Will Fly says -
"Vic - your comments were very interesting! I was contemplating coming along to the first of the new Sunday afternoon sessions at the Oak, but I think I might have to forego it...

(Bloody chord players... fecking guitarists.. can't stick to the tune... might have to bring the tenor banjo... grumble, grumble...)"

Well, you know, Mike, that you would be very welcome - and the session is for singers as well as instrumentalists - and the way that Ian and you were singing and playing together last week was excellent.

Can I take you back to your earlier comments where you said, If we don't agree on what chords to play, then some 'orrible dischords can arise. That is what all my contributions to this thread have been trying to address. You can read above how Dick and I differ in the way we would approach one tune. Who is correct? Dick? Me? Both of us? Neither of us? That is why I am with Greg when he suggests "only one harmonic instrument at a time" otherwise the 'orrible dischords you fear will arise. I reckon that you are going to struggle in vain to find "standard" harmonic underpinning of the tunes. In my experience, traditional music abhors the word "standard" and that is what makes the tradition so inventive.

One of my favourite singers of all time was the Scots traveller singer Davy Stewart. He often accompanied himself on the melodeon or the accordion and he broke every musical rule in the book, but he was always playing solo and only had himself to answer to but his strange otherworldly accompaniments remain a delight.

And since Mike has mentioned the new session the Tina and I are starting, I ought to give the details. It is to be on the last Sunday afternoon of the month at:-
The Royal Oak
Station Street
Lewes.
East Sussex
3.30 to 5.30

The nice thing about it is that the idea for the session comes not from us but from Patrick and Tara who run the pub. It is for singers as well as musicians and we intend that it should be roughly half and half of each.
All are welcome - even Bloody chord players and fecking guitarists.