to be honest- that's a slightly different thing. people gigging functions, with an ever changing venue and audience need to be slick as all hell. know their equipment, their repertoire - introductory fuunies - so you can be grabbing the correct instrument with the correct setting. a folk club audience that sees you maybe once every couple of years - deserves the kind of introduction that engage them intelligently - not really what they heard ten years ago. social attitudes change, and the traditional songs develop new relevancies. the songs don't need to change so much but your handling of them needs to get more assured - the way you inhabit a traditional song changes subtly throughout your life. this is what makes it live annew. the resident's gig is different again. you need a big repertoire to keep it fresh. to have something interesting to say to the same people every week. to keep you on your mettle. to set the mood for the guests or other floor singers. if they are going to do long reflective songs. you have to provide the bounce. you're like the gouache - the background wash that complements the other singers , gives them a setting for the jewels they have to offer. they are separate disciplines and you learn that by doing the jobs as well as you can.
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