Conrad, you obviously have no clear idea of what a "folk experience" actually is. You've ducked my question by merely comparing it to other kinds of performances, but without specifying what makes a "folk performance" different from any other musical experience.

I have already describe, a number of times here, the Northwest Folklife Festival, which is run by volunteers, none of the singers receive any pay, and which is open, free of charge, to the public.

It's held at the Seattle Center, a 74 acre area that encompasses several concert halls and auditoriums (auditoria?), meeting rooms, and open spaces where stages either already exist (such as the amphitheater in front of the Horiuchi mural), or are put up and run by volunteers. All manner of folk events are held there, traditional ballads to bluegrass to Native American chanting and drumming to Australian sheep shearing to—you name it, you'll probably find it there.

Yes, there are concession stands there selling food and drink (non-alcoholic) to those who wish. No one forces them to buy anything, and if one is hungry but doesn't want to buy at any of the stands, there is nothing to stop them from leaving the Seattle Center and going to one of the nearby restaurants (or, for that matter, a couple of nearby taverns and cocktail lounges), then returning to the Center. Or one could always bring a sandwich and a bag of chips.

So—what you are asking for already exists. If not in your area, then get off your butt and organize one. Just like we did here!!

By the way—lest there be any misunderstand:    the Seattle Center is owned by the city, like a public park, and it is maintained by the taxpayers.

Other events on a smaller scale consist of such things as the "hootenanny" which Bob Nelson held last weekend in his fairly capacious back yard. Pot luck, BYOB, and a whole batch of people spent the afternoon playing and singing for each other. No set program. If these things take running at all, Bob runs them with a light hand. If one singer in particular seems to be dominating things, or one person is sitting there with a guitar, but hasn't sung anything yet, he'll say something like, "Hey, Nancy. Have you got a song or two?" And if Nancy wants to sing, great. If not, there's no rule that says she can't just sit and listen to others.

These "hootenannies" are not staged and programmed events like some of the staged "hootenannies" in the 1960s, they are like the ones prior to the "folk revival" in which singers and musicians got together to sing and play for each other and just jam. And other people would come just to listen and enjoy. A party, where, instead of getting drunk and falling down a lot, people sing for each other. For fun!

That's what I would call a "folk experience."

Nobody's keeping you from throwing a hootenanny, Conrad. Except your apparent reluctance to lift your fanny out of your recliner.

There is no reason whatsoever for not presenting a concert by a professional singer of folk songs and ballads in a concert hall, charging people admission to the concert, paying the singer, and seeing to it that those who organized the concert also get paid for their endeavor. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a professional singer choosing to sing traditional folk songs and ballads rather than operatic arias and Schubert lied, or popular music, or Broadway show tunes, or Swiss yodeling, or Tuvan throat-singing.

These, too, are what I would consider "folk experiences," since folk music is an integral and essential part of them.

Why do you begrudge professional singers who chose to sing folk songs? If you don't like it, you don't have to go to their performances.

But, I might add, MOST people I know of who became singers of folk songs, either professionally or just for fun, were initially inspired to do so by hearing professional singers such as Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, The Kingston Trio, et al   THEY were the ones who created the interest in and the audiences for folk music back in the 1950s and that's why there are so many people interested in folk music today. And these folks were, in turn, inspired to do what they do by hearing other singers, probably most of whom where professionals.

So, Conrad, instead of calling them "greedy" and "mercenary," IF you really are concerned about increasing interest in folk music at all, you should be profoundly grateful to them—and to those professional singers who continue to promulgate ever wider interest in traditional folk music.

It's out there, Conrad. And a great deal of it is free. But don't complain if no one walks into your house and presents it to you on a silver platter just because you're too indolent to get up out of your lounge chair.

Don Firth