Now I know Amos has been heavily advertising and even compiling a songbook for the Doo-Wop workshop, but I want to make sure y'all know there's ANOTHER chance to sing those songs at which Purist Snobs like Bill Day turn up their noses...

On Saturday, after lunch, in the Nature Center (it's been moved since the original schedule), Big Mick and I will be hosting "Guilty Pleasures", which is NOT songs about the Seven Deadly Sins (my favorite is Sloth - what's yours?). Instead, it is all those songs we memorized as teenagers or in college, from the radio or our own battered LP collections, which we would NEVER admit to knowing in front of our dyed-in-the-wool Traditional Ballad and "If-it's-not-over-100-years-old-or-collected-by-Lomax-or-Sharp-it's-not-folk" friends.

Beatles. Dionne Warwick. Led Zeppelin. Johnny Cash. Joni Mitchell. Talking Heads. Aretha Franklin. James Taylor. Patsy Cline. Bruce Springsteen. Carly Simon. Garth Brooks. Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Merrill Lynch, Fenner & Pierce. Bee Gees. Donna Summer. Hootie & the Blowfish. Carole King. Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Broadway show tunes (although I may insist on an Andrew-Lloyd-Weber-free zone). We'll even allow a few songs from Amos' Doo Wop list, as long as you don't take over the entire workshop!

From the sublime to the ridiculous, if you know it and love it, come belt it out at Guilty Pleasures. I would be especially grateful if a few versatile guitar players can provide rhythm tracks for singers (how can anyone do a Spinal Tap song without a few power chords in the background?).

This is not intended to be a "How-tacky-can we-get" workshop - I would prefer that people sing songs they actually really do like. It's sort of like the ground rules at my "Midwestern Cooking" potluck barbecue - folks could bring any dish that was part of Midwestern Cuisine, from Jello salad to Tuna Hot Dish - but it had to be something the contributor was actually willing to eat!