I'll echo what Ralphie said there.


>>It is important to always ask yourself as a musicain- have I done all I can today to teach a song, find a song from the archive that no one has played or recorded.

That really is NOT the most important thing ... What is important is espousing a tune or a song which does something for and to you ... whether you feel you have to teach it or perform it to someone else is a totally different matter. After all, not everyone who is a musician is also someone who wishes to perform in public. For twenty years I sang songs which I had picked up from books and recordings in the privacy of my home, and for a very limited number of close friends ... never in public. I sang and made music(and still do) because I enjoyed it, and it meant/means something to me and my wellbeing. These days I research, and do a little publicity regarding that research as well as singing (and am now taking up an instrument) ... spreading the word of my research is an added factor ... but it is NOT the reason why I stand up to sing. The last thing on my mind is singing a song to teach it to someone else (usually the best way to put people off). I sing for my own enjoyment, and to share that enjoyment of the songs with others (hopefully). If along the way somebody discovers English traditional music as a result that is a bonus and a privilege for me. As for finding songs from the archives that haven't been recorded or archived ... yes, that can be a buzz sometimes ... but the nuggets of gold are very few and far between. There is quite often a reason that no-one has put them out there or recorded them. Obscurity in itself is not a good reason for taking a song up - if it means nothing more than that to you, how are you going to give it life and meaning??

In my book the important thing as a musician is to enjoy making music ... whether for your own pleasure or for that of others makes little difference.