One more matter that bugs me - people who introduce every song they sing with a long apology, explaining that they don't sing it very well, etc., etc. We have one woman who does this at length, every time she sings a song. If you want to sing a song, sing it the best you can, without apology. People will generally appreciate anyone who try their best, even if the results aren't perfect. There's no need for apology, although I realize the temptation to apologize is natural

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The perennial Battle of the Blue Book reminds me of a battle I've fought in church for the last twenty years, ever since I joined the choir as an undercover spy from the parish council. The official position of the Catholic Church is that choirs and church musicians are to assist and support the congregation in singing, and "performance" is never to be the primary purpose of a choir. Since they are paid by the church, musicians pay lip service to this policy, and then they go off and prepare complicated arrangements of songs that are impossible for congregations to sing. Invariably, the songs are illegally photocopied; and they're never to be found in the hymnals the parish paid megabucks for.
For the life of me, I can't figure out what's so wrong with having a building full of people singing from the same hymnal, but we've sure had a heck of a time finding musicians who will encourage that.

Same thing with song circles. Certainly, it's wonderful to have a roomful of musicians who all know the same songs by heart and can sing all fifteen verses together with gusto. Certainly, it's nice to give great musicians a chance to dazzle others with stellar solo performances. I've sung with circles like that, and they're wonderful. I regularly attend four different circles in the area, so I get a wide variety.
That's not the kind of circle we have in Sacramento, and I'm proud of that. We sing from the blue book, Rise Up Singing, and I see no reason to apologize for that. We make a strong effort to encourage non-singers to join our circle, and we haven't found any aid better than the blue book. The musicians in the group work hard to introduce new songs to keep things fresh, but the mainstay of the group is the blue book. It's not whether you use the blue book that should be the issue - it's how you use the book.
-Joe Offer-