To: Reggie, Don, Stewart:

WARNING ... this will be long.

I hate to burst your bubble, but the "Pacific Northwest Folk Festival" is no more about folk music than chickens have lips! WAKE UP! Let me explain:

In the 40's, 50's and early 60's, we sang for ourselves, in our own living rooms, for each other. That was folk music and that was what folk music all about. Then along came the "Seattle World's Fair" in 1962, and some idiots decided to exploit our music on stage. "Hey ... we can attract crowds with this music!" And of course we all went along with it, myself included.

From that event came the birthing of the P.N.W Folk Festival. It's early years were O.K. as they were guided by caring musicians who put the music foremost. Then along came a whole new breed of college graduates with degrees in "Folk Festival Management" (my term). This quickly changed the events by shifting the focus from the music to crowd numbers. As the festival became "bigger" it became more "successful." Soon events were added to attract more people: crafts, food venues, etc. With the increasing crowds came the predicable crowd problems, which brought rules, regulations and cops.

As the crowds grew, the "perks" for the volunteer performers began to disappear. No more free parking, instrument checking, free food and drinks, slumber rooms. "What ... free parking ... we need to sell all the parking spots to pay for the cops!"

Soon came the year that Ruby Chow (a cool lady) of the Seattle City Council decided that the city could make a LOT of money by charging admission to this "free festival." The storm of protest from the musicians nixed that idea in two weeks.

So ... Reg, Don, Stewart ... you have what you have. You are completely delusional if you think this so called "festival" has anything to do with folk music. The common name for this festival is "The Forklift Festival" ... so called because of the number of forklifts required to do the set ups. Would that instrument cases were so numerous as to require forklifts.

Reg ... I'm sorry to say this ... but YOU brought your troubles on yourself. You knew the rules and you chose to break them. Why stoop so low as to put yourself under their control ... you're a far better man than that. Don ... you could have written this diatribe much better than me. We both have been there a thousand times before.

Stew ... dear friend ... let's keep our folk music where it belongs ... amongst us folks. Judy and I look forward to seeing you all at our next hoot. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson


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