Get out to places where communities congregate. Farmer's markets. Flea markets. NASCAR race days and motorcycle rallies (I'm not kidding--you can attract a whole lot of people at racetracks and rallies when you are a competent musician of any sort--I've seen it happen).

Anyone who doesn't understand "the folk" love of NASCAR racing days don't know jack about folk music, IMNSHO. Today's rallies and races are the equivalent of the horse racing and festivals of yesteryear.

I've always felt though, that farmer's markets and flea markets are a natural place for folk and traditional musicians to build an audience. All you have to do is find someone in those organizations you can convince to invest a little time and money to draw more people with the music, and voila!

There are so many ideas I can think of where folkies could be taking the music, that I get kinda tired of the whole "woe is us, no new blood in the music" hand wringing. Folkies, if they want to be relevant today in their communities, need to go where the folk are, play some music, and quit their navel gazing and whining around.

And Jerry, I am not directing the above sentence to you. There is nothing wrong with asking the question. But there is something wrong with folkies who refuse to accept the answer, when it is put right in front of their too often upturned noses. Why, I can even hear some of them saying to themselves in their cyber thoughts:

"Us folkies play a NASCAR gig?" [haughty sniff] "Over my dead body."