I will repeat - what matters, is that the singer does what it takes to sing the song as best he can. The job of the audience is to listen, and to appreciate the performance and support the performer. It is not the duty of the audience to set artificial restrictions - if a singer feels he or she needs notes to sing his best, that's his business.

I'm a fairly good singer, and I've been singing all my life - mostly for kids and in church. I'm relatively new to this matter of folk singing, so I haven't had a lifetime to memorize a vast repertoire of songs. But there are a lot of songs I know quite well and can sing quite well - still, it helps to have notes at hand in case I need to glance at them.

I went to an invitation-only music weekend last spring, and it cost me $250. Only after I paid my money, was it made known to me that singers are expected to sing without notes or "cheat sheets." I muddled through and sang only songs I knew from memory, but I won't go back. The camp was dominated by three or four aggressive men who, admittedly, had phenomenal memories for lyrics. I ignored the invitation I received for the camp's fall gathering.

I felt excluded, that I had been judged "not good enough."

So, yeah, when snooty folkies insist that singers must sing without lyrics sheets, I think it's bigotry and it gets me angry. Because the use of a lyrics sheet isn't what matters - it's how the singer sings the song.

-Joe Offer-