So, there I was about 10 years old and I hear Phil Harris and "That's What I like About The South". Me and my wind up record player. A wannabee DJ with my li'l ole record player. Certainly not folk---then came "country"--if you are from the NY area you may remember Don Larkin---Harkin To Larkin Barkin. WAAT--circa 1950. Something was missing===then came The Weavers (to me)and it all fell into place. The mental gate opens to the likes of Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and all those people who have something to say through music. Things that speak to a human condition.

From there it is not a far reach to try to find where it all came from---from the Spirituals to the Protest Songs. From the LaMar Luncefords to the Carters.

And we have now a current crop of people who write and sing to the human condition----my own favorite in this generation in this genre---the writer of a bunch of classic pieces (perhaps the most famous being And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda)---ERIC BOGLE. But let us not forget people like Pat Humphries, Magpie, and Kim & Reggie Harris. I respect and admire them just as highly.

Bill H