I 1st started following folk music during the 60's revival & haven't seen a noticeable amount of young & new blood since. Up untill recently. At Mystic a few weekends ago I watched/listened to an 11?yr old sing in the shanty session (a tuff one for anyone to sing in) & he did a great job & held his own in a packed room of well seasoned (nice way of saying old foggies) singers of sea music. He says he likes to sing shanties (he's working on enlarging his repertoire) & in his words "someone's gotta sing them or they'll be lost". Again at Mystic this yr the amount of young twenty somethings (& maybe older teens, can't tell the difference anymore) who could sing & dance as well as any was staggering. These young'en's had a session going on in the gazebo (at 2:00am) that had my socks rolling up & down like window shades. High energy & fast paced which I found to be like amazingly fresh. They were taking all sorts of songs (prison work songs, shanties, etc) & keeping them at a fast so pace that they could quick step to them, maybe not the traditional way of singing them but it was (for myself & them) way more fun watching/seeing hearing them than I'd witnessed in a long time. It was a pure joy for them & some of us older & slower foggies.

I probably only hit one (the same one) singing/instrumental session, maybe once every 4-6 weeks (Portsmouth NH) & there has been a huge influx of (again) twenty somethings singing & playing (not just listening) during the past yr or 2.

I'm in my 50's now & I guess I was part of younger folkies that the 60's revival bred. I can't belive the joy in seeing/hearing what seems to me, after all these yrs, the beginnings of another youth movement in folk music (granted they're running into the same political shit that helped to breed the last one).

I can't speak for outside of the New England area but from being at the Washington/Baltimore Getaway & the San Francisco shanty festival & sing I'd say that there is the beginnings of upsurge in the interest of folk music there too (hope it's a national/international movement & not just a fad). If any one doubts this look at the younger groups coming out of Ireland & the Canadian Maritimes during the the past 5 or so yrs, I see the trend starting here in New England too.

In the south eastern part of NH (Portsmouth) I'd have to say that a good bit of credit goes to Tom "Crud" Hall & some others who've been actively trying to expose folk music to the younger generation of this area. Maybe that's part of what it takes to keep this music alive, well & kicking, a bit more of active atempts to expose & envolve the younger ones. Hell if they want things a little faster or arranged a bit more suitable for their youthful blood & souls, IMHO that's great for them as well as us (us being the ones talking about a demise/death in folk music) but espically for the life love of the music itself .

Because of this thread I'm gonna keep a sharp weather eye opened when I'm at Old Songs this coming weekend & hope to see more of the same.

Barry