I was a kid, the idea of taking money from children, the elderly or the infirm in exchange for making music would have been looked at as something pretty freaking vile.

Folks, the only thing I can say is that your view of the music - and what your get out of it - has been twisted into something sick.

Music students are not a source of income.

Children are not a source of income.

Old people are not a source of income.

They are just people. People who happen to need help. People who need somebody to come along and make them realize that they are not entirely alone. That somebody cared enough just to show up.

If we're going to call ourselves folk musicians, part of that "job" is going out there and helping those people. Not for money, to to build a career or to network yourself. Just because it's the right thing to do.

You can make a living without selling out. It just takes a worldview wider that the thirty-six inch circle around your feet.


-Patrick