Sorry Ron, but these are the types of session I know & love, they are public, they are open & they are book free. I haven't been to Old Songs in long time but when I did there were no books there either, at least that I remember. When I go to a festival or sessions, again they are not elite or private sessions, I hate closed sessions, they too suck, stuck up snobs mostly. On Jan 4th there's a pub session (in NYC) that's been going around on Facebook created by a Mudcatter it's called Exceedingly Good Song Night. and it's an open monthly sing, I doubt you'll find books there but I do believe you'll have a good time & a good sing. Ron, I'm not talking about elite sessions or parties, it's not about good or strong singers, it's about good & strong sings & in order for it to be good it needs voices & they don't have to be good or strong just willing to soar. It all boils down to personnal taste in the end but if you want a sing that's to die for you won't find it at a library setting, it's to formal when you really need to let it all hang down, loosen up & let it fly, you can't be real when you're nose is in a book, you can't throw caution to the wind, toss your head back & howl when you nose is in a book, you won't see anyone letting their hair down when you're to busy buring your nose in a book. That weekly shanty sing is no different than the Mystic one that you say is special because it attend by those that follow the genre or by "afficiandos of the genre", it's attended by beginners as well as 'just a few strong or good singers', matter of fact most of the folks there that sing have only been around folk music or sea music for a short time, thouggh there are a few who've been about for ages. This session is attend as I said by a lot of those who haven't been around for a long time as well as a lot of onlookers & waterfront characters that just happen to enjoy hearing songs that are from the places that are familar to them & it's usually a rip roaring session, againg with a spattering of paper sheets, even a few books but no RUS & no noses are buried in them. It's all a matter of what you're after. Mystic is about the only festival I can afford to go to these days but it's not the only sing I find that remarkable. Hopefully places like Facebook & MySpace will help to create more places that will be spots for folkies to sing in. I know there's another monthly sing that just started in the Boston area that's been put up on MySpace but I just went to the first one we'll have to see how that's gonna play out, so far so good I didn't see much there in the way of books, a few sheets of paper but time will tell.

Barry