Song suggestions: if it isn't too important to you to sing only traditional songs, you might try "Johnny Be Fair" by Buffy St. Marie (lyrics in DT). It sounds like it could be an old British ballad, and it's funny - I don't often sing a cappella but I've performed this one a few times and really felt like I had connected with the audience.

As for forgetting words: I've had similar experiences with performing on instruments - the stress makes you perform badly, which makes you more stressed out, which makes you perform even worse, and so on...

If bananas or self-hypnotism or plain old experience alleviate your stage fright, great. But unless and until you can lose the stage fright, I think the best you can do is perform songs that you know so well that you can do them now matter how stressed out you are. Stage fright takes away your newer and fancier material, but not the material that you can do in your sleep.

So know your material well! Run through the lyrics mentally while driving or walking or chopping vegetables - although you may have the words memorized consciously, the extra repetition will help you to memorize them unconsciously so that you can sing them on "automatic pilot".

Having said that... it's a perennial dilemma for me because when I have a chance to perform, I want to bring out my newest and fanciest material, not the stuff that I consider child's play. But it's very risky to do so, even if I can play them reliably in my room, as I've found out over and over again. Oh well, live and don't learn...

Marion