GUEST - You can start a new group free through Yahoo, if you're willing to take on the task of moderator. I would find it interesting to be part of this type of discussion of North American music. I'm happy to find it on Mudcat too, but I think there's a place for specialized groups as well.

By the way, I'm a non-religious person of Jewish ancestry who, among other things, sings Sacred Harp hymns. For myself, I think of it as one more aspect of traditional music, (or you could say, North American traditional music!) not as a religious activity, although some people I sing with do it from a religious perspective, which is fine with me. I certainly understand the distinction you're making above, although I'm not familiar with "Chautauqua" that you mention.

I should add that I also enjoy much Anglo-Celtic based music, but I have other interests as well, and to indulge those, would like to find exactly the kind of forum you're suggesting. If you do start or find this type of forum, let us know!

Zhenya

P.S. I'm not volunteering to start it myself, as I have no concept of how time-consuming this would be, and I'm already spread very thin in terms of my schedule. Perhaps someone who's been involved with this type of thing could advise on this issue, as perhaps it isn't really as daunting as I'm thinking. (Or then again, maybe it's worse...!)