Kat - I have CD's from ten of the women on Ferron Fan's list. Yes, they're all very good performers - but most are what I would call singer-songwriters, not folk musicians. Of the performers on the list, only Fink & Marxer are the only ones who are closely tied to traditional folk music. The others may do a traditional tune now and then, but they're more closely tied to what is sometimes classed as "Women's Music" - Tower Records puts them in the bin right next to Folk Music.

Of the women on the list, my favorites are Holly Near, Meg Christian, Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, Cris Williamson, and especially Judy Small.

I think that lesbian musicians have made a concerted effort to identify themselves as such because they see that their music has the power to make the world a more welcoming place for them. Lesbians in general have worked to ensure that their interests are included in the category of "women's issues" - part of the general movement for rights for women. There is no similar "men's movement" - so homosexual males don't have a larger movement they can tie themselves to. The women's movement has a very large stage, and lesbian musicians have wisely made themselves a place on that stage. No such opportunity exists for homosexual men - not because of any particular folk music prejudice against homosexual males, but simply because history did not present them a similar opportunity.

-Joe Offer-