Folk Club / Session Etiquette

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Will Fly
Date: 22 May 12 - 09:14 AM

What's so hard about Bbm?

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 22 May 12 - 09:15 AM

If someone's not a strong player, I think ideally for everyone's benefit, they should restrain themselves from attempting more than they know they can achieve. I think that's a matter of basic courtesy to others really. The squeakings of a poorly played violin or tin whistle, can be deeply unpleasant to listen to, unless the player is seven and you're their mother maybe. Another simple courtesy to others, would I have thought, be to ensure that you've actually practiced not only your instrument, but the piece you intend to perform. The funniest -in a bad way- example of someone destroying a song I've heard, was by a nice little man who was terribly keen to share his rep at any momentary point of quiet. Before he began he announced, "I last played this twenty years ago" :-\

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Jack Campin
Date: 22 May 12 - 09:35 AM

Before he began he announced, "I last played this twenty years ago"

I hear that a lot, and usually from people who I last heard play the piece a month before.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 12 - 10:38 AM

My what a pleasant chap Ben must be. I think I will stick with good old chord soup.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: TheSnail
Date: 22 May 12 - 11:37 AM

Will Fly

What's so hard about Bbm?

Those fiddle lessons must be really working, Will.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 22 May 12 - 11:51 AM

So you are against solo singing in clubs

In case this was aimed at me, when I said I was in favour of people joining in "at the right time", I meant "on choruses and refrains". (I'll tolerate people joining on a repeated last line, or on a repeated first verse; people merrily pitching in on verses is just rude, though.)

Not only do I think joining in on choruses is OK, I think it's a bad sign when audiences don't. Audiences in chairs-facing-the-stage FCs - in my limited experience of same - are particularly bad for this. I once did Lowlands at a local FC: eight verses, sixteen refrains, not a peep out of the lot of them. It made it a long three minutes.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 22 May 12 - 12:21 PM

Did you have a PA, Phil? Nothing cracks me up more than those folk clubs with PAs set at ear-splitting volumes (even for floor singers) and the performer saying to the audience afterwards 'Well sung...'

*

Again, I find it's the joiners-in take great offence when you tell them to desist. It's hard to do this nicely, having had at least one verse of your song ruined by their witless warblings. Once I got so upset I actually asked a woman to STFU, which was a tad heavy handed I admit & caused great offence to others in the club who regarded me as 'rude'*. Another time on a song I stopped singing, but kept playing the zither telling the joiner-in that I didn't do duets but that they were free to finish off the song for me if they liked. 'Er - I don't really know the words,' quoth they, whereupon I asked if they would like me to sing it for them - solo. I was happy with that. Ways and means I suppose, but when I'm in the zone tact isn't really my strong point I'm afraid.

* Not an uncommon opinion percepyion of yours truly in certain quarters of the Folk Realm. I once barged into a Festival singaround in the middle of someone's song with the very irate emcee screaming at me to get out. I refused point blank because they'd overrun by 20 minutes and we had a big show to set up with something like a ten minute window in which to do so. According to my sources, said Emcee still takes every opportunity to publicy slander me, even several years down the line. Granted, I didn't handle that very well either, but when you're running from one venue to another in a tight festival schedule expecting to find the venue empty for your arrival then, I ask you, what is a boy to do?

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Will Fly
Date: 22 May 12 - 01:50 PM

Those fiddle lessons must be really working, Will.

They are! I've been poring over the fiddle music of Newcastle/Gateshead fiddler James Hill - and a great deal of his stuff was written in F, A and Bb. Much of it is based on simple chord arpeggios interspersed with chromatic runs - and it works beautifully.

I remember when I first started playing jazz 40 years ago - the classic jazz keys: F, Bb, Eb, Ab - were incomprehensible at first. Then they started to make sense, and it was several years before I played a chord that wasn't barred...

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: TheSnail
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:19 PM

All very well, Will, but Bb minor!?

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:35 PM

Ben,
I know exactly the type of session you are describing and if I were there I would do exactly the same as you.

However the sort of session I usually attend is packed out with musicians at all levels and most of them have a wide repertoire of English/Irish/Scottish. Most of the night once a set starts up everybody pitches in and any beginners can easily fit in quietly without spoiling the overall sound. Most of us are ear musicians and this is the quickest way for newcomers and beginners to pick up the repertoire. It's how I picked up most of my tunes.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,MikeL2
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:37 PM

Hi Phil

I agree with your comments about solo singing.

If I was doing chorus or refrain material I expected people to join in.
If they didn't I would stop in the middle of the song and invite them to join in and run through the chorus a couple of times for them to hear it.

