read this thread- those here have argued strongly that ordinary people do not good performers make and should be excluded in favor of the best performers. So you get performers without any but their own songs in their head- the rest are censored.


No insult intended. I am fully tolerant of professional musicians. I think the wider folk community just needs to ajust its arrangement and priorities to allow for greater expansion than is currently going on.

Dont confuse critique with insult. Yes the status quo will want to defend itself- but it is not always right to defend exclusion, artificially inflated prices and elitism.

Yes the ideas put forth are radical.

So where is the harm in implementation?

the only answer is what we are doing now is fun, we like it and you cant change it.

Most of my suggestions are concrete almost mathmatical.

-lower costs and more people can attend

-make venues more personal smaller and friendlier stages and people will be closer to the music

-Encourage people to keep songs in their heads from the older tradition while allowing new ones and adaptation

-Carve a little space from entertainment and allocate it for teaching.

-Move professionals from center stage to a side stage. Let ordinary folk and more accessible venues drive up demand for the professionals.

Why wont these work? Dont know.

Conrad