Hi Art, it wasn't just YOUR post that I was taking exception to - it is the tone of several of the posts that has me shaking my head. I have to admit, I did take you seriously - I think if you placed the smiley face at the end of the post it would have changed the tone!   Still, if your health issues did not sideline you, I would book you in an instant! There is still an appreciative audience for folk music in all the various shades.

I was watching the Monty Python documentary last week and one of them mentioned something that George Harrison said. Harrison was saying that they were always being approached to reunite the Beatles and he felt it wasn't that people wanted to see the Fab 4 again, they wanted to be young again.

I think it happens with most artists - audiences want them to freeze in time and continue to deliver the same awe inspiring moments that they remember. Some artists turn themselves into nostalgia shows, doing the same performance for the remainder of their lives. Others try to find their muse and offer new material, which does not have the same impact.

With "folk" music, the same thing happens. We all want to sit in a coffeehouse that is packed full of appreciative audiences and hear someone sing "Blowin' In the Wind" for the first time. Often, our memories are far greater than the original moment and we will never be pleased.

Folk music is alive and well. Traditional music is being kept alive, thanks to the hard work of previous generations. The music HAS been passed on. At the same time, the "commercial" folk revival has matured into a singer-songwriter scene that has an appreciable audience. It may not be your cup of tea, but it reaches the heart and soul of an audience that is looking for the same things that we once were.