There is more to folk singing than standing up and making a noise, but at the same time there is a world of difference between lecturing and informing the audience. Similarly there is no reason my part of the folk singer's craft should be to inform - but in an entertaining way, particularly where the context of fol song may be lost in the modern contemporary world.

At the same time, as singers we need to understand the context of what we are singing, out of respect for our material and that understanding should project itself through the performance. I often saw this at the Players Theatre where we could see the difference between seasoned performers and those new to the genre. Similarly I have heard people singing shanties because they have rousing choruses without fully understanding the context not just the lyrics but also the timing and stresses.(Though I think the group I belonged to did have a tendency to lecture a little bit - On the other hand Stan's (Hugill) intros were appropriate as he lived and worked in the genre).