Joe, I disagree that Mudcat doesn't address the interests of bluegrass and old-timey fans. I see quite a few of them here and the threads on those subjects always seem to attract a lot of participation.

Fortunately, those same fans are usually interested in other categories as well. Personally, I have a deep appreciation (though not necessarily a deep knowledge) of many of the world's traditional forms. One of the great things about Mudcat is that it's world wide (duh).

I think the singer-songwriter set is really a different group. Most of the people I know who are really into the SS deal have very little knowledge or appreciation of folk and traditional forms. It's as if the SS thing is really just a subset of pop music—a sort of not-so-pop if you will. N.B. My remark here isn't intended to diminish the artistic value of SS material, I just see it as a different sort of thing than folk music.

      - Mark