Yes Steve the post from John P says "Professionals shouldn't have music or lyric sheets on stage."

I help run a floor spot session myself and there are a variety of ways how folks perform. I agree no-on wants to see someone with their face in a sheet of paper - and certainly nobody wants to hear folks stumbling through songs because they haven't practised. That is so for just trying to read a song you haven't bothered to learn - or the other example is the guy who refuses to use a crutch even though he forgets the lyrics just about every week. Both are as bad as each other IMHO. As long as the performance is good then I don't care if they are using crib sheets or not. That is what counts. And actually one of our better performers always uses crib sheets - but you'd be hard pressed to know he was looking at it. Just the odd glance.

On the other side there is the players who come from the more formal musical background. We had an American lady come for a while who was a piano tutor, an organ tuner by trade, and a really good piano player. She wanted to accompany me on the song Circle Game - but would not do it without the sheet music which she had to get first. Just a different type of musician. Likewise I have a friend from the classical background who had been a top viola player in orchestras all his life. He has taken to playing both jazz and folk without the music but at first he did find it a culture shift. So that is why I commented on the blanket "professionals shouldn't have music or lyrics on stage" It is horses for courses and the performance that counts!!