Bill....that's specifically why I did ask as well as start plowing back over old discussions! And I appreciate your thoughtful response.

I truly want to know what is meant by "folk" and "traditional". In another thread a distinction is made between "old time" and "blue grass" fiddling. I think its important to be aware these distinctions exist. If there are such distinctions, we need to know them so we don't have to reinvent the freaking wheel everytime a bunch of us neophytes come along.

And it really isn't as subjective as some of us wish to believe. Don't get me wrong; I play what and how I feel with a keen eye/ear to the audience. But I also want to know the subtle differences between what I'm doing and "traditional" or "folk" so I may intelligently talk about it and, if requested, play it.

At this point, when asked, all I know is I play "Irish-American Pub Music". I just happen to know this is different from folk and traditional but not how. I hope to ultimately be able to discern this from my 'Catsearch.

Without a common grounding of meanings and definitions, it is extremely difficult to chat intelligently. That being said, I also recognize there are some of us you are less compelled to bone up before joining in; I personally prefer to be informed prior to rendering an opinion.

Nonetheless, we don't wish to discourage the occasional "new" question, rather we wish to gently respond by guiding the questioner to additional information and cultivating a conversational climate of respect.

Susan and some others have occasionally suggested compilation of previous threads. Seems to me a Mudcat reference thread could do the trick. Think how simple it would have been to be able to refer people to the What is Folk discussion. That said, I also suspect there are few among us with the skill/time to make such editorials and as such that comes down on the shoulders of Max, Joe and select others.

Anyway, thanks for the answers. I have much to learn!

Ed