I recorded "Uncle Monroe" Presnell, down on Beech Mountain in North Carolina, when he was 86, then used several of his beautifully sung ballads on the 2 LP set released by Folk-Legacy. I'm using two more on the new CD of traditional songs and ballads I'm currently editing, but these were recorded five years earlier, when Uncle Monroe was a brisk young fellow of 81.

Horton Barker was a youth of about 75 when I recorded the album released by Folkways (before we started Folk-Legacy), and Hobart Smith was in his seventies when we recorded his Folk-Legacy album. Jeannie Robertson was probably about 50 when Hamish Henderson discovered her, Sara Cleveland was in her mid-fifties when we found her and recorded her wonderful repertoire of traditional ballads.

So you can see that age has very little to do with one's ability to continue singing and loving this music. Keep on keepin' on!

Sandy