It seems a bit unfair to lump all s/s into one stodgy mess of navel-singing - and very discouraging to s/s in general. Just as there are some interminably boring s/s performances, there are also plenty of folkies who can render a wonderful old trad song completely dead. Some of the lovely old ballads can be mangled into navel-style very easily if you're not careful. So, perhaps some of these much-despised s/s are actually grubs about to turn into brilliant performing butterflys (you know what I was trying to say....). Also - surely songwriters are entitled to sing their own songs - presumably most of the songs we know and love were at some time sung by their writer. Not all mediocrity is found among the s/s, and not all s/s are mediocre. Generalisation leads to prejudice.

Kris PS. Sometimes it takes a shovel-load of crap to give people the impetus and courage to have a go for themselves ("even I could do better than that....."). One man's shit is another man's fertiliser...