During the late 1950s and until the middle or late 1960s, there were very few weekend evenings when I was not singing in a coffeehouse somewhere. I've done concerts big and small and participated in the "Seattle Center Hootenannies" in 1963 that drew audiences of up to 15,000 (police estimate of crowd size), but my favorite venue is either coffeehouse or house concert.

A vast sea of faces stretching off into the distance such as at the Seattle Center Hootenannies or an audience that I can't see, such as when doing television, tends to make me feel sort of isolated. I like to be able to see individuals in the audience. Much warmer.

I heard Linda Ronstadt say in an interview that she hated going on the road and, blinded by spotlights, singing at a huge sea of people "in an arena so large that a guitar break from a concert two weeks ago is still reverberating around the place." She much prefers a small, intimate setting. Easy to see why.

I have lots to say on folk festivals, but that's for another time and/or another thread.   In any case, small is good! I'm glad to hear this!

♫ Don Firth ♫