GUEST,vvvv, Frank Hamilton (Stringsinger) is one of the best folk singers and musicians in the country and he knows whereof he speaks. CLICKY. I would (and do) listen to what he says.

Now, since you asked me who I am:   

I began studying singing when I was in high school. I have taken lessons from three different voice teachers, but the first one was a retired opera singer. I don't sing opera, and I don't sing like an opera singer, but she taught me correct vocal technique, breathing, and voice placement, so I can sing any kind of songs I want, as loud as I want (loud enough to fill a good-sized auditorium without amplification), without harming my voice. I am a bass, the deepest male voice (like Samuel Ramey in opera, Gordon Bok in folk, or Johnny Cash in country).

I became interested in folk music when I was in college (you will note that folk music is what this web site is all about). I took some folk guitar lessons from Walt Robertson (he had a television show singing folk songs at the time, and he also has a two records out on Folkways), then I began studying classical guitar with Emilio Bonsilau and Edward Hern, and flamenco guitar with Antonio Zori. I have attended guitar workshops given by Aaron Shearer, Pepe Romero, Doc Watson, and Bess Hawes. I studied both Music and English Literature in college.

My first paid engagement. I was asked to sing at the annual banquet of the Overlake Friends of the Library in Bellevue, Washington (definitely not a strip club). And—my mistake—it was in 1957, not 1955, and they paid me $75.00 (that would be a couple of hundred dollars in today's money), along with a very nice dinner. There were many other such engagements; and then in 1959 I was asked to do a series of half-hour television shows, called "Ballads and Books," funded by the Seattle Public Library, over the University of Washington's educational channel (now, the local PBS affiliate). Following this, I began singing regularly three nights a week at the first coffeehouse in Seattle (a paid engagement), which was more like a non-alcoholic night club, and catered to both students and the "after-show" crowd. Since then, I have sung regularly in clubs and coffeehouses. During the Seattle World's Fair in 1962, I participated the Sunday afternoon folk concerts at the United Nations Pavilion, then in 1963, I took part in the Seattle Center Hootenannies and was a member of the SCH tour group. In addition to these performances, I have sung many concerts, frequently singing at colleges and universities, at many folk festivals over the years, and I have done more television.

For your information, I am now 76 years old, and I don't perform quite as often as I used to. Because I have taken care of my singing voice and not abused it, my voice still feels strong, and I am told that I sound as good as I ever did, if not even a bit better. One learns through experience. I am currently putting together several programs of songs in preparation to record a series of CDs.

I am not nationally famous, but I believe I am reasonably well-known in folk music circles in the Pacific Northwest. Just last October, a friend and I sang a concert together, and this led to our being asked to sing more such concerts. I am scheduled to participate in a workshop at the 2008 Northwest Folklife Festival over Memorial Day weekend.

Do I think highly of myself? Not overly so, I don't believe. I think I have a pretty fair assessment of both my abilities and my deficiencies, and a history of accomplishment that tends to support my assessment. If I am not sufficiently humble for you, I would say that humility is for those who have something to be humble about.

Don Firth