One of my sons, Dan Schatz, has been interested in folk music from early childhood and has been writing songs since he was a sophomore in high school. He insisted at a rather early age that he was going to be a famous folksinger when he grew up, and was convinced he could make a serious go of it. We didn't want to discourage him completely--he was showing considerable talent, after all--but neither did we want to support him forever. He needed a reality check. We pointed out that virtually all of the folk musicians we--and he--knew (and there are a lot of them)who made their living by music had started out by doing the music as a sideline while they actually supported themselves doing something else. Only after they had made a success of music as amateurs did they take the plunge and quit their day jobs. We insisted he be able to draw a regular paycheck, but also encouraged him by helping him buy instruments, etc. He made several career-goal changes in his college years, but now after 4 years of graduate school and two years out in the Big World, he is in fact supporting himself with a real job (which he likes well enough and is very good at) and also doing music whenever he can--often for money. His instrumental ability has steadily improved, and many of the songs he has written are very good. Who knows? Maybe someday he'll chuck the real world and do music full time. But now he knows you can't just declare yourself a famous folksinger. As for me, it is one of the great joys of my life that my kids (both of them) have grown up to like the same kind of music I do! --Nancy