My, my. A Rude Guest. If you even bothered to read the postings in this thread, you'd see that almost everyone who has posted has NOT tried to make a living playing folk music and has NOT lived off the wifey's income, or at anyone's expense. You are right, however. When you aren't trying to make a living off music, you indeed are not acountable to anyone but your muse. Got nothing to do with purity. I for one, supported my family with a full-time job and played the music because I loved it. And as someone on here said, there is nothing like the connection you make every once in awhile when you are performing. That's the payment, and it's a fine one.

Making a positive connection with other people is highly recommended. Try it, you'll like it.

Jerry