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Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle
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Subject: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Jon Bartlett Date: 09 Apr 02 - 12:37 AM Can anyone in Seattle suggest/organize/host a place for loud and enthusiastic song on Saturday night of Folklife? Over the years we've been in many places, but none of them perfect(the stairwell in Centre House, for example!). Ideally, this place would have liquor (a bar, restaurant or...?), could hold sixty or so singers, is close to Seattle Centre (sorry, Center), is inside (the Wawona, where we normally end up, is oftentimes bloody cold, and since it's outside you need a foghorn of a voice), and is welcoming. A tall order, I know! |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Mark Cohen Date: 09 Apr 02 - 02:08 AM Well, you're all welcome over to my place, but it might be a bit too far...! I sure wish I could be there. Those Saturday night singing sessions were fantastic! Shanties in the stairwell of the Queen Anne School ('87?)...what a sound! My best to everyone. Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 09 Apr 02 - 03:51 AM Well, we singers could always take over the main participants' lounge for a song session after the Seattle Song Circle sound stage ends at 8:30(?) on Saturday. The participants' party starts officially about 9:00, but we could start singing before then. The beer price is right and there's no smoking and a welcoming atmosphere [well, except maybe for other competing jams]. I'm only halfway joking about this suggestion. Usually the instrumental jams tend to predominate in the participants' lounge, but there's no reason there couldn't be more song session there, too. If anyone knows of another good venue--maybe one with two or three separate rooms, in case we have a large turn-out and/or different genres of singers--please post your ideas.
Mark, Genie |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Dave Bryant Date: 09 Apr 02 - 11:40 AM Sorry about the Thread Creep, but since there might be some people from Seattle looking in on this one - Does anyone know a guy called Bob (or Rob) Fullsome. He's big, was a teacher when I last saw him, sings, and also did a bit of sound engineering. I've been trying to contact him for a while to find out the roots of a song which I've re-written - see this thread . If anyone could PM me with a current e-mail address (it's a long way to phone from the UK) I'd be very pleased. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Dave Bryant Date: 09 Apr 02 - 11:47 AM Sorry, I screwed up the link - here's another try. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Jon Bartlett Date: 10 Apr 02 - 02:38 PM John Ross has just let me know he'll do some looking around, and raises the question of church halls. What do folk think? |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 11 Apr 02 - 04:42 AM Church halls might work for early evening get-togethers, but I doubt that they'd be available for late night sessions [after 10 PM]. For daytime singing when the weather is good, I think it would be helpful if the Song Circle would designate a meeting place somewhere on the Seattle Center grounds where folks who want to do song jams can congregate. I know it can be hard to find a spare spot of ground, but it's a possibility. Maybe we should also find some way of identifying ourselves--e.g. some addition to the name badges--, so that we'd know it if 3 or 4 of us were sitting near each other in the participants' lounge or gathered at an outdoor location. Folks with instruments are easy to spot; singers aren't. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Mark Cohen Date: 11 Apr 02 - 05:10 AM The school worked well as I recall, with rooms for different genres and the stairwell for the shanty singers. Somebody must have had a connection...might be worth looking into. Dave Bryant, here's Rob Folsom's website. Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: wysiwyg Date: 11 Apr 02 - 01:35 PM Church halls are too open after 10 PM, it just depends who you are dealing with. Main worry for a regular Saturday night thing would be assuring them you would do your own sweep-up afterwards since the next thing in the room would be Sunday AM coffee hour. Sweeten the deal by offering to teach some stuff to the Sunday School kids or do a yearly benefit. The Men's Chorus here, for example, has an ongoing relationship with our church. It has from time to time included rehearsal space. They also hold an annual fundraiser in our hall, for themselves. They give us an annual appearance in the main worship service, where they sing several selections along with our small choir. You could try contacting whoever is leading contemporary praise-worship services in the area, since they would have guitar players and singers who (presumably) have a life outside the church, as musicians, too.... and see if they could help you get a relationship going. Or try churches with big social ministries who would see folkies as leftie pals! *G* Me, I'd hold it at a soup kitchen or shelter, and make everybody happy... Be creative! ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: johnross Date: 11 Apr 02 - 02:21 PM The school where we held the participants' party for a couple of years was the Monroe Center--an old junior high school that was rented to the Folklore Scoiety, Skandia and some other groups as a sort of folkie cultural center for several years back around 1988. It has long since gone back to the school district, who are using it as a school again. The official Folklife Festival participants' party this year will move off the Seattle Center grounds to a location that will have a bunch of rooms and other spaces for separate jam sessions and sing-arounds. I'm not naming the site here, because it's technically a private participants-only event and this is a public forum. Those of you who are performers and volunteers will receive word of the time and place in your registration package. If you're not already a volunteer, it's not too late to sign up. Anyway, it appears that we will have a potentially decent place for singing without the need to organize a separate singers' party. I'm hoping that we can reserve a "singing room" as we did when the party was at the Mountaineers Club. Maybe we should create some kind of sticker for Mudcatters to add to their festival buttons...maybe a little dot in a dayglow color or something. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Jon Bartlett Date: 11 Apr 02 - 03:48 PM John has just PM'd me the site and it's a winner! I hope to see all kinds of Mudcats at the bash. Yes, a little Mudcat sticker to stick on the FolkLife badge would be great - mebbe I'll finally find out who all these neat-named people are (it didn't occur to me to use an alias). And MANY THANKS to John Ross for his sleuthing - the man is a mensch. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 12 Apr 02 - 02:34 AM John, Glad to hear the participants' party is back to being 'off-campus' ! It's always a drag when we have to cram everybody into one room and/or kick everyone out at about 1:00 AM. I like the "Mudcat sticker" idea, too. I also hope there can be more than one room for singing [not excluding instruments for accompaniment], since those of us with softer voices can never get a song in edgewise in the sea-chantey room. Anyway, 40+ people is too big a crowd for a good song circle.
Susan, I do like your idea of holding sessions at a mission or shelter. Have to get something like that going one of these months. Genie |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Haruo Date: 12 Apr 02 - 02:41 AM One last note on churches as venues. Jon initially said he wanted a place with liquor, and most churches will be very leery of such a thing if not actually prohibiting it up front. To wit, Communion wine and members' wedding receptions are one thing, a bunch of unscreened, uncarded, unfrisked hippies is another. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Jon Bartlett Date: 13 Apr 02 - 02:02 AM Aagh! The words "song circle" never crossed my lips. I *hate* song circles (except the good ones). What I'd like is a good crowd of singers (not people with the Blue Book of Death in their hands) able/willing/eager to lead songs, not necessarily bawling songs (quiet songs are good too, as long as they don't include modern quiet songs like the dreadful "The Last Leviathan" or any maudlin Stan Rogers song), but TAKING RESPONSIBILITY for each song; not moving in a circle or a sequence but as the spirit moves them. Good song circles do this, bad ones seem to come from the ninth circle of hell itself. I suppose that's what the liquor is for - to get people over their own fear of themselves (but not enough to make them falling down untuneful drunks). Let me emphasise that these are merely *my* preferences. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 13 Apr 02 - 04:10 AM Jon, I'm with you. Which is why I think 40 people in one room is too many for a good singing session/jam. I prefer not having to "take turns in counter-clockwise fashion," and I see the blue 'hymnal' as a sometimes useful but often frustrating crutch. But if the group gets too big, you either spend your energy strategizing how to insert yourself into the action or, more likely, you end up perpetually yielding the floor to the louder and/or more assertive among you. Smaller groups are more likely actually to have PAUSES in the singing long enough for folks to THINK about what to sing next and who will lead it. That's why I hope we can find a venue with some smaller rooms. BTW, we've had some good, spontaneous song spurts in the participants' lounge at past Folklife Festivals with only 3 to 6 people involved. Genie
