My dad died at 48 from, among other things, giving himself over to a corporate entity. He strove to give my mother the status and the address she wanted. He did that until he died in 1946. I was 5 years old then and I'll never forget it. ---As a teenager I found Roscoe Holcomb and Jack Kerouac. After finding Bob Gibson, Big Joe Williams, Ed Balchowsky and Sandy Paton, I decided I wanted to be a singer of mostly American trad. songs and rejected any connection to the corporate world. I retired first & climbed the mountains and walked by the oceans and rivers while I had the strength to do it---a good move since now, at 58, I'm generally unable to do most of those things. As Robert Frost said, "And that has made all the difference." Yeah, it was right for me. As of now, I've got 10 more years than my dad managed----and counting...

Art Thieme