It's a group of people, "a circle of friends" if you will, that have
been meeting together once a week since the mid-80s. I joined them in
the mid-90s.
Once a week we gather at a local coffee house, sit around in a circle
and play songs. We go in turns around the circle with everyone picking a
song. We play it and then the next person in the circle picks a song.
Our basic reference is a book called Rise Up Singing, but our definition
of "folk" is loose enough that the occasional old rock 'n roll or
country song slips in. If the song is not in the book, you can bring a
handout sheet with lyrics & chords.
http://singout.org/product/rise-up-singing-spiral/
We have only two rules:
1. If you come to the circle you have to patronize the coffee house ...
buy a coffee or a drink or something. The owner has to pay his overhead
& it's only fair that we help with that since we're taking up space
there that other customers could use.
2. We didn't come here to entertain YOU. Come and join us. If you can't
sing or play, you can clap your hands & stomp your feet. (Necessitated
by copyright law - "a circle of friends" by definition does not require
payment of performance royalties, so the owner of the coffee house
doesn't have to pay ASCAP/BMI a $1000 a month for letting us come there).
There are also two "suggestions" I regularly offer to help smooth the
flow ...
1. If you ask for a song, you should be able to lead it in case no one
else knows it.
2. If you can't lead it, email me or one of several other members in
advance with a request so we can learn it and be ready when you pick
that song.
I have a fairly good coffee baritone of the Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard
variety & I'm familiar with A LOT of songs, so it's not often suggestion
#1 has to be invoked.
I'm an average rhythm guitar player. My singing is good enough to mask
my deficiencies as a guitar player, and my guitar playing is good enough
to bridge the rough spots in my singing. I can pretty much handle
anything in the key of D. The capo is my friend.
I like Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Mary, Malvina Reynolds, Elvis,
Beatles, Willie & Waylon & the Boys, Do