I am fond of all types of music (something of an irritation to many of my friends), but my most particular fondness is for the music that gets lumped into the folk category--people seem to warm up more to things like traditional ballads, or blues, or Irish songs, or Russian songs or some Rumanian or Klezmer dances--and when a person comes on stage with a banjo, or a fiddle, it can warm up even a cold audience--

The odd thing is that sponsorships and funding seem to like to hand money over things like jazz festival or "new music" projects, even though the reception for these things often cool-and the audiences are limited--I sort of get the feeling that they like the way they like the image that these things project in promotional literature--

Anyway, we have had discussions about how to bring more attention to "folk music", the question of how to get more support ought to be an extension of that--

I had a chance yesterday to get my uke out and play for Grandpa Marotta (who was an avid player for more that 70 years) and the folks at the nursing home--It reminded me of how important it is to keep the tradition of singing and playing alive--

I think patronage is important, and I think it is about time to begin thinking about ways to expand and encourge patronage--

I am really busy this week, but I will take some time to send messages out to a few friends who are involved on the giving end, with foundations and corporate sponsors, to find out why they aren't doing anything--