So many of the people who write Mudcat Messages do so with such control of, and appreciation for, the language that it reminded me that one of the attractions for a lot of people who love traditional music is the lyrics. These are phrases that have burnished and polished by many generations until they are transformed into art that can be every bit as moving as any other art. Why am I lavishing compliments on Mudcatters? So that I won't be tracked down and thrashed with bass E strings. See, tonight I was playin with two friends, David and Elizabeth. I was at their house, something that happens every Wednesday evening, without fail. We were singing "The Cheapest Kind" and damned if it didn't sound, for us, comparatively good. David was singing the verses while I backed him up on the harmonica and Elizabeth played mandolin. When we sang together on the choruses, I started getting chills. It was coming out so nicely.

We had just gotten to the climax of the song and were starting in on the final chorus when Elizabeth's daughter came in to say that a tow truck was arriving, delivering Elizabeth's son's car which had broken down about eighty miles away.

The flurry of excitemnt this caused stopped us in mid-chorus. I think we were all surprised at how incomplete and unsatisfied we felt. I was able to sum that feeling up. "Chorus Interuptus"

Sourdough

(I am now going to walk quietly towards the exit in the hope that I will not have to duck, bob and weave to get out of here.)