Hi Walnut. The PRIME focus of this forum has not been blues and folk for a long long time. When I first came on a little over two years ago there were many heated arguments about the direction Mudcat was going. As more folks heard about it and joined, there became fewer and fewer people to support the "music only" position. Now I suspect it would be a mere handful.

Some very knowledgable folks like Bruce Olson quit in anger. Others, like Art, tried their damndest to swing the tide, but eventually became infrequent posters. Gargoyle (a very keen traddie) resorted to incredible nastiness at what he saw as the end of Mudcat as a "serious" music site. Joe Offer often stated the same warnings in a less personal (most of the time) way, but seems to have given up. A few months ago Mudcat almost self-destructed from the viciousness of a (very) few anonymous flamers who claimed they wanted the best for the forum, but soon resorted to personal attacks on people they didn't like.

As more people join there will less emphasis on (traditional, as most know it) folk music. Today it is a community of folks who all LIKE music, but enjoy communicating with each other. It may not meet everyone's needs, but it's still the best thing on the net. It should be easy to see that the topics that folks WANT to discuss will have the most posts. That's democracy at it's best (or worst) depending on your point of view.

It ain't poifect, but it's the best we got!

Rick