"I would just like Steve Baughman to clarify whether he is in fact the Steve Baughman, acoustic guitar virtuoso, or whether he is an attorney who just happens to share the same name as aforememtioned virtuoso."

I am both the Celtic guitar player and the attorney. We're the same person. I'm a rare visitor to Mudcat, but I was at a song session last night and had a reaction (for the first time in my life, by the way) to Amazing Grace. I thought I'd see what folks here had to say about the issue. Thanks for being here to discuss.   

As for Greg B's tyrade, (may I call it that? I think that's what it was), I am, again, puzzled by the tantrums folks are throwing over me raising the issue. Could it be that people don't like to admit that the personal really is political? Is that really too inconvenient a truth for us to want to bother with? I applaud Greg B for recognizing that some human suffering is behind our Nike shoes, a lot went into the stone walls that the slaves built, and our rosewood guitars may indeed contribute to rain forest destruction. What I don't understand is the angry energy over one bringing the point up. These things are not just "my problem." The issue is one with broader implications.

I recognize that we've gone from an old song to current events, but I suspect that there is benefit in recognizing, as Greg B does, that some unpleasant truths might lurk behind the things that we enjoy. Better to know about those truths than not to, eh?