Two in Ottawa, that I know of: one sort of private, one commercial.

There's a song circle which floats from house to house, once a month (usually the third Friday of the month) held ostensibly by the Old Sod Society and ostensibly emphasizing traditional tunes from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In practice, only about half the songs chosen are traditional and about a third are from RUS. Chorus songs ARE emphasized, so usually, only people very confident of the quality of their song and/or performance give us non-chorus songs. Rarely does anyone join in on an instrument without being asked by the song's leader. I love this group of people. Email me for info. Some of the people there have info for Toronto and Vancouver song circles too.

Folk jam, song circle format, every Thursday night at Rasputin's around 9:00. I like it best when there are fewer people. (If you can endure, try it from about 11:30 'till 1:00am.) In theory, you can set strict limits on everyone else's participation on your turn, but in practice, people rarely ask others to be quiet or even to listen until they know the song. It can get rough when the group is large.

So what do I think about song circles? I think they work best when everyone there shares similar goals. I prefer it when people have come to sing with others. Surprisingly, this isn't always the case. Singer songwriters sometimes show up to "try out" unpolished songs (why? with all the open stages around town -- I don't know). Guitarists sometimes show up to jam and are glumly sour each time an a capella tune comes up. Socialites are sometimes allowed to talk nearby (there's a break for talking and munching at a *good* song circle). Worst of all -- when some overconfident idiot spots an unfamiliar instrument and its owner lets the jerk try it out for a song or two.

Straight jams? Rasputin's usually has an unscheduled, informal jam for an hour before its open stage on Wednesdays. The musicians are better than you generally see at a song circle. If they like what each other plays, it's nice. If not, it doesn't work as well.