If the word "populism" brings to mind figures like Woodie Guthrie and Joe Hill, you are in touch with your folk roots but out of touch with the New Economy. I recommend reading an article in the Nation magazine called "The Rise in Market Populism". It discusses the "unprecedented upward transfer of wealth" in America and the ramifications on our national psychology.

Anyone trying to ply your trade as a full-time musician in the US has seen it getting harder and harder over the past few years to make a living. As the "Music Biz" has gotten bigger there has been less and less diversity in what is supportable in the market. Even though there is more and more money being spent in music, it is harder for anyone who isn't the new Brittney Spears or Backstreet Boys to make a living.

If you enjoy listening to an alternative type of music like folk, I would be willing to bet that it has become harder and harder to find live music in your town or neighborhood. The threat is that if you fail to generate market numbers that are significant, you will be washed away by those that do. We are being disenfranchised in the market. How you reverse a trend like this is not an easy question, but you have to start somewhere. When will we say "Enough!"?

Now I'm leaving my little soapbox in Bughouse Square and I'm going to work. Have a wonderful day and maybe we'll have a chance to talk later.

Bart