At certain clubs I would do a short introduction to the song and again run through what I wanted them to join me in.

Personally I never really had any problems with people coming in when I didn't want them to but as a club organiser, at times I did have to try to prevent people doing so when other performers were singing or playing.

Usually a fierce look from me or my finger placed over my mouth in the "shush" position worked.

I believe that the interruptions and unrequired joining in must be a fairly recent thing ???

Cheers

Mike

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 22 May 12 - 02:40 PM

Did you have a PA, Phil?

Certainly not. (Hate 'em.) It's a good venue if you want an audience that *listens* - there is no amplification, and you can reliably hear yourself sing, or mumble for that matter. But 30 pairs of meekly attentive ears wasn't what that song needed.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Bert
Date: 22 May 12 - 03:17 PM

Then that great group Modern Man have this take on the subject.


Don't you hate it when they make you sing along?
Don't you hate it when they make you sing along?
This guy is such a jerk and this is such a stupid song
Don't you hate it when they make you sing along?

Don't you hate it when they make you clap your hands
Don't you hate it when they make you clap your hands
This excuse for entertainment should be forever banned
Don't you hate it when they make you clap your hands

Don't you hate it when they modulate the key....

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Banjo-Flower
Date: 22 May 12 - 06:33 PM

you would n't like the session I go to then,the locals are playing dominoes in the same roomand they have as much right in a public bar as we have

Gerry

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 22 May 12 - 06:45 PM

there are all sorts of places where it is not rude to join in the body of the song..I expect people to when I am singing and I join in with them when they are singing...it is what we have always done at least in the past....it is a matter of preference and not virtue. If you don't want it, say so. If you find people don't do it and you want it, say so. Take responsibility for it. Don't ascribe motivation, some of which is nonsensical, such as they want to show they know all the words. What horsefeathers. It is the norm in many places; it is my preferred and expected way of doing things and I would seek out places that did it that way and most likely avoid..and do..the turn by painstaking turn situation where once, in a place where good musicians gather, I counted 10 songs before there was one I wanted to hear. If Joan Baez and Maura O'Connell and Gordon Bok and all my favorite singers were in one place, I still don't want to hear them one by one. I want to hear them all sing together with me signging along. It is a preference..again, not a virtue and not a vice. Tell me where these places are and I will try to go there. mg

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Acorn4
Date: 22 May 12 - 07:15 PM

Heard quite a good saying about this tonight:-

"Some people impose and some super-impose!"

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 22 May 12 - 07:15 PM

Hey if you are in the Grimsby area this coming Saturday
Feel free to pop into the Central Library and sing us a songs..
We can only guarantee you 10 minutes or 2 songs.
Sometimes we can stretch it to 3 or we might get a second go round depends who shows up..
If your ego don't fit in with that in some way don't come.
There is no P.A.but the well trained audience and fellow performers in waiting..can be silent or emulate any level of background noise you desire.
The preset position, however is silence while listening...
Folks ask you if they want you to join in and sometimes ask if they can play along..the answer, if not offensive is accepted with no argument or bad feeling.
Its from 12 noon until 3pm..Entry is free.
All degrees of ability welcome. All music/poetry stories etc that will fit in the lift and doesn't need plugging in or batteries is/are welcome..
There is no bar..and you may want to bring some refreshments
Tim

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 May 12 - 04:30 AM

"In case this was aimed at me,"
T'wasn't Phil, it was aimed at Richard who appears to regard being asked not to join in as an act of facism.
"20th century seems to be your intention "
Sorry Martin - confusion on my part
I moved to Ireland in 1998 - up to then, in any folk club I attended in Britain, if you joined in with the VERSE you were shushed into silence; of you persisted, you were given
a red card and sent off the field.
From discussion on this and other threads it seems widespread enough to be a problem - perhaps it was The Millenium Bug we were all promised!
I am, of course, referring to the folk scene - I know damn well we have chorus songs, refrain lines, ritual songs, work songs like shanties and waulking songs, Christmas Carols (thoughouly enjoyed the couple of visits to the Sheffield Carol singing) - all to be joned in with to anybody's heart's content.
It's the apparently compulsive joining in on our narrative songs I find offensive - can't see how you can listen to what the singer's doing and sing along at the same time, for the life of me - maybe the rivival has been taken over by beamed-down Max Bygraves from another planet - send for Mulder and Scully someone!!
Heartening to see I'm not alone in my objection - for a change!
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: John Routledge
Date: 23 May 12 - 04:37 AM

Thanks Jim. I was about post but having read your post find that it says all that I want to say.!!

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 23 May 12 - 05:13 AM

Don't mention the war!

