Theer does seem to be a lot of animus expressed about "singer-songwriters", and my impression is that this largely comes from Americans. What I mean is, rather than picking out the people who are writing good songs with roots in the American traditions and sharing the discovery, there's a tendency to talk as if such people didn't exist. That might tend to drive away people who are looking for such people.

There is an enormous amount of rubbish out there, wherever you live. But it seems to me the best way is to ignore the stuff that strikes you as rubbish, and concentrate on the stuff you think is worth listening to. I think that even goes for cases where someone else is praising something you think is rubbish. (Except, if it's someone whose taste you have learned to respect, which is true of a number of people on the Cat, give it another listen or two.)

I quite agree with what Jerry said about how it would help if we reached out for the music itself from time to time in our discussions, the way we would if we were in the same room. We can do that too, but it's a matter of getting into the way of doing it casually and easily. My head spins with the rate at which new technology comes along, and I'll never catch up with it, but even if we lag a few years behind the state of the art, there's a whole heap of slightly outdated magic tools ready to hand.

I wish we still had the Mudcat Radio. I wonder if maybe out there there is someone with the know how and dedication and resources to fill in that gap, uasing some of those magic tools.

Preferably someone in America, in the light of the perceived imbalance identified by Jerry in this thread.