though I haven't been to a "Roots" fest in a number of years, living in or near the Boston area, the festival has become huge in comparsion to yrs before. Sharon when you mention what Seamus Connolly said about the experience level you may take a moment to peak at it from his eyes. He is one of a handful concidered to be among the best in the world, then you have Paddy Glackin, Kevin Burke, Tommy Peoples though not there is also an old style teacher. And the past yrs the teachers list reads like a who's who. I don't know about what Seamus's enviorment is now but yrs ago & for yrs it was very common to hit a session or pary with him & the likes of Paddy Cronin, Frankie Gavin, Johnny Cunningham, etc, in one place not to mention their equals on other instruments. It's mentioned that none here are a Frankie Gavin. If I had only been playing for 8-15 yrs I would not take any offence (that's not an insult if you see yourself from their eyes), most of them have been playing near 50 yrs, continuously & constantly, with the fiddle as a limb & in a life style where eating tunes is the family (Seamus's brother is his peer on the box) breakfast & digesting them by evening is the local supper. Where growing up & living in a village where playing is not a social event it's a part of life, past on from grandparent to godchild from neighbor to shopkeeper, they really do come from a world that's grows smaller every day with the constant passing of the oldtimers, that musical lifestyle is disappearing so give a little slack if it wasn't the ideal musical experience god knows they've also given a life's worth trying, mostly with great results, after all look where it come from in the past 50 yrs. Knowing Seamus for at least 25 yrs, I'm not going out on a limb by saying his only intention's for Irish music & the fiddle is to give it, out of love, back in the best why he can to those that love or just like it &/or want to embrace it. I don't know if it got out of hand, if a wrench got into the works of if a new plan didn't work out right, but I am sure that he'll make it right the next time around, the record of this week long festival speaks for itself, it's alway been growing & like any thing else it has some of the same growing pains that any musician has. I hope none took any offence here, I didn't intend it, just wanted to show what maybe a different view from a maybe different kind of life experience. Sorry to blab on, Barry