If there were some god-like adjudicator who could say if those attending were good enough to sing along, without fear or favour, I'd still be concerned.

Since most of those who (on behalf of actual artists who they have not consulted) want others not to join in plainly have a self-aggrandising agenda, I see no such deity.

I do see lots of petty Hitlers who think that they are good enough to decide who is not.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 05:40 AM

I do see lots of petty Hitlers who think that they are good enough to decide who is not.

You seem to be possessed of a Demonic inclination for Hyperbole of late, Richard. This is simply about appropriateness and common courtesy. Join in where appropriate (see Jim's post above) and have the courtesy to leave it to the singer to sing their song. The petty Hitlers are those who feel it needs adding to - either with their own instrumental prowess or with their dulcet vocalisings.

Don't ascribe motivation,

Forgive me (and others) for assigning motives to such behaviour but one must wonder, if only to understand what appears to be a somewhat sociopathic inclination on the part of those who, more often than not, haven't really got their act together (to say the least) or else are simply attention seeking, trying to intimidate, or even courting conflict by being plain rude. I know folk is generally a nutter-friendly zone (one of the things I truly love about it in terms of cultural / social sanctuary) but no one should have to be put in the very awkward position of having to tell such a person to shut up (often in fear of their personal wellbeing) just as no one should have to suffer such a bombastic intrusion into their art in the first place.

Nothing could be simpler.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:04 AM

"....good enough to sing along"
You seem to be maintaining your position of deliberately distorting what people are saying to give the impression of making a point Richard - you did say you were a member of the legal profession, didn't you?
None of this has anything whatever to do with being "good", bad or indifferent
Wholesale joining in on any song (apparently, not even out of bad mannered insensitivity, but rather, on principle, by your argument) interferes with an individual singer achieving and passing on his or her interpretation of a song - it is oppressive imposition of the worst kind - art by dictatorship.
I keep getting a mental picture of your walking up to DaVinci and saying., "'Ere Leo, wouldn't she look better in a flowery frock - lend us your pallette and brushes".
Your continued dishonesty demeans you.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: TheSnail
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:18 AM

Jim Carroll

I moved to Ireland in 1998 - up to then, in any folk club I attended in Britain, if you joined in with the VERSE you were shushed into silence; of you persisted, you were given a red card and sent off the field.

Could somebody remind me what happened to folk clubs in the eighties and nineties?


(I see Godwin's law has started to emerge on both sides.)

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:24 AM

now we are getting somewhere..I did not realize all of this was art..I had put it under some other category entirely...like fun, recreation, pleasant sensations, some sort of communal endeavor..I do stand corrected. I think I had better join a rugby club and sing along with them..mg

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:24 AM

All degrees of ability welcome.


I haven't got a degree in music.

I passed grade 1 piano when I was in junior school. Will that do?


DC

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:43 AM

I did not realize all of this was art

Of course it's art. Why wouldn't it be art? Much of the revival has appointed itself the custodians of some of the greatest works of art ever realised in the form of Traditional Folk Song & Ballad which are the work of exacting mastery, not the random byprodcts of fun, recreation, pleasant sensations. Of course this doesn't preclude any of the foregoing in the sharing of our passions (same goes for any Art) but if that's just an excuse for dumbing it down to common-minded strum-a-long renderings of The Wild Rover or (Lord save us!) The Fields of Athen-fecking-ry then chances are you'll find me at the bar discussing the finer points of Pasolini's Life Trilogy with the landlord.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: johncharles
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:52 AM

here is one for you a session in Rostrevor.


   session rostrevor
obviously not the arty end of irish music, but plenty of joining in and at one point I thought I heard a shaky egg. Looks like fun. Each to his own Eh!
john

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 06:54 AM

Looks a lot more arty than our session...

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 May 12 - 07:09 AM

johncharles: I've never seen a harp used in a bluegrass/old-time number before. Neat idea.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 23 May 12 - 07:20 AM

I've been dipping in and out of this thread with some interest.

What is apparent is that there are a great many variations, from the all-in sing-song at one end to solo performance at another. These are all perfectly valid ways of enjoying music and we probably all participate in all of them to varying degrees.

Difficuties start to arise when people assume that behaviour which is acceptable, even encouraged, at one type of event is also acceptable at another. This becomes a problem when this behaviour starts to intrude on the enjoyment of others, whether they are performers or audience. Someone not joining in a sing-song may seem a bit odd, stand-offish even, but it doesn't really affect anyone else, whereas someone trying to join in where they're not wanted obviously does.

The point is that none of these behaviours is wrong in itself, it's all a question of the right context. In this, folk music is no different from any other aspect of life. We should all be concsious of our surroundings and adapt our behaviour accordingly - or at least be aware of the consequences if we do otherewise. Of course, the socially inept are found in all areas of life besides folk music.

