"I stay within the language of the tradition." That statement says a lot. And to answer Catspaws question ... of course they are still folk songs. Just because those particuliar songs are not necessarily sung right now doesn't dissqualify them. One of these days, I'm going to post a song that I believe was written by my great great Grandfather. He was a union soldier, in the Americam civil war, imprisoned at Andersonville. I found this song as a forward to his diary, written in 1886. Is this a folk song? It's over one hundred years old! Does anyone sing it? No one but me! Is it valuable> Damn right. It speaks to the horror that was Andersonville prison. CHEERS, Bob