I found Mudcat about three months ago when I was looking for lyrics to a song that the Dictionary of American Biography said didn't exist -- that its lyrics had been lost (funny, I'd heard it recorded!). 'Catters found it. I explored the DT and found the lyrics to other songs I only partially knew. I looked into some of the threads.

I joined. Not out of ego (hell, there are folks here who make me look like I play with The Backstreet Boys), but because I could still learn stuff and, perhaps, cause someone somewhere to smile. (We need more of that, smiling.)

One night on Chat I mentioned that I am currently "between engagements." The support was terrific, far more than I've gotten from anyone else except my immediate family. Why?, I wondered, and then it hit me: folkies and bluesies sing about such things and all too often experience them themselves. Empathy....

I made some mistakes, such as responding to a "Guest" in a politcally-leaning thread (and the "Guest" responded in such a supercilious way that I suspect s/he was a one-L, a first year law student full of newly acquired information but no understanding, a true "sophos moros" -- and my wife, the attorney, agreed). So I now ignore threads that don't appeal to me and contribute where I think I might.

I shall continue; there are some swell folks here (as well as some legends, like Art Thieme, and I might have been too awed to join if I knew that he was a member!).

Sorry for the lengthy message.