Tangential the topic but relating to Jim's post noting "professionals & performance" at DC's Royal Mile shanty sing, I sent the following to my former colleagues in Ship's Company:

Shipmates,

Thought I'd pass along some feedback I picked of the Digital Tradition threaded discussion list. I've blanked out the sender and receiver to make it anonymous.

Although I'm not in a position to "contribute" to the success of the Royal Mile "experience" I do have a fondness for it. This is particularly true now that I'm in space where its considered ungentile and impolite to sing on choruses.

IMHO there are less than a handful of singer sessions in this country (Boston being the only other that comes to mind). They are hard to start, brittle to sustain and easy to destroy (Bethesda's Red Fox Inn during the late 70s).

Also IMHO, the Mile shouldn't be a performing venue for anybody. What Ships Company does [or did] is, at its very core, a collegial, participatory art form. The shantyman was a colleage, a mate, who "facilitated" the work - not performer. As a facilitator shantymen aimed to get everyone "envolved" in the "team". He had an extemporaneous verse for every man on the tail and derogatory ones for the common enemy the afterguard, the other watch and anyone who wasn't evening the strain right there and then. I would suspect that his mates weren't much at singing themselves which was why it was all so simple and straight forward.

I would hope we owe it to our community, those who come to concerts and performances and, more importantly, the shantyman - all dead and mostly gone, to pass on the true spirit of participatory music. That means passing the singing around and genuinely respecting singers when its not your turn.

[Dismount soapbox]

On a positive note, it is encouraging to hear that the singing is getting better. I always believed that milage matters.

Full and bye, KC