harpgirl: I always love to ask if the rappers think gangs, rebellion,beating up cops, terrorizing the civic leaders, and all that kinda'stuff is really cool and new. One of my rap loving 15 year olds got into a long talk with me about this and how I couldn't understand. Rather than take him to my generation (60's) of stuff we went to the the dear old "Garry Owen." Within a few weeks he was playing all kinds of my records, tapes, and CD's. Slowly, a conversion is taking place. He even got special credit for doing a paper on this for school.

We have been involved in foster care for many years and the tastes of the kids are varied ... but I have yet to have any older (12+) child arrive with any knowledge of or liking for ANY type of "folk." Oh, a little folk/rock/pop or C&W, maybe...But I have to get in this one other thing. We have had 14 teenage girls over the years and EVERY ONE has managed to find Janis Joplin doing "Cry, Cry, Baby" somehow. Most have a lot of personal issues and as I recall only 2 new who she was before...but all of them fell in love with THAT ONE SONG. No point to that story...just kinda' interesting.

I am happy to say that all of them got "folk" (whatever that is nobody can agree) exposure while they were here and maybe some of that comes back to them down the road. We just need to keep strummin', pickin', pluckin', bowin', hammerin', and singin' as best we can and have a good selection playing on the stereo...Never know what will happen down the road.

catspaw