs people sang and still do in kitchens, church basements and lotsa places that aren't necessarily on tourist maps or Carnegie Hall, but could be. Those are just some of the roads I have worn the soles of my shoes on this journey.

Brían