I did not mean to get testy. Sorry about that.

1) What are the connections between this music and flok music.

There are the obvious examples like O Susanna, Old Dan Tucker and the like. Then ther are the "Old Time Favorites like "Ageline the Baker" which is based on the old minstrel tune "Angelina Baker" or "Tuckey in the Straw" which is the old tune to "OLd Zip Coon".

In other ways the connection might be slightly less clear. So many tunes can be traced to the minstel stage that it is hard to know all of the connections. What is clear is that before 1843 and the advent of the minstrel stage there was no defined "American" musical style. This tradition of minstrelsy gave birth to hundreds of tunes many of which later entered folk status. Also, folk itself is an outgrowth of this first American tradition. My "Darling Nelly Gray" became an American standard and was recorded well into the 1930's but without the reference to Nelly's having been sold back into slavery. The same can be said of songs like " Blue Tail Fly" AKA Jim Crack Corn. These tunes were brought back as recently as the 1960's. I still hear blues references to charaters from the old minstrel stage as well. I think that these tunes and images may be more ingrained in American culture than we think.

2) What do do to discuss it.

Do not insult the audience. If you choose to discuss it, be up front with people. Tell tham that like all of American history, our musical past is also frought with difficulty. Tell them the history of the tune and then tell them to make up their own mind about the unes value.

When Bob Kilham played the Brooklyn museum of Art before a very mixed race audience (1999), he was aked to play " Old Zip Coon". He said it very plainly: " This music is our conbined past. It was written in a time that thankfully has passed, but it was enjoyed in its day by our ancestors;black and white. These words offend us today, but I will not change the words. I do so because because to change them would be to lie to you about the true origin of the song. Be offended if you will, but understand that in the musical history of our country, this was an important stepping stone. Offensive or not, the reason that these songs remain with us is that musically they are great melodies and infectious rythms. These tunes are also the basis for most all of our modern music. All I ask is that you hear me with an open mind"

They did. He spoke to many afterwards and most agreed that they were glad to hear this music. Nearly all agreed that the words were hard to hear, but that the tunes were true "Americana". One older woman said that this was America's soundtrack: good or bad.

Is this the direction you were looking for Susan? And again please forgive my rant earlier.

Butch