Guest: Guest noted : "In the upper midwest Cities like Madison Wisconsin and Ann Arbor and the Detroit area have a certain circuit of "Stars" ... New York and Philadelphia another set that overlaps just a little with the New England crowd, Colorado/Arizona/New Mexico a different set and California a different set".

As a host of a radio show in the NYC area, I really noticed that happening. I began my program back in 1980, just as Fast Folk was getting started in the NYC area. As Fast Folk started to dissolve (through artists moving on, nightclubs losing leases, etc.) I actually started becoming bored with what "seemed" like a dwindling folk scene. I began playing more traditional artists and focusing on so-called "classic" folk recordings. For awhile, in the early 90's, I felt that the folk scene was on the endangered species list - particularly here in the NYC area.

It was the advent of Internet and sites like Mudcat that opened my eyes (or perhaps my ears) to the incredible music that exists beyond our "borders" here in the NYC/NJ area.

I don't mean to sidetrack this discussion to a personal level by discussing my radio show (I do enough of that here on Mudcat - forgive me!) but I do find it incredibly exciting that we are seeing a new "folk process" at work. Even though artists tend to be regional, there seems to be great outlets to share the music.

The question is, does folk music need to expand? I know of one folk-singer who lives in New Hampshire. He is a full-time musician, but rarely travels beyond his geopgraphic region. I asked him why he doesn't travel more, and his answer was that it doesn't make sense. Because he has a bit of a following in his homebase, he can be assured of bookings. Even aside from travel costs, the money to play venues that wouldn't be familiar with his work doesn't pay. By traveling he would jeopardize his steady work for a payback that might not come. Too risky.

CapriUni summed it up perfectly - it is nice to travel to another place and hear music that is native to the area. I like to think of folk music using the old "stew" analogy - lots of tasty ingredients that maintain their own individiual tastes and add up to a great meal!

Ron