I grew up on Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, and the like, and didn't think of it as folk music when I was a kid. It was just music. I always had an appreciation for it, but the switch was really turned on three times in my life. In the 70's, I got a New Lost City Ramblers record out of the library and couldn't get enough of it, but didn't branch out into listening to other old timey groups. The switch really turned on in late 1985 when I stumbled across the Irish record "The Bothy Band:1975", at the library. I had heard about it from a student when I was called in to work a shift at a co-op kitchen. When I put on the record, the first song that struck me was "Pretty Peg." I played it over and over. Then, I obsessed on Tommy People's fiddle playing. It inspired me to take up fiddling. That was the album that changed my life. I don't knw what I'd be doing if I hadn't worked in the kitchen that day in 1985. A few years ago, just when I thought there were no more switches to turn on, I heard Alison Krauss, and I was completely hooked on her. Thanks for asking this question! Hey, Michael K. Check out that Bothy Band album on CD. Kumbaya it's not!