While all this is going on (water on the moon? it was bad enough on my knee!), the last two years have seen an interesting phenomenon: the reissuing of a treasure trove of traditional folk material of many sorts, in accessible form (CDs). Beginning with the Robert Johnson reissue and its surprising above-ground success, we've seen in the last year the massive Alan Lomax collection, the Harry Smith Anthology, the Treasury of Library of Congress field recordings, and several excellent compilations on labels like Yazoo (I've been playing "Before the Blues" over and over). More interestingly, the mainstream culture has taken notice, particularly of the Lomax and Smith reissues; they've gotten rave reviews in publications ranging from the New York Times and NPR to punk mags, and they've even sold in respectable quantities. My hope is that the buyers aren't limited to us old folkies, but that they include a new generation who will discover these treasures for the first time and, just maybe, begin a whole new revival.
Peace. Paul