Earlier in this thread, people were talking about cities
and areas that had rather divided communities, like one
group that liked dance, one for trad, one for blues, one for
singer-songwriter, etc.

In the late 70's, I was kind of trying out different cities
in the northeast. I moved from Syracuse, which had almost
no folk scene, to Albany for a year, then to Boston for a
year, and finally to Philly, where I stuck. One interesting
thing was that in Albany, a smaller city, there was a lot
more overlap between groups. You would see many (not ALL)
of the same people at the 8th Step Coffeehouse, the Contra
dances, both in the city and out at Fox Hollow, and the
Pick'n & Singin' Gathrin'. I never got to check out Cafe
Lena because I didn't drive back then.

Then when I got to Boston, a considerably bigger city, I
noticed there was a relatively small overlap between dancers
and song-appreciators. The same held true in Philly.

Another change between then and now that I notice is that
back then, contra dances and performances at coffeehouses
were quite inexpensive. I don't think the rises have just
been to keep up with inflation, though I have no gift for
economics, so I could be wrong. But when coffeehouse
performances were relatively inexpensive, you could plan to
go weekly, or close to it, even if you weren't totally sure
exactly what was going to be presented. Now I usually only
go to someone I really want to hear, and then only if I feel
like I can afford the ticket. Lots of people who were big
in the 60's and 70's are getting big bucks now as nostalgia
acts.

Marymac