Many years ago, I wrote an article on The Care And Feeding Of Muses:

It starts out thusly:

In more genteel days, muses wore togas, played lyres and harps and struck attractive poses. Composers sat in deep thought, their fingers poised above the keyboard and communed with their muse. They didn't have to carry out the garbage or stop their kids from dissassembling each other. Creativity was a good business to be in. While you might think that those days are gone, muses are still around if you take the time to listen to them, and for a musician, The Care And Feeding Of Muses is an essential skill.

The first thing to realize about folk muses is that they are far more liberated than any of the old Greek godesses. Because the pay is so small, it's hard to say that folk muses even work for a living. Without having to worry about record sales,they have become an independent lot. When you try to find something in common between the muses of Utah Phillips, Gordon Bok and Sally Rogers, you have to do to some pretty heavy thinking. When I first went in search of my muse he (I expect that women have female muses) responded by giving me a song. He was very explicit about his needs in the chorus:

   And I feed my muse on rhythm and blues
   And old time country songs
   All nights talks and long slow walks
   And playing until dawn

And the article goes on... if anyone is interested, I'll post a few more paragraphs. The article led to making and exchanging muse food tapes, figuring that even the best muses need to hear a lot of music in order to be stimulated to inspiration.

Jerry