Folk On!

That headline is supposed to be a pastiche of "rock on" but it doesn't quite work. Go with me on this, though. I'm not changing it. I went to a folk club with Mum and Dad yesterday. It was definitely a new experience. I knew that it was a "singaround" but assumed this meant that someone would start a song and we'd all join in. Nuh-uh. We snuck in late, trying to avoid the competitive playing of a game involving green baize and long sticks (they are indistinguishable to me) on our way through a pub to the folk club residing in the skittles alley at the back. The MC was chatting and then the guy next to him did a poem about King Harold being stuck on a hillside on (everybody!) a horse with a hawk on his hand. I was quite surprised about everyone joining in something spoken but am, despite allegedly being in a folk band for three years, very ignorant of this folk malarkey. However, it wasn't until the guy next to him began singing on his own that I twigged. A singaround isn't really the same as "singalong". Yes, people, we were taking turns. Now, I wanted to do the folk club thing to be heard and find a new band to sing with. Anywho, when confronted with the opportunity to get myself heard etc, I couldn't really back down so had to go for it. The words to the first song I did literally dropped out of my head. I stopped halfway through the penultimate verse, tried to go on to the next one, then, with nothing in my head but white noise, had to stop. Fortunately, the group being apparently quite small (with about a quarter of the people there saying "pass") I got another chance to redeem myself and managed to remember all of the words. I obviously did quite well with the redemption thing as the MC did a request bit at the end where he went around and asked specific people to sing or play again and I was his first choice. Result! By that point I had run out of folk songs that I knew well so ended up singing a Billie Holliday.

I really loved it, the people were really friendly and I got to hear people just unselfconsciously playing and singing, which is so unusual. There was no false modesty and people just got on with it. I got to hear a dulcimer, a man playing the blues and a woman who sang with an amazing folk voice and sense of rhythm. I'd definitely go again. And next week Mum and Dad are going to prepare something too. Now, what to sing, what to sing?