I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.
The next generation of innovators, who need neutrality the most, are not at the bargaining table. They're hard at work in their labs or classrooms, dreaming of the next big thing, and hoping that the Internet is as open to them as it was to the founders of Google.
Families survive, one way or another. You have a tie, a connection that exists long after death, through many lifetimes.