The other thing which has become apparent is that while we have a number of terms to describe these events, how these terms is interpreted varies widely. I play in a lot of sessions, and I thought I understood pretty clearly what the term means, but it seems there are other interpretations, or at least variants. And all this is before we get to the minefield of local "house rules".

It's all very complicated and requires a level of social- and self-awareness which some people clearly lack. The obvious lesson is not to assume that your usual behaviour is the norm and will be acceptable elswhere, and when visitng a new event take time to discover what behaviour is acceptable and expected before making an idiot of yourself.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 23 May 12 - 08:48 AM

Joiners are not sitting in judgement on anyone. Shushers are.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Howard Jones
Date: 23 May 12 - 09:04 AM

Yes, Richard, but people who join in in a setting where that is not encouraged deserve to be shushed. As I said in my previous post, it all depends on the context and the nature of that particular event whether that behaviour is appropriate.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Snuffy
Date: 23 May 12 - 09:09 AM

"I was brought up in an environment where everyone joins in on all the bits they think they know. So feel free to join in with all my songs: it would be nice if you would use the same words and tune as me, though."

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 May 12 - 09:11 AM

No One EVER convince me that when Bob and Ron's Great Great Whatever Grandfather was singing in the pub he was helping to estabkish a Semi Religious Art Form !
Folk Music is ENTERTAINMENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 23 May 12 - 09:27 AM

I don't generally care either way about joining in. When new to the folk scene I used to think it seemed a bit rude, now I accept it as a part of folkie culture. Sometimes though I would definitely rather hear an individual do their thing, rather than a crowd, otherwise everything starts to sound alike. As to 'gatekeepers', if I ran a club (which I don't) I'd definitely encourage people to at least make an effort to practice their instrument and the pieces they want to perform, rather than turning up and saying "I've never sung this before" "I haven't played this for twenty years". Folk is the only place I've noticed this to happen. In Am Dram people learn their lines. In Poetry Slams people don't take semi worked out ideas to the platform. In Choral singing, you practice till it's right before performing. In Open Mics performers learn their pieces first. I don't know where the 'good enough for folk' thing came from, but it definitely exists. Some think that's a good thing I suppose and they have every right to such an opinion of course, but I guess I must be Hitler ;-)

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 23 May 12 - 09:48 AM

Well Doug you are more likely to turn up than the three degrees and you have a neater beard so I will waive the degree thing in your case

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 10:47 AM

Joiners are not sitting in judgement on anyone. Shushers are.

Wrong again, Richard. The joiners in are the ones sitting in judgement - they're the ones who are doing the violation. I known young inexperiened singers giving up on Folk Clubs entirely because their confidece was shattered by some buffoon thinking he was no doubt doing them a favour. When it happens to me it ruins my night because I'm an jolly old cove who hates conflict - it depresses me to have to tell someone to shut up. Depresses me even more to see that look of hurt in their eyes as they assume the role of Victim, which is maybe another reason why they do it - because they enjoy being the Victim of a situation they themselves have instigated.

No One EVER convince me that when Bob and Ron's Great Great Whatever Grandfather was singing in the pub he was helping to estabkish a Semi Religious Art Form !   

Well, on what sort of grounds do you base that assumption because in my experience of Traditional Folk & Ballad and the Traditional Singers thereof I see something very serious indeed. Great entertainment has to be serious - it's as serious as your life. Even clowns have to take it seriously; Stan Laurel spend entire days editing the film stock just to maximise the effectiveness of his art. Traditional Folk Song is an art form; to do it justice we must approach it with due reverence and study it, listen to the old singers, read up on Broadsides, trawl the archives, get into the blood and bones of the thing; become possessed by the lingering ghosts and haunted into sleepless nights in utter terror at what we're dealing with here in our role as Folk Song Mediums which is a huge undertaking and a whole lot more than mere entertainment.

As for religion, for a Godless irreligious hedonistic oik such as myself then The Folk Club is one of the few places where I'm likely to have a genuine Spiritual Experience these days.

I'd definitely encourage people to at least make an effort to practice their instrument and the pieces they want to perform,

Absolutely 100% spot on. I understand these days they're singing songs off their Kindle screens. WTF?

A wee anecdote. There was once a singer of my acquaintance who made bold his anouncement that he had a variant of The Cregan White Hare, called The Bonny Black Hare. This guy is a real moralist Christian and it was obvious he hadn't even bothered to read the words before getting his iPhone out & scrolling through the text as he sang them. He's someone I like a good deal actually & there I was trying to catch his eye, shaking my head, mouthing No, No!, but all to no avail. He sang the song in complete innocence, slowly becoming aware of its metaphorical nature as several Folk Club members doubled up in helpless laughter. A classic really. But a lesson learned, I hope...

