sing!
So I spent my Labor Day weekend, as always, at the Last Gasp folk festival, which is a members-only, no-performers gathering. It's really just a bunch of cool people camping in the woods.
It was kinda windy and wet and we had to take the baby home Saturday night, but overall she did quite well. I felt a little stupid and dazed much of the weekend, but it was still great to see folks. And it was great to sing.
The Sunday night a capella sing, generally the musical highlight of the weekend for me, was both unusual and wonderful this year. I didn't know how much of it I would get to attend, but blessedly, Nadia fell asleep and let us put her in the stroller where she stayed asleep for hours--by far the longest stretch I've had since she was born of her being asleep and me being awake.
For those of you who haven't been to a PSG a capella sing, they are an interesting animal. There's little to no official structure--no turn taking or signing up or somebody in charge, but lots of culture built up over decades. Basically people come with songs that have choruses and/or repeated lines or some other way for a group to jump in and participate. They usually have them memorized. Songs with no way for people to join in, or that would require talking/practicing (i.e. rounds) are generally avoided. Who's leading just bounces around the group, like a conversation, with people picking up on themes (sailing songs, work/union songs, gospel songs, drinking songs), or responding to specific content (following a very serious religious song with a song complaining about religion, or a sappy love song with a damn-that-man song), or requesting favorites. Specific songs tend to "belong" to specific people, though there's enough overlap to make up for people's absences. It's a delicate balance, and sometimes you can hit a wonderful groove, and other times it's halting and uncomfortable. When it's good I enjoy the interplay and the absence of speaking almost as much as the singing itself.
One of the things we have been bemoaning recently is the gender balance--specifically that currently most of our core stalwarts who know the most songs are male. Well, Sunday night's sing was different. Partly some of the regulars guys were missing, and more than usual of the women were there. Partly there were also a number of us who had prepared some new stuff. And then once we had 40 solid minutes of all women-led songs, I think the women were emboldened and enjoying themselves and it seemed to me that several of the men hung back to see how it would go. (This has precedent. A few years ago a couple of the most prolific leaders began hanging back in order to force our generation to step up to the plate and offer more than one song apiece in a given night.)
Probably at least 75 percent of the songs for the hours I was there were led by women. Some who usually lead a lot, some who led for the first time, and several, like myself,
syncretistfool,
twinkletoze,
niicelaady, Joyce and Beth, who are regulars and have recently been contributing on averager one or two, but who stepped it up this time. And Annie dropped by from the hot pickers circle to contribute a song too, which was cool. "Drink to the Laddies" as a collaboration between me,
syncretistfool,
twinkletoze and Beth went over quite well.
It was all tremendously fun, with the added zing that many of the new songs offered were also in a female voice or with a strong female main character, which is generally even more lacking than female leaders.
I think in the long run I'd prefer a balance somewhere in the middle, between the usual and that sing, but it was neat to see what was possible. And all aside from gender it was a good sing, in terms of balance of songs, interplay, etc. It basically made my weekend.
It was kinda windy and wet and we had to take the baby home Saturday night, but overall she did quite well. I felt a little stupid and dazed much of the weekend, but it was still great to see folks. And it was great to sing.
The Sunday night a capella sing, generally the musical highlight of the weekend for me, was both unusual and wonderful this year. I didn't know how much of it I would get to attend, but blessedly, Nadia fell asleep and let us put her in the stroller where she stayed asleep for hours--by far the longest stretch I've had since she was born of her being asleep and me being awake.
For those of you who haven't been to a PSG a capella sing, they are an interesting animal. There's little to no official structure--no turn taking or signing up or somebody in charge, but lots of culture built up over decades. Basically people come with songs that have choruses and/or repeated lines or some other way for a group to jump in and participate. They usually have them memorized. Songs with no way for people to join in, or that would require talking/practicing (i.e. rounds) are generally avoided. Who's leading just bounces around the group, like a conversation, with people picking up on themes (sailing songs, work/union songs, gospel songs, drinking songs), or responding to specific content (following a very serious religious song with a song complaining about religion, or a sappy love song with a damn-that-man song), or requesting favorites. Specific songs tend to "belong" to specific people, though there's enough overlap to make up for people's absences. It's a delicate balance, and sometimes you can hit a wonderful groove, and other times it's halting and uncomfortable. When it's good I enjoy the interplay and the absence of speaking almost as much as the singing itself.
One of the things we have been bemoaning recently is the gender balance--specifically that currently most of our core stalwarts who know the most songs are male. Well, Sunday night's sing was different. Partly some of the regulars guys were missing, and more than usual of the women were there. Partly there were also a number of us who had prepared some new stuff. And then once we had 40 solid minutes of all women-led songs, I think the women were emboldened and enjoying themselves and it seemed to me that several of the men hung back to see how it would go. (This has precedent. A few years ago a couple of the most prolific leaders began hanging back in order to force our generation to step up to the plate and offer more than one song apiece in a given night.)
Probably at least 75 percent of the songs for the hours I was there were led by women. Some who usually lead a lot, some who led for the first time, and several, like myself,
syncretistfool,
twinkletoze,
niicelaady, Joyce and Beth, who are regulars and have recently been contributing on averager one or two, but who stepped it up this time. And Annie dropped by from the hot pickers circle to contribute a song too, which was cool. "Drink to the Laddies" as a collaboration between me,
syncretistfool,
twinkletoze and Beth went over quite well.
It was all tremendously fun, with the added zing that many of the new songs offered were also in a female voice or with a strong female main character, which is generally even more lacking than female leaders.
I think in the long run I'd prefer a balance somewhere in the middle, between the usual and that sing, but it was neat to see what was possible. And all aside from gender it was a good sing, in terms of balance of songs, interplay, etc. It basically made my weekend.