I'm so glad this thread was started...has anybody noticed that it brought some seemingly long-lost 'Catters out of the woodwork? (Specifically, Shambles and WintersWages and Skarpi, all of whom I haven't seen here in quite a while; though I might be off on that--no matter.)

One of the things that keeps me hooked into Mudcat is that I used to live in a town (Seattle) with a large and active folk music community. Contradances two or three times a week, weekly song circle, old time tune sessions, more concerts and house concerts than you could shake a fife at, even a songwriters circle a couple of times a month. Now I'm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and after being away from folk music for about 8 years it's been wonderful to re-establish contact with that kind of energy. I know there's contradancing on Oahu, and probably a song circle or tune session or two...but at $130 roundtrip airfare that's an awfully pricy evening out. (That's one reason I loved the old HearMe sessions...it was the closest thing I had to the old Seattle Song Circle: sitting around a living room with some old friends and new people, sharing songs.)

So yes, I'd love to catch up with some 'Catters, if any of you happen to be on the Big Island. And I'll be in Seattle next month (unfortunately just for a few days--a medical conference), and I hope to meet up with some of my old friends and maybe make a few new ones, some of whom could be 'Catters.

Aloha,
Mark