Six or seven years ago, I was invited to perform in the Big Muddy Folk Festival in Boonville, Missouri. My friends Dave Para and Cathy Barton run the festival, and I was looking forward to meeting Bob Dyer. I have a great love of Bob's music, and it was exciting to finally meet him and share a songwriting workshop together.

The first evening I was there, I went to dinner, not knowing anyone who was in the room at that time. That suited me fine, as I enjoy meeting new friends. I went over to a table where three or four other people were already eating and asked if I could join them. They welcomed me warmly and when we started talking folk music, I mentioned two of my favorites.. Lonnie Donnegan and the Phipps Family. One of the people sitting at the table said that he had some Phipps family records, and I was excited about it because none of their material was in print, and I had just one album by them. (The Phipps Family were contemporaries and acquaintances of the Carter Family with an almost identical style.)

When I got back to Connecticut, I received two boxes. One was filled with cassette copies of every Phipps album ever released. In the box were also several videos of gospel groups my new-found friend wanted to share with me. The second box was the complete Lonnie Donnegan Bear Family boxed set, copied on to cassettes. I was really overwhelmed with the generosity of these people. As I came to know them better, I found out that their generosity was an every-day thing with them.

Whenever I get an opportunity to send friends, and strangers, music that they would really enjoy receiving, I jump at the chance. I am so far behind on ever catching up with the generosity of others that it will take more than a lifetime to do it.

Jerry