I find your reference to "hicks from the sticks" somewhat chilling. I've spent a lot of time collecting traditional songs and ballads in southern Appalachia, much of it in northwestern North Carolina, and I know of no more cordial and hospitable people than these good mountain folk. To put the local folks down as "hicks from the sticks" implies that you think rural mountain people have no manners and, indeed, suggests that you might feel yourself to be superior to them in some way. Perhaps they, in turn, felt that your request for a privileged "solo" performance in the midst of an "open jam" situation was the initial rudeness. Certainly, the moderator was badly out of line to dress you down in public, but I would caution against casting the first stone.

Sandy