I didn't grow up with traditional folk music, so my 'well' is not very deep. Also, where I live there isn't a lot of trad folk played live, so I don't get to hear it from others very much.

I started learning songs a few years ago from CDs (Martin Simpson and Kate Rusby, to be exact); later, of course, I found out that the CD is one person's interpretation of the song and it's good to hear others and then make your own mind up. I 'followed the trails' in the CD liner notes and discovered the older artists the performers had learned the songs from, and then I began to find the written resources (including the internet).

I'm still listening to CDs and I'm still following trails. But I'm not as far along them as most of the people on this site!