Mike of Northumbria said:

"At festivals, the sessions are crammed with frighteningly talented young instrumentalists, but in the singarounds, young vocalists are rarely noticable. Does anyone out there have any ideas on why this happens, and what we can do about it?"

I think that to sing, particularly solo, makes them feel very exposed in a way that playing an instrument doesn't. As you say, the sessions are crammed with young instrumentalists - they're playing with lots of other people, rather than on their own. When I started singing on my own, I felt the need to use a guitar to accompany myself, which made me feel slightly less exposed - I could sort of hide behind it. It took listening to Roy Harris to realise that I didn't need that - and nor necessarily did the songs. There are young singers around, but most of them, it seems to me, hide behind microphones, and perform with other people. In singarounds, this is not so easy to do.

I'm not sure that there is much *we* can do about it. I'd like to see more of the likes of Jim Causley in more informal situations, and it might encourage other youngsters to give it a go, just as seeing Roy helped me all those years ago.

Sorry, this is all probably a bit off thread, but to get back to it, I agree that, whatever ones own definition of 'folk song', giving anyone the opportunity to sing whatever they like in an acoustic situation gives songs the chance to be taken up, spread and, in time, perhaps be considered 'folk songs'. Although that would probably be long after our time on this earth.

Barbara