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 May 12 - 11:04 AM

Sweeney -I never implied that performance should not be taken seriously - For Whoever's sake I have been a paid performer since the Mid seventies , and take ANY performance I do VERY Seriously . But that does not stop a LOT of people who OUGHT to know better trying to turn a Folk Evening into something OTHER than an entertainment .

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 11:23 AM

Well, according to Zappa it's all entertainment, which isn't to trivialise it as I say, much less is it strum along if you haven't the first clue what you're doing. The more seriously you take it, so the more entertaining it becomes. The real fun stuff is putting the work in & learning the depths of your craft.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,FloraG
Date: 23 May 12 - 12:35 PM

I've always thought opera would be so much more fun if you could sing along with the bits you know. Its a shame we don't have opera nights in pubs like sessions.
FloraG

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: johncharles
Date: 23 May 12 - 12:58 PM

Many ballads are formulaic, simple constructions, around popular themes. A bit like Eastenders or Coronation street. That's entertainment. - Ducks and runs for cover!

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 01:12 PM

Hey, John - I've been saying precisely that for years. Ballads are the Soap Opera of the day and vice-versa really. You get a lot of those themes cropping up again & again across narrative frontiers. Still I bet no one would dare noodle along with EastEnders once it's under way - certainly not in this house anyway!

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: greg stephens
Date: 23 May 12 - 01:34 PM

Here is documentation of this sort of problem. An innocent musician tries to play the Stoke Hornpipe on a tambourine and thirty other people deliberately "join in" playing loudly and nearly(but not quite) drown her out.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: greg stephens
Date: 23 May 12 - 01:38 PM

(clickie didnt work in the last post so trying again)Here is documentation of this sort of problem. An innocent musician tries to play the Stoke Hornpipe on a tambourine and thirty other people deliberately "join in" playing loudly, and nearly(but not quite) drown her out.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: Musket
Date: 23 May 12 - 02:05 PM

As ever, this thread is a wonderful advert for folk clubs and must really help the cause of getting people to turn up...

Never heard so much self indulgent crap since I took on a couple of the combatants on other subjects.

Takes all sorts I suppose.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 23 May 12 - 02:27 PM

"must really help the cause of getting people to turn up..."

Or people get put off once they turn up and never return again.. There's one sesh worth attending round my way, but it's too far for me to get to. The nearest one is so pants that even though I could easily get there and back, I just can't be arsed - I'd rather go do some Choral singing instead or maybe stick pins in my eyes. In fact, bar my initial strong enthusiasm for folk, my interest in taking part on anything but an extremely intermittent level, has all but died a death.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 23 May 12 - 02:33 PM

And they are of course welcome to they're wee do, I wouldn't want to tell anyone how to go about running their own evening! But to suggest that people will get "put off" going to clubs because of chat on a forum, is I think nonsense. It's actually attending that's put me off. And there's no way in hell, I'd invite anyone I know along to a folk do either, unless it was going to be actually *entertaining* for them.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Spleen Cringe
Date: 23 May 12 - 03:50 PM

Go Crowsis! I suspect the previous poster is a senior manager, judging by the tone ;-)

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: GUEST,Suibhne Astray
Date: 23 May 12 - 03:58 PM

Oh, don't know - it's all a matter of taste really - that & inclination, and maybe a small measure of self indulgent crap as Mr Mather points out but in this world one really has to be true to oneself, no matter in what particular furnace those passions were forged. One of my earliest Floor Spots was potentially ruined by a whistler (not a whistle player, note - that was me on that occasion) who warbled along with my Douce Dame Jolie so I went off on a 5-minute improvisation instead, though he joined back in when I came back to the tune. 'Sorry about that,' I said. 'I was trying to evade Mr Ronalde there.' The whistler left in high dudgeon and I got a few chuckles into the bargain.

Here, I think, the spirit is, on the whole, positive. I want Folk Clubs and Sessions and Singarounds to be joyful places of erudition and enlightenment, and I've no doubt for the most part they are, even if they're not quite my bag. My opening complaint was more by way of a morning-after mutterance because I woke up angry and hungover so I though - a problem shared is a probem halved.

Varnigh 200 posts in under a week - I think that in itself is a measure of how much people do care about these things.

Subject: RE: Folk Club / Session Etiquette
From: johncharles
Date: 23 May 12 - 04:03 PM

way hey and up she rises 200 in a week o'