Mission Statement/First Post

This blog is here to bring attention to world music.  Certainly there are plenty of blogs that do this so what separates this one from the rest?  It's the person writing it.  So I'll tell you a little about myself and you can decide if you want to pay attention to yet another web rant or tag another address to your RSS feeder.  I am a music lover and a musician. My love of music expanded beyond traditional radio rock when I was a teenager.  I moved from the Police to the Pixies to Fugazi and then to an ever more obscure world encompassing early 90s hardcore and Chicago/Louisville avant and post-rock.  I've dabbled in 60s and 70s jazz fusion, funk, hip hop, classic rock, ambient, soundtrack, and folk.  I've played in many bands over the years, most recently, Ghost Stories and The Long Winters.  My love for a band or song stems from the artist itself rather than the genre.  I find this holds true for most music lovers.  The richness and depth of a song speaks to the listener far more than the genre the music occupies.  That said, I feel there is music happening far outside the confines of western pop that everyone would be excited to hear.  Music that undeniably is taking a stronger place in shaping today's western music.  This folk art or "world music" is becoming more readily available thanks the mad rush to unearth so many artists whose recordings have long since gone out of print.  How do you sort through it all?  Hopefully this will be a good starting point.