Gee, Dick, couldn't you figure out that I was trying to defend you?

Yes, I think that copy-pastes should be attributed (which was done), and I also think it's nice to include a link to the original source of the information (which was not done). That offense is minor, compared to the rudeness of attacking another person under cover of anonymity. I think that if one is going to make use of the privilege of anonymity, then there should be no negative tone whatsoever in whatever one posts. It just isn't fair to take a potshot at another person, when that person doesn't know who you are.

But I think the topic of discussion was floor singers, not assholes.

Most folkies I have encountered are generous and supportive, but there is an annoying air of haughtiness that comes from some of the more vocal inhabitants of folkdom, a tendency to suppress anyone they think to be lesser talents than they are. As a Californian, I hadn't known of floor singers until I attended Whitby Folk Week about ten years ago. Most of the concerts there didn't have floor singers, but there was a delightful daily concert in a pub in Robin Hood's Bay that had slots for floor singers, and I thought that was wonderful. It gave normal "folk" a chance to sing in the presence of well-known singers and in front of a sizeable audience. It gives newer singers a chance to develop their abilities and their stage presence - this not something most singers can do well in solitude in front of a mirror. Nothing serves better to develop a performer, than performing before an audience.

I hear so much groaning and complaining about "bad" singers and their failure to follow the arbitrary rules that vocal, haughty people seek to impose on the rest of us. I hear far more complaining, than I hear actual "bad" singers. And the singers don't annoy me if they flub a song - I figure it's part of the learning process that we all go through.

I suppose the possibility exists that a situation could be totally dominated by bad singing, but does that happen often?

I thought folkies were supposed to be tolerant, but I sure hear a lot of intolerance in the folk community. And that disappoints me. Well, no, maybe the topic IS assholes. There are too many judgmental assholes in folkdom, and they're far worse than the possibility of an occasional "bad" singer. It sure makes it miserable for the rest of us sometimes.

-Joe Offer-