There is always a .______________ Mafia. Its in folk music, craft fairs, church committees, village boards, etc. Its the nature of the human condition. There are always .______________ snobs as well.

"I've heard music before and its Opera!"

Can't get rid of them.

In Syracuse there is an established Session at a local where the instrumentalists hold forth. They play both jigs and their constituent variations over and over. Then they the same with both reels. For hours without talking or smiling very often. Then someone will say

"Can I sing The Limerick Rake?"

And the instrumentalists will all need to pee or fix their hose or get a breath of air while a fine vocalist stretches out the song. OR they make it very clear that this is an instrumentalist Session.

"If god had wanted men to sing he wouldn't have given them whistles, dammit!"

The musicians I hang with aren't good enough for the Mafia or the Session crowd. But we are working and they aren't generally. And I think thats where the high moral tone over money comes in.

Don