M.Ted, I think Don is on the right track. The "folksinger" revival trend probably started with the political protest songs, the type of songwriting during the depression, too, that Woody Guthrie was a part of. I am reminded of Jean Ritchie's contribution to bringing Appalachian music to New York, then her travels to Ireland with a tape recorder to collect music. I mentioned quite awhile ago here (2 years?) that there is a video documentary on Jean Ritchie that includes Tommy Makem talking about how he was a teenager when Jean Ritchie came to town. She asked where she could record people singing music, and a home where everyone gathered was the Makem home. Tommy knew one tune on the whistle, and when he realized this lady from American thought Irish music was worth recording, he began to learn more Irish folk songs.

The name of the video of her biography is Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Story. The music she took to New York City and to her job with children was the Appalachian folk music that was influenced by Irish, Scottish, and British song traditions. It describes how her performance of standing alone on stage at the Newport Folk Festival where she sang Amazing Grace a capella made a big impact on the 'folk' scene.

Sandy, help me out here, there are details that you lived yourself that you can share to shed light on the "revival" in America that influenced the development of interest in folksinging.

Here's Ritchie's video on her website: Mountain Born

Here is the description:
Produced by Guy Mendes and directed by Russ Farmer for KET, the Kentucky Network, Mountain Born: the Jean Ritchie Story focuses on Jean's life and varied career from her Southern Appalachian childhood in the large close-knit Ritchie family, to her folkoric field studies in the British Isles, the folk scene in Greenwich village of the 50's and 60's, the stage of Carnegie Hall, the Newport Folk Festival and her many recordings. The Program includes interviews with colleagues and friends Pete Seeger, Emmylou Harris, Naomi Judd, Arlo Guthrie, Oscar Brand,Peter Schickele, Doc Watson, Tommy Makem, and many others, interwoven with Documentary film footage and photographs by George Pickow and early family snapshots.

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