Some of the contributors to this thread have touched on this but I want to STRESS it.

A mind-boggling amount of time, energy and money are spent to convince people that music is a commodity that they (as ordinary people) should be purchasing from professional performers (special people).

I don't want to start a definitional debate about "the folk experience" but it seems to me that a key element is that it takes advantage of but still manages to bypass or do an end run around all the standard informational distribution channels.

It is about what individuals think of as worthy of being passed on to other individuals rather than what "big media" thinks is worthy of being passed on to huge aggregates of individuals.

Anyway, my point is that please make sure the kids understand that if they like "House Carpenter" then why not learn it and pass it on. At the grassroots level of folk tradition they are as worthy of presenting something they care about as any professional making the mega bucks.

People entertaining themselves is not a once-upon-a-time thing. It is happening even as we speak.

My wife and I sang to my wife's grandmother (now 101) "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" many years ago. She was so pleased to hear the version my wife learned from her. It reminded her of an episode from her childhood. She remembered teaching "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" to a playmate as they rocked on a teeter-totter to keep the rhythm.