Ron Olesko:
your comments are interesting,but they seem to contain a whole set of strange assumptions. Well, to make my position clear, I dont deny that singer/songwriters exist, and I dont deny that some of them are writing great songs.What I do wonder is why they have taken over some folk festivals, to the point of excluding the folk music that started the whole business. Of course, you or anyone could counter what I say by saying"Ah, but what they are doing is folk music".Well, people do say that. Some agree,some dont.You can say anything is folk music if it suits your argument.
   I just think that if anyone was going to take over the folk scene, it would have been more fun if it was Spike Jones imitators, rather than acoustic guitar strumming song writers telling us either how miserable they are, or how they think the old days should have been, brave boys, haul away.