"And to Don, who prefers to analyse a tad more calmly - do you see any differences between folk in America and England? Would you call Amerindian chants and drums the true traditional music of America?"

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Yes, I do see some differences—some distinct differences—between folk music in America and England. But as far as performance is concerned, other than tracing the provenance of a given song as a matter of historical interest, I don't see that these differences are particularly significant.

When it comes to singing a program of folk songs, such as a coffeehouse set or a concert, I see no problem with singing an English love song, followed by a Scottish ballad, followed by an American fo'c'sle chantey, followed by an Irish courting song, followed by an Ozark Mountain version of an English ballad—unless I decide to do a thematic program of some sort, such as all sea songs or all Scottish songs and ballads or all children's songs. Mixing and matching lends to the variety and interest a program, avoids a dulling "sameness" that can manifest itself, and it gives me an opportunity to inform my audiences through brief verbal "program notes" introducing some of the songs.

Since the vast majority of the early settlers of the North American continent were English, they naturally, brought their music with them. And this music passed down to their descendants. When some of these descendants moved westward, away from the urban centers that had sprung up on the east coast of what was to become the United States, for entertainment they had to call upon their own resources:   often only the contents of their memories. It is notable that the American cowboy—not the kind portrayed by Roy Rogers or John Wayne, but actual "cowboys" who were out working on cattle ranches herding cattle,—were quite literate and often had prodigious memories. Minding the herds (movie romanticism aside) was boring work, and to keep themselves entertained, they would often recite, to themselves or to each other, poems, passages from Shakespeare and other playwrights, and told stories. Since they couldn't pack books around in their saddlebags, they committed impressive quantities of material to memory and could call it up whenever they desired.

Among this material, of course, were many songs. It is no accident that many well-known folk songs associated with cowboys, such as "The Streets of Laredo," "St. James Infirmary," and others share many verses and often tell the same stories as pre-existing songs from the British Isles. The songs were remembered, and adapted to new circumstances—a common, classic aspect of the evolution of folk songs. On the trail, songs were sung without accompaniment, or sometimes accompanied by another cowboy playing the harmonica (small enough to carry in shirt pocket). When they were not out on the trail or otherwise working, many a bunkhouse had a guitar, usually Mexican-made, hanging on the wall to be used by anyone who could play it.

In the late nineteenth / early twentieth century, scholars discovered that in the somewhat isolated communities in the southern mountains of the United States, English, Irish, and Scottish songs and ballads were to be found, sometimes in almost pure form, but often also modified to new circumstances. This drew the attention of a number of song and ballad collectors, including Cecil J. Sharp, whose subsequent field trips produced the monumental collection, English Folk Songs in the Southern Appalachians.

This was reasonably well encapsulated in a movie (available on DVD) entitled "Songcatcher." The story is somewhat romanticized and the characters are fictional, but some of the fictional characters do have real-life counterparts. A few "folkies" are given to nit-pick about certain aspects of the film, but it is a well-made movie, and the broad outline on which the story is based happens to be true (the English song collector—obviously supposed to represent Sharp—is a bit too stereotypically "tally-ho, pip-pip" for my taste, but wotthehell?).

There is ample reason that when most people speak of "American folk music," they are referring to what might more properly be called "Anglo-American folk music," or a mixture of music from all over the British Isles, often somewhat adapted to new circumstances. But "American folk music" should also include Mexican, French, Italian, Scandinavian, and other music carried in in the memories of immigrants who have enriched American culture, and who have, likewise, adapted much of their music to new circumstances.

As I have mentioned to you before, David, although I have heard a bit of Amerindian or Native American music—chanting, drumming, flute—this is not my area of expertise and I would hesitate to try to comment on it with any authority. But here again, it's not as simple as you make it sound. When you refer to the music of Native Americans, you are talking about a wide variety to different cultures, ranging from the Iroquois and Algonquin in the northeast to the Seminoles in Florida on the east coast to the Ohlone peoples of California to the Pacific Northwest tribes such as the Suquamish and Duwamish (the city of Seattle, where I live, was named after the chief of these two tribes) or the Haida on the Queen Charlotte Islands of the coast of British Columbia.

So, although I am no expert on Native American music and culture, I do know that there is no single Native American culture, nor is there a single Native American body of music. To think so is a gross oversimplification.

Therefore, to call Amerindian chants and drums the "true traditional music of America" would be a bit like claiming that the "true traditional music of England" consists of Druid chants.

I do indeed hope that you are not suggesting that American singers of folk songs should be restricted to performing only Native American music.

Don Firth