With all due respect, there is much tepid, insipid, and generally boring stuff turned out by singer/songwriters within recent years, and it's often inflicted on unsuspecting and defenseless audiences at open mikes and on some of the stages at places like the Northwest Folklife Festival. There one hears hordes of S/Ss singing nothing but their own stuff, and that way, you get it straight and unfiltered, without warning labels. You can hear some really gawdawful stuff: navel-gazing and weltschmerz that goes on tunelessly and arrhythmically for thirty or more verses, says little beyond teenage angst, and inspires only yawns and an urge to tiptoe toward the door.

Although I myself do not indulge, I'm all for singer/songwriters. New songs have to come from somewhere, and it is an ancient and honorable tradition. Some of the older folk songs we sing today quite possibly originated with troubadours and minstrels, most of whom wrote their own stuff, often love songs or topical material. But an artist friend of mine once said, "An artist's most valuable tool is a wastebasket!. You have to be able to evaluate your own work and have the good sense to throw away the stuff that stinks!" More singer/songwriters need to avail themselves of that particular tool. Woody Guthrie wrote thousands of songs. A few of them were very good indeed. Most of them were stinkers. Guthrie knew that. He abandoned the stinkers.

With that said:— I missed this story on NPR and this is the first time I've heard of it. I followed the link above, listened to it, and listened to the song. Once in a great while, a singer/songwriter cranks out a really good one, and this is one of those times. Good singer. Good song. Whether or not it can be called a "folk anthem" is another question. Too early to tell. "Taking over the folk scene?" Not that I've seen yet. Will I learn it and sing it? I don't know. I feel no great, overwhelming urge to do so (I do with some songs), but I can think of groups I occasionally sing for where I might just learn it and sing it.

The Big Dipper line is a nice astronomical image, but it seems to arouse discontent south of the equator (by the way, since the constellations of the Zodiac are pretty much on the ecliptic, as is the sun, moon, and planets, they are visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres), and the equation of imperfection with crime clanks a bit. It has a rough edge here and there, but the "folk process" can probably smooth them out, given time. Efforts along that line seem to have already started. But just remember, most efforts to rewrite lines or "improve" a song should head straight for the wastebasket also. I do have a certain tolerance for the "crime of imperfection" if it results in a nice poetic image.

Thanks for the heads-up on this, Charlie. I'd like to hear more of Pat Humphries and her songs.

Don Firth