It amazes me that those who love and worship the music of people like Seeger, Guthrie, Leadbelly, Van Ronk, and Elizabeth Cotton can off-handedly dismiss the music of people like Dylan, Richard Thompson, and Garcia-Hunter as singer/songwriter garbage. Can't you see that the music of your peers has become the folk music of your children and grandchildren, as the music of your Elders became yours? It's not all Chanties and Child Ballads that make up the category called Folk. But maybe you can see that there is a middle ground, a doorway that connects the modern music scene to the great, living tradition of song. And isn't our job to facilitate that journey for the young? Is there a problem with showing a young Bluegrass player who has learned Dreadful Wind and Rain from a Garcia-Grisman YouTube clip that this music has deep roots, and helping him to trace them? Could Thompson lead to Fairport and then on to Child?

The times they are a-changing indeed.