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Mark Cohen Date: 13 Apr 02 - 04:54 AM I haven't been to any song circles in a long, long time, and I really miss them! Of course, there are tradeoffs.... Have a great time at Folklife, everybody! Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: GUEST,mgarvey@pacifier.com Date: 13 Apr 02 - 11:45 AM I agree with Jon..a large party format should not be subjected to "song circle" type rules...and there should be other rooms for those who prefer that format...(and maybe subgroups of those who like the blue books).. it doesn't work with a large, vigorous group whose purpose is not to be supportive of whatever but to produce the best music possible with the most incredible collection of voices you can imagine. And trust me, people won't like it if you impose the blue book on them at one of these groups. They will sneak off and leave to another area. mg |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 13 Apr 02 - 11:55 AM Mark, poor baby, how do you put up with having to look at scenery like that all the time!? But don't they have song sessions in Hawaii? How about hula circles? Genie |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: artbrooks Date: 15 Apr 02 - 10:35 AM We're considering going to Folklife (for the first time in, I think, 20 years). Could somebody PM me with the location for singing? Would our 1982 Participants badges be of any use? |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Mark Cohen Date: 15 Apr 02 - 02:16 PM Hey, Art, I still have one of those! (My first one.) Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: johnross Date: 11 May 02 - 09:56 PM I've been to a Folklife volunterrs' meeting today where Michael (the Grand Poohbah) said that the participants' party will be in a building with a big room for dancing and "about ten" smaller rooms for jamming. I'm guessing that "about ten" really means maybe five, but there will certainly be enough separate spaces that the singing contingent will be able to grab one or two of them. The location and time of the party was included in the information packages that were sent to volunteers and performers. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: GUEST,mg Date: 11 May 02 - 10:51 PM what time do they close it up? That is always a problem. mg |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Jon Bartlett Date: 12 May 02 - 03:46 PM Whenever they close up, we can head for the Wawona, can't we? |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: johnross Date: 12 May 02 - 10:45 PM Probably, if somebody connected with the NW Seaport acts as host. It's not exactly a public venue, especially at one in the morning. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: GUEST,Guest Mudjack Date: 13 May 02 - 03:11 PM For Dave Bryant, Skimmed over and didn't see where anyone put you into touch with Rob Folsom. I am at work but if you will post an e-mail to me from this site, I will get you his e-mail this evening when I get home. Mudjack |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 20 May 02 - 04:33 PM John, I see there are a LOT of participatory singing venues on the program this year -- starting at about noon on Saturday on the lawn (?) in front of the Initman Theater (Greenwood Family Sing). The schedule I got from the website didn't make it really clear where they are and whether they're all in the same location, but it looks like there are participatory sings --some generic and some theme based --all weekend long. Genie |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: MAG Date: 21 May 02 - 09:57 AM I'm afraid I'm going to have to skip the Fest this year -- between the condition of my knees and the reconstruction work going on -- not to mention the way the crowds got to me last year -- I'm gonna stay home and weed my garden. I'll raise a virtual glass to y'all. -- MAG |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: GUEST,Sonja Date: 21 May 02 - 10:34 PM The good news, where group singing DURING the festival hours is concerned, is that all the participatory singing sessions are scheduled in the same location--the Intiman lawn. If ya wanna sing before it's time for the participants' party, just show up there pretty much any afternoon (or early evening) Saturday through Monday. Sonja |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Haruo Date: 23 May 02 - 12:23 PM I just posted a bunch of links to online Northwest Folklife info in a new thread, FYI. Liland |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 24 May 02 - 01:46 PM It all starts at 11A PDT today, folks. Y'all come. |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: GUEST,mg Date: 24 May 02 - 02:53 PM |
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Subject: RE: Singing venue needed:Folklife at Seattle From: Genie Date: 25 May 02 - 01:08 PM Intiman Courtyard, any time from noon to 7 PM Saturday, Sunday, and Monday -- participatory singing. Do come to the Seattle Song Circle session from 6 PM to 9 PM tonight. After that, the participants' party, of course. |
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