The media has certainly jumped on the story of the astronaut who was arrested after a bizarre incident in Florida. The tabloids are having a field day along with late night comics.

It started me thinking about topical songs. I am willing to bet that there are at least a dozen songwriters in our folk community who are already at work on songs about this subject. Some will treat it with humor and others will capture the real tragedies of this case and give it the sensitive treatment that it deserves.

I also started to think about topical songs in general. In the “good old days” we probably would have dropped by our local coffeehouse to hear a performer who was working on songs about the days events. These troubadours would have an opportunity to try out material at the various basket houses where they honed their craft. Eventually the song might be recorded, but it might already have spread through the folk community. In 2007 these places are few, and the “instant” hits seem harder to come by. Back then, topical songs were shared within days of the incident, today most of our “topical” songs seem to come months or years later.

I know many folk DJ’s around the country who frown upon receiving MP3’s and hearing “less than perfect” studio recordings. It seems that anyone can record music in their bathroom these days, and the quality is suspect. Still, I personally welcome the opportunity to hear new topical songs and I think MP3’s and other “instant” opportunities for sharing songs deserve more consideration.

The newspaper this week seems full of opportunities. “Topical” does not have to be about politics or global strife either. What about the 5000 year old skeletons found in an embrace? Tell me that there isn’t a good story here!

If there are songwriters out there who are creating songs from the daily news, I would welcome an opportunity to hear it and possibly share it with listeners. I have seen a few such offerings in the past, and I hope more songwriters will be encouraged to do so in the future. I don’t think that it is always necessary to wait for the entire process of going into a studio and pressing a CD. There is something about immediacy that I feel is missing from folk music these days. While it will be wonderful to hear a well crafted song in a year or two about the NYC cabbie that returned a bag of diamond rings left in his cab, there is something special with being able to share a song about the subject while it is still in the news. Sure the song could evolve over time, but that also speaks to the definition of folk music. Not all the songs will be worthy of airplay, or hold up to repeated airings, but there may be songs that could have an impact on our shows.

With all the changes in technology and competition we face, perhaps the role of radio hosts is to return a sense of immediacy that builds a connection with our community. Naturally I realize that audiences are turned off by poor technical quality recordings, but I think the human ear can be forgiving when the information being imparted touches a need. While I would not offer a whole show filled with these types of songs, I think there can be some important music shared. Perhaps we need to challenge ourselves to bend to the technologies and embrace their potential and to challenge songwriters to react as well.