Unaccompanied singing has always been common as far back as my folk-club life goes (to about 1968). Although I learned the guitar before I got the hang of singing properly, singing without it never really seemed a strange thing to do, and Mom often sang around the house (still does). Some songs just seem to be naturally unaccompanied, especially if they call for a rubato style; some are just too tricky for my poor fingers! I sometimes find that even a simple accompaniment takes my mind off a song I know very well and makes me pause at awkward moments to grasp for the next line.

Funny story ... back around 1976 (on the occasion I met the woman who was to become my wife -- a romantic story too!) I dropped in on the folk club at the local college; it was purely on impulse, and I hadn't got my guitar. I volunteered to do a floor spot (so I wouldn't have to pay!) and got up to do my bit. I dried in the last verse of a comic song, but I laughed it off and immediately went into another song. Later on, I was accosted in the gents' (eek!) by a student, who sang my praises very highly: "if you've got a guitar, man, you just keep playing till you get to the next verse, but if you ain't, you're naked! But you talked your way out of it -- I was reallly impressed, man!" (You can see it made a deep impression on me! I never talk to strange men in public lavatories now!) Cheerful confidence is a great asset when singing "naked", and I've seen some awful singers who were great entertainers. I think I come out better than "awful", but probably lower than "great".

Steve