Funny, I went to Passim's 2 nights ago to see an old friend that does the recording there. 54 S/S signed up, some were just ok some just awful, most were fairly young , maybe the average around 20-25.Alot of what I heard was "this is for anyone whose had to make a tough choice, got their heart broken, wanted to get laid & couldn't make it happen in a women's prison with a fist full of pardons". A few seemed to be on their way to being pretty good but I think on the whole most were more important than the song. I felt that their experience was supposed to be unique & that it's their job to make you understand where they're coming from so that you can see that unbefore, unseen similar trait in one's own self. Puke! Now on the other there have been a couple of traveling performing S/S as well as some locals come to our local singers session ( Kat Egalston (sp?), Debra Cowen & Maggie Crystal are a few) & they were just great. They did traditional as well as their own stuff & knocked the socks off those listening. I can't begin to guess what makes the difference, being close to the type of music you write/sing, maybe their maturity maybe as alot of S/S get on they either find they've got it & keep going or they haven't got & drop it. In the end I find that for myself there are few that I'd consider to be a good few cuts above the rest. It's ironic, over 30 yrs ago I gave up writing poetry & was told I was pretty good (by my mother, does that count) & I recently had to join a 12 step program because I fell off the wagon picked that pen back up & now my kids wouldn't let me come home till I went to a meeting of my peirs (the other reason I went to Passim's) & spout my tale of woe. I have the luck to sing with 2 other guys that I consider to be great songwriters but you'd find that they sing other people's songs or the old songs far more often than they'd sing their own. Barry, who if any of you ever catch navel gazing feel free to shoot on sight.