I'm a lifetime believer in The Singaround as the ideal Seance in which to commune with the spirit of Traditional Folk Song, idiomatic or otherwise. A Good Singaround will always run itself; if a leader is needed, the best of them will just kick it off and let it run. We're talking pissups in breweries here. Unfortunately there persists the need for Moderation (much as we find here on Mudcat) which all too often results in singarounds being presided over by one or more self-styled puffed-up authority figures who are evidently getting off more on the power than on the music. Worse than that, the singers not only allow them to get away with it, but respect then for it with cowering deference. This is, of course, a vicious circle; the more the leaders puff, so the more the singers cower, and the more the singers cower, so the more the leaders puff. I'd love to name names here (two of the worst offenders have named mine often enough!) but I just avoid their singarounds in the hope that most other discerning singers do likewise, and will gather (as they do) for a more satisfyingly spontaneous gathering elsewhere.

One rule seems to be the smaller the better both in room and in numbers. Our regular sing is a jump-in session with maybe twelve singers / musicians and absolutely no evident hierarchies and total mutual respect for each others work. I often wonder what it is about the Folk Scene that generates the small minded bitterness that seeks sympathy for its cause when that cause runs contrary to the very nature of Folk itself. Happily though, and for the most part, people just get on with it, as people do, otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't bother, life being too short in most other respects. Maybe I'm just being naive in believing Folkies have an especial responsibility to be nice to one another, respectful of each other's efforts and, most importantly, encouraging and supportive of all comers of all abilities. Maybe I'm just being naive in my belief that The Singaround is the perfect way to manifest such an anarcho-egalitarian ideal, where the only rule is to prove to equality of all comers by means of a more philosophical approach to quality control and thereby transcend the commonplace into the very heavens. But Folkies are a quirky lot - curmudgeonly eccentrics whose forveable religiosity often manifests as an unforgiveable righteousness that so very often runs contrary to the cause. That said, aware that this is very much par for the course in the folk world (The People, Lord, Thy People!) I strive to accomodate this too.

Finally... I've lost count of the times I've been pulled up by self-styled Purists for accompanying Traditional English Songs on non-traditional English Instruments, or for using small amplifiers for small synthsisers or electronic shruti boxes. Trouble is, these people aren't Purists at all - rather small-minded bigots whose understanding of the wider condition of English Speaking Folk Song Tradition and its Revival is so small as to be non-existent. In my life I've only met maybe three or four individuals whose enclyclopic knowledge and 100% commitment to the cause of Traditional Folk Song has earned them the right to be called Purists, but of course they never do - just as they have never once complained about anything that goes down in a singaround other than the puffed-up rank pulling that has the potential to ruin an otherwise good sing.

The secret of a good singaround? A very simple equation best expressed by the formula Come All Ye.