This being a folk music form, I'd like to praise the folks that have shaped traditional music as my standard. Of contemporary songwriters, I am probably most drawn to Steve Earle (his earle-ier stuff), Thank you Art Theime. That may be because I can hear his appreciation of traditional music and early country song-stories. He is more of a rocker than Merle Haggard, another favorite, but they both drink from the same well.

For me, I don't strive to be like someone else, or as "good" as someone else. I'm not sure that I ever want to grow up, let alone grow up to be like someone else. I hear songs all around me, in the everyday courage of people I know, in the funny real-life stories I hear, in the music of words in relaxed conversation, and the wisdom of people who have learned to take what life has given them and see the goodness in it. My inspiration for folk songs is folks.

Jerry