Hi Charlie,

There's less folk music than there used to be and more rock bands, but there is still some fine folk music to be heard. Most of the rock bands and other eclectic stuff are good to hear too. They're trying to bring in acts that will pull in a younger crowd.

I saw several really fine acts today, including...

- Katherine Wheatley and Wendell Ferguson, who did their usual brilliant stuff.

- Amelia Curran, a young woman from Newfoundland. She did a superb song of hers called "The Mistress". Fantastic lyrics. No use describing it, you just have to hear it.

- Dell Barber, a young folksinger from Winnipeg. Man, was this guy good! He was like the young Bob Dylan combined with John Prine. Absolutely terrific guitar playing, singing, stage presence, and the whole bit. Couldn't be better.

- The main stage closed out with a rock band led by Josh Ritter. He put on a fine show if you like dramatic rock bands. I'd say it was a fair bit like a Bruce Springsteen show...though I'm not implying he's a Springsteen clone or anything like that. His lyrics are quite interesting, he does a wide variety of songs, and he really puts on a super stage show, though the loud rock music might not appeal to a lot of the older folkies. I liked most of it, and I really liked some of it.

There were other fine acts too, but I couldn't see them all. More of this tomorrow.