Praise, I also think you're right in that a lot of the knowledgable people don't start threads because they don't need answers. They wait for someone to ask a question, and the questions about folk music are dwindling. I don't see anything wrong with NOT waiting for a question to start a discussion, as in "Let me relate an anecdote about this song/musician/place." It's just that the people with the information wait for others to start things.

It's become less a place to ask and answer questions and just discuss folk music. I'm not placing a value judgement on that last bit - I think Mudcat has to try on a few different styles and will always change. I do miss the music discussions, though. It's my theory that a lot of the knowledgable people have left or nearly left. There isn't as much call for actual information, and most of the discussions are based on opinion. One reason we'd have to PM them to tell them about a thread is they just don't read the threads as much as they used to. And sometimes the music threads are titled to look like non-music ones, sometimes the non-music ones look like music discussions. Could be frustrating.

I could just be being cynical here - it's been known to happen.