Since this is still pretty polite (and I avoid the "yer an asshole" type threads) here's some thoughts.

Three years and a couple of months ago I discovered Mudcat and practically fell out of my chair! I simply couldn't believe that there were actually 50-100 folks who were almost as obsessed with unpopular music as I was....and were willing to talk about it. What blew me away was that opinions were given based on the information that folks had IN THEIR HEADS!

I was also knocked out at how kind people were in sharing information, and before long I'd formed some interesting long distance relationships with people who actually KNEW a fair bit about rural music. As Sandy Paton said, "it could take YEARS to meet this many knowledgeable people.

The evolution into a much more general forum was absolutely inevitable. We've had dozens of discussions about small (music) groups, sessions, song circles etc. that simply get too general to keep the original fanatics interested.

When it comes to "real life" musical gatherings I'm often one of those fanatics. If it's a bluegrass gathering, I don't want to hear John Denver songs, I want people to care about things like tuning, and in general the "etiquette" that goes along with the musical genre. Same with "Old time rural" music, swing, or blues, or jazz. Unaccompanied ballads are not my forte, but I want to continue to learn as much as I can, and once again, it's fun to be around people who treat the style with respect, and show that they've taken the time to "invest" in the music. In the "real life" world, if a gathering gets too chaotic for my taste, I just bugger off and find another one..or start my own. On the internet, it's much more complicated.

I've gotten to know so many fine people that I care quite a lot about how their lives are unfolding. I simply wouldn't have the time to keep in touch with that many folks if it weren't for the "new" Mudcat. I think a lot of people here are in this situation.

Every so often someone asks in a thread "how to 'fix' us", and my vote ALWAYS goes for a "split forum" (separate music and social sections). Needless to say, very few agree, and the friendly Mudcat gets larger and larger.

This year I started several threads on artists who are HUGELY influential and interesting to me. They are pretty obscure in the "real world" but I had hoped to find more than one or two folks here that would enjoy a discussion. Some catters were quick to provide internet minutiae and websites...that's the kindness part...but I guess what I wanted was a bunch of "like minds" chatting about what these artists "meant to us". Internet info I can (thankfully) now find for myself.

That aspect of the "old Mudcat" (for me) is now gone for the most part, but I can't just find "another group" that's into discussing obscure twenties rural pickers and singers. None exist. I'm not going to get my shorts in a knot about it though (well, maybe when I see an idiotic thread with a hundred posts and one on Asa Martin with five, I'll swear under my breath)...nope, I REALLY like the folks here, and that's still worth my (almost) daily visit. I don't have lesser expectations, just different ones.

Rick