My intended post of last night somehow did not make it here. I like nearly everything which has been written since then. The title of this thread looked singularly unpromising to me at the time. As a songwriter I see myself very much as a part of the tradition. I travel, I meet people, I listen to their stories and I try to retell them.
I love Ron's term "singer-songwhiners". (You shall have to copyright that one quickly, because it could be with us for some time!) In a way they are the antithesis of what writers like Jed Marum and Rick Fielding do so well, which is to retell history.
There are not many old songs which I sing well although I use a couple which I think I can make sense of. On the other hand, when I write, most of the tools which I use have long since been discovered. In that sense, the traditional songs provide the templates for what I am doing. I want to hear a lot more old songs which are good songs. It matters nothing to me whether a song is old or new. It matters whether the song is good or bad. I think that is the only distinction which most people care about.