Before my twenty year break from singing I used to run singarounds at college and an unofficial singaround in Whitby week at the Middle Earth when it first opened.I knew the then landlord well (it being my local)and he was folk friendly so myself and a group called Tatters Cottage used to organise something in there. The session mainly consisted of locals and and day trippers with many diferent styles and tastes and sometimes no one who wanted to sing and plenty that wanted to listen. Singarounds are not as easy to organise as they look especially if you dont want three quiet women in successfion or two poets etc. but thats difficult if you dont know the people.

Like most of you I have sat in many a singaround. Cleckheaton, Holmfirth and Saddleworth are my local festivals and at two of them I run workshops and sing. The Wickham singaround room I dont like but the sessions tend to be as good as the people who come. You cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear however good you are at running singarounds but what you find is that certain people like MCFAT and Old Git Geoff Miller and Padgett Ken J and Judy Knight are so well known for organising good singarounds that you will get a lot of people there and get a good session going.

Personally I hate people who know better talking loudly through someone's song. Organisers who ignore the newbie in favour of their mates or people well known on the scene and people who walk in and out during the singing - oh yes and mobile phones going off!! Otherwise you can put a group of people in any pub to sing and if its going to be good it will be