Good point, Russ - although I disagree to some extent.
Too often, responses at Mudcat can tend to squelch a discussion, to "nip it in the bud" so people can go back to their idle chit-chat. That's counter to the very purpose for which the Mudcat Forum was founded - we're supposed to discuss songs here, and sometimes people seem to forget that.
On the other hand, it seems that most of the time, it's better to build upon existing discussions rather than starting new ones. If it can be done gracefully, I will sometimes move the messages from a new thread over to an existing thread on the same subject. Sometimes, I'll do this as a thread is beginning - and sometimes I'll wait until the basic question has been answered. If it's a chords or tune request, it can be worthwhile to have that a separate discussion until the request is answered, and then to move the whole shebang over to an existing thread, so that thread can serve as a resource for all information on a song or other subject.
So, I don't think there's any one solution to the issue, but I do agree that it's important that we don't to things that tend to kill discussion.
-Joe-