There is a little bit of an art to running a session. I run one in my local on the 2nd Sunday of the month - last night, as it happens. We had 8 people in all - a little quieter than usual through illness and other commitments - but it was a lovely evening. My own personal practice is:

1. I start the evening off with something simple to break the ice.

2. I look around and ask if anyone fancies striking up.

3. If no-one immediately comes forward (rare), I usually ask someone, without being too commandeering.

4. I make sure that everyone gets the chance to have their fair share of starting up with tunes/songs of their choice during the evening.

It's a given that anyone can join in on anything. Oddly enough, if someone starts a particularly quiet song, the company respects the mood and lets the song go as a solo, or perhaps one person might add a little accompaniment. Everyone is included, no matter what standards, and anything goes - blues, traditional, contemporary folk, dance tunes, jazz, country. As it happens, we're all there through a common love of acoustic music, so there's very little really off the wall stuff.

Oh yes, and I make sure that everyone who has taken the trouble to come along and play gets a drink from me.