I was thinking of posting this in a new thread and maybe the Joes of Mudcat will see fit to do that. I dunno...but it also seemed to fit into this one as well.

Last spring, I received a solicitation from a prominent festival with the word "folk" in it's name asking for submissions to their "emerging folk artist contest" or something similiar, I cannot recall the exact wording. This is not the first time that I have received or seen these kinds of solicitations.

My problem with this is that among all the usual requirements (which I can fulfill with no problem) is that you must submit an "original song". What bites my butt about this is that this kind of thing excludes people like me who DO NOT WRITE. I consider myself pretty firmly planted in the "folk" category, and I consider myself an interpreter, not a writer. But I don't have an original song, and though I have tried to write, I do not consider it something I do well.

Again, I want to see everyone coming together under the label of folk, no matter what they do. Even though I am not a native UK'er, I did live over there for a short time and go back every now and then. In my experience (and that may be limited), I do not see this exclusion being practised as extensively as it is here in the US. It was pointed out to me one night after I did a floor spot in a folk club that I was the only floor singer out of six that sang a traditional song :-)

FWIW,

Deb Cowan