Is it OK to raise performance standards?

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:55 AM

when i first went to a Folk club in 1965,floor singers did not always get on.
To guarantee getting a spot every week singers would have to know their words, AND sing and play in tune.

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: johncharles
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:52 AM

Thanks leadfinger for the clicky and the comment.
john

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:50 AM

You sound OK to me johncharles - Have a Clicky

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Sooz
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:24 AM

At Gainsborough Folk Club on a singers night, everyone who comes is invited to sing. When we have a booked guest, we have two prearranged floor spots so the guest gets a fair amount of time and I'm not stressed out trying to calculate if we can fit everyone in. The performers who are doing the floor spots prepare a three song set and make a very good job of it! This works very well for us.

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: johncharles
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:13 AM

It probably needs to be made clear in the way in which you advertise the club that some restrictions may apply. quality is always going to be a subjective issue. I like to think my singing is OK but self criticism is often quite difficult. Here is a link to me singing with a couple of friends who I play with on a regular basis at local clubs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FysVZlW1iMc&feature=related
Would this be above or below par for your club. How would it rate in other clubs? In my experience clubs vary widely in performance standards and ultimately I think some form of self selection is probably in operation.
john
p.s. not got the hang of blue clicky things

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 08:02 AM

Why don't you try varying the nights... Guest performer and support one evening.... singaround for all comers another evening where all sit round the room and sing from the seat they are in..... Open Mic night where the performers have to take stage at one end to perform in front of the crowd........ Why make your Folk Club nights exclusive altogether to some.... after a while of varied nights you can judge which nights are bringing most people in/causing most interest and maybe increase the number of those nights.... Just don't rush into anything you might regret. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 07:31 AM

"But is performance standard to be measured solely by vocal ability?"
No - but unless you set a basic technical standard (singing in tune, remembering words and having a basic understanding of the song), tyou will turn any potanetial audiences away.
Putting singers in front of an audience just because "they want to sing" just doesn't hack it.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Crowhugger
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 07:25 AM

thecoombes, might you list specifics about what you would like to rule in/rule out?

For example, I find out-of-tune guitars unbearable, equally so performers who spend an inordinate amount of time attempting to fix a tuning problem. (I've never heard an out-of-tune fiddle; banjos, well, that's another thing isn't it?) Nor do I enjoy out-of-tune singing, but if the song is well delivered, a good story told with heart and soul, off-pitch notes become less troubling. But those things don't bother a lot of people to the extent they bother me.

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Young Buchan
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 07:15 AM

But is performance standard to be measured solely by vocal ability?

If anyone were daft enough to put me in charge of a folk club and tell me that I had to exercise discretion as to whom I put on, my first decision would be to ignore those who haven't taken the trouble to learn a song, and have to sing from a sheet.

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 07:07 AM

Not only OK, but essential if the music is to survive.
Jim Caroll

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 06:54 AM

Exactly what Steve Hunt has said.

"I've actually lost count of the number of people who've said to me that they went to __________ folk club/s to see a particular guest performer and had to sit through interminable awful floor singers, so won't go again in a hurry... "

Wish I had a quid for everybody that said that Steve. :-)

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 06:29 AM

MC's Perogative is the rule at Maidenhead - There are usually FAR too many singers on Guest nights so it is down to whoever is running the evening to get a good balance of singers - Often the regulars dont get on if there are too many new singers , or old friends we havent seen for a while .
On Singers/Musician nights , its All Comers , and then we often dont get twice round , though rarely do we NOT get everyone on who DOES want to perform .

Subject: RE: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: Steve Hunt
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 06:02 AM

If you're charging the audience an admission fee, exercising a little quality control is a duty of care, rather than "unthinkable" behaviour! True, one of the great joys of Folk Club "open house" nights is that anyone can perform, and it's those nights that I operate a "come all ye" policy. On guest nights, I operate a far stricter system - basically I'll ask a good local performer/s to play a support set in exchange for free admission, and that's it. I've actually lost count of the number of people who've said to me that they went to __________ folk club/s to see a particular guest performer and had to sit through interminable awful floor singers, so won't go again in a hurry...

Subject: Is it OK to raise performance standards?
From: thecoombes
Date: 06 Nov 10 - 05:47 AM

Is it OK to raise performance standards by being selective about who gets a floor spot ?
I'd like to provoke a discussion about raising the bar on floor spots. There are plenty of folk clubs that I enjoy, and will continue to do so (if they still let me in after this) where everyone gets a go. I'm not suggesting that they've got it wrong but it can be quite dismal when the standard is not very high and some people keep away because of it. I want to encourage a higher standard of performance at Loughton as one of the club's attractions. So when the room is full I propose to be selective when it comes to floor spots in favour of those I know are good (not just those I like!) and those I haven't seen before (or can't remember!). I recognise and accept that some people might be put off. That's not my intention, I'd really like to raise the bar if I can.
It may not work of course.
So – the question is – what do you think? Is it unthinkable to behave like this ?