To me this is a bizarre argument. The gist of it seems to be that we are just disagreeing about labels again. If there is really only one type of music that you're willing to be entertained, comforted, or otherwise done well by then I guess you have to be very careful what you pay or don't pay to hear. Go with an open mind. Usually there will be something good, and if not, then maybe it's just a night out with friends, forget the music. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who loves the Cranberries and Ray Charles as much as I do AP Carter and Charlie Patton and all the unknown North Georgia fiddlers. If I am then I was wrong about that. As far as the songwriting itself is concerned, sure we all get tired of what I call "teenage love problems" and the contents of diaries, unless, of course, somebody finds an interesting way to write about them. What really irritates is somebody that tries to copy someone else as closely as possible. But we all go through these periods in order to develop our craft. I was playing for a wedding reception recently and a 12-year old wanted to play something on his guitar, so I let him, and it turned out to be "Stairway to Heaven". I was proud of the little guy for putting the effort in to learn something. And years from now he'll probably be playing something else entirely, but he's Playing! So lighten up.

Chet W.