Made possible by Vaughn Ward, my late teacher and wife of georgeward:

My moment of clarity came in high school, listening to John Roberts & Tony Barrand sing Spencer the Rover. I fell in love with English acapella singing and that style of harmony instantly. After that was Young Tradition, the Watersons and eventually, the Copper Family. There were other discoveries along the way including North American music, but it started with John & Tony.

There was a festival at some point-- a small one put on by a high school in ...maybe it was Connecticut. We went because my 'Folk Culture Club' was going to put one on and we needed to see how those kids did it. It wasn't the music at the festival but the party afterwards that blew me away. People were sitting around singing at the tops of their lungs. People really DID that sort of thing!