Mrrzy

No facts here - just idle supposition - so don't take any of this to the bank.

I would wager that most Mudcatters who play much piano DO play some ragtime. I say this because just about every hammer dulcimer player I've ever met plays a rag or two. Also, most fiddlers and guitarists who've achieved a certain level of expertise at least try some ragtime. Ragtime is alive and well in the folk music community.

It is when you look outside of the folk music community at piano players in general that ragtime falls out of favor. To put it bluntly, "There ain't no money in it!" Anyone who is going to try to make a dollar playing piano is going to go the classical/church route, the piano bar/lounge route, the band route, or some combination thereof. Furthermore, pianos, like electric guitars and saxophones, do not usually attract those with a deep sense of (non-classical) musical tradition. Of course there are exceptions like Butch Thompson and George Winston, but that's what makes them special.

Ragtime is a difficult genre to master, but no more so than many others. Many pianists just don't have the interest or see enough chance of financial reward make it worth the effort.

bwl