I think it was the nuns.
My dad has always been one to break into song at the drop of a hat, so it was natural for me to join the choir at St. Rita School in Racine, Wisconsin, when I was in fifth grade. I guess I got hooked when Sister John Bosco said that Ronny Benedict and I were "really sharp" and I took that as a compliment. She kept us in the choir, even if we were sharp, and she recruited us into her harmonica band. I was in the seminary in high school and college during the heyday of the "folk Mass," and we sang all the time. We used to gather in the vestibule of the chapel before evening prayers, and smoke cigarettes and sing Englebert Humperdinck songs. I still sing in church, but don't sing much Englebert anymore.
My other early exposures to music were listening to PP&M and the Kingston Trio at the two homes where I worked as a babysitter - and I have worked with Scouts and as a camp counselor for most of my life. I discovered song circles about four years ago, and that has been my most enjoyable exposure to folk music.
-Joe Offer-