Arnie...Look for a pm shortly.

The lessons learned from exposure to, culture of, and performance of traditional music are lost on singer-songwriters if they haven't experienced it. Many s-s seem to be floundering about searching for a way of expressing themselves, at least to my ears. This isn't to say that there should be singer-songwriter rules, just that singer-songwriters often sound rudderless.

I personally prefer some ties to song history, be it lyric, melody, or harmony based. This is not for everyone I admit, but without such ties music is less folk, not at all trad, and marketable as many kinds of music depending on the arrangement.

Interesting views here.

Peace, Mooh.