I have a substantial library of books such as Carl Sandburg's American Songbag, Folk Song U. S. A., by John and Alan Lomax, English Folk Songs in the Southern Appalachians, by Cecil J. Sharp, The Ballad Tree, by Evelyn Kandrick Wells, and a couple dozen others along this line. I also have a large collection of recordings of many of the songs in these books, variations thereof, and other songs like them. When I hear someone use the words "folk song," I immediately think of the kind of songs I find in these books and on these records.

I discovered that a young woman who lives upstairs in this apartment building has just released a CD. She and I got together and we chatted some. She doesn't say that she regards herself to be a folk singer, but she writes her own songs and, for want of a specific category, I believe she considers them to be folk songs. She told me she learned all about folk music from a friend of hers who also writes his own songs and has some of his songs on MySpace. I listened to him. The only resemblance he has to what I might think of as a "folk singer" is that he accompanies himself on an acoustic guitar. I don't think either of them have ever heard the names "Lomax," "Sharp," or "Child."

In the spirit of "support your local musician," I bought a copy of Melissa's CD from her. The songs on it are quite interesting and certainly a very worthy effort. She has a way with words and she puts her words to distinct melodies (as contrasted with the three or four generic tunes that most singer-songwriters seem to employ). And she has a very nice singing voice.   She doesn't play guitar or anything, she just sings, and someone else accompanies her on the CD—guitar, drums, and bass. Her songs are somewhat different from the usual singer-songwriter fare. One song in particular on her CD is a bit of a gripper!

I would not, however, regard the songs she and her friend have written as "folk songs" because 1) all their songs have been written within the last couple of years, and 2) they are the only "folks" who sing them. I guess I'm just weird that way. . . .

She's a very nice young woman, and I'm not going to argue the point with her. But—I may try to slowly and gradually educate her over a period of time.

Don Firth

P. S. I do think words should have meanings. Otherwise, we're back to grunting and pointing.