I don't consider myself a songwriter, but a few good ones have come through me when I was looking the other way, and I find that they all seem to fit stylistically into a genre-- Celtic, blues or old-timey gospel-- and I think it's because those kinds of music are in my soul. The words are often different from what might be expected though because they also come from my soul and my experience-- so that the "gospel" tunes celebrate Earth Mother, not God, for instance. I think it's alot about getting out of the way of the music, rather than trying to make it happen. Happens best for me when being quiet in the woods, or after having spent time with someone near and dear, or late at night in the car, or in the shower. Then I really am listening to the "deep" me, which has something meaningful to say.

And in my opinion, folk music is made by folk-- all those anonymous songs were wriiten by somebody...