Just got back from the Sunday Singaround - some good comments folks!

"Semi" - Pick/Pass/Play at Filk sessions (filk is derived from a misspelling of "folk" in publcity for a Sci-Fi convention). Yes - we have effectively Pick a Deputy some nights at Brighton Cellarfolk Song Club. I don't encourage it but its ok sometimes. It depends if you've a crowd who know each other and get on well as a 'folk family". If you have a large number of new and occasional singers at your club then you could get a reputation for being cliquey.

Shimrod - here's a challenge for you if you think singers at a singaround or floor siners generally should all be of a high standard.

Take a listen to some of the origainal folk albums which feature the singers from whom many of our traditional songs were collected. Are these folk straight off the farm or out of the factory good enough for your club? Probably not I'd guess so I suspect you would have deprived the folk world of their songs - because these genuine working class singers were too low calibre for your folk audience. Am I right?   

Pip - singers joining in then imposing their rhythm / wordsets on your song. Where this is a problem, as the MC I point out that the person singing as their spot is also the 'Song Manager' - and people joining in should respect that.

And Valmai's Lewes Club Folk day in January - excellent! I went for the first time this year and shall definitely go to the next one (8) weeks time.

By the way I believe that the word "Singaround" (not the concept of course!) originated in Lewes, East Sussex in the mid 1970s. It was used by local
singer Fred Baxter to describe his informal sessions at the town's Black Horse pub. Can anyone locate the word in use before 1975? Perhaps a new thread is needed....

Ian Fyvie