(. . . still doesn't get it. Doubtful that he ever will. . . .)

Conrad, it's not that traveling singers of folk songs can travel because they were born with silver spoons in their mouths and a huge inheritance. They can travel because they are good at what they do, good enough so people not only want to hear them, but are willing to pay to hear them. The reason they don't get rich is because a lot of what they are paid has to be spent on travel and living expenses while they are on the road.

It's called "overhead." And even if an event is free and is all-volunteer, including the singers, it still incurs overhead. No way to avoid it. Sooner or later, Conrad, as someone once said, "You have to pay the piper!"

By the way, I have never, nor do I know any singers who have, gotten paid enough to stay in a hotel sufficiently posh to have a swimming pool where I could hang out.

Don Firth