AnnaP--

I'm not sure Mudcat is really organized to the point of being able to officially sanction anything. Sure, Max owns the website and provides the software. But a whole community keeps it going. It's rather complex in its structure--perhaps even anarchic.

I doubt that having an event at the Jersey Shore would seriously drain off a lot of people from attending something out near Yellowstone National Park. There are thousands of miles between the two venues. And while one or two people might actually travel a VERY long distance for a special event, most of us will choose to make music with our nearby neighbors and other mudcatters. A chance to make music in New Jersey sounds like a wonderful weekend excursion for me (from Maryland) because it's only a couple of hours of driving (well, 3 hours actually, but who's counting?). Because of proximity, it's an easy opportunity to make music together, and therefore I might take you up on it. On the other hand, a chance to travel to Montana is a wonderful idea, and might engender many fantasies, but ultimately is probably a pipe dream, since it involves a great deal of expense and effort to get there from the East Coast.

So let your events happen informally, and consider repeating frequently and regularly. If 5 or 10 people drop by once a month to make music with you, you'll probably have a lot more hours of fun than if 100 people show up once a year.

And the suggestion for Mudcatters to join in at the Folklore Society of Greater Washington Getaway in October is an informal and logical extension of what's happening anyway--even without publicizing here on Mudcat, we'd have close to a dozen Mudcatters show up anyway. The rest of y'all might just as well drop by.

--Charlie Baum