My most significant influences were the people I grew up around - part of the revival folk music community in the Washington, DC area. Some of those folks are Mudcatters; others have never joined or have left us. I think of people like Jonathan Eberhart and Helen Schneyer, as well as the living - Bruce Hutton, Joe Hickerson, Magpie and others. Not to mention my parents, the biggest influence of all.

More than anyone else, Pete Seeger has been a huge influence, indirectly as well as directly. Likewise, Utah Phillips was an influence long before I ever knew who he was. John McCutcheon, Gordon Bok, Archie Fisher, John Hurt, Jean Ritchie, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer also come to mind. But mostly it was the people who sat around singing at Open Sings, Getaways, festivals and gatherings - as well as at home.

I remember taking a folksong class in college, and hearing the professor make the distinction between traditional and revival musicians. It was a valid distinction. But like some other musicians today, I grew up in the revival, which had its own traditions, (sub)culture, and musical heritage. Most of what I perform today - including the new music - is very much tied to that tradition. My music is in the tradition within which I was raised, learned (in large part, at least in its form, if not all the lyrics) through oral tradition. Where does that place me culturally as a person and as a musician?

Hmmm. Maybe this should be the start of a new thread for children of the revival. Or somebody's dissertation.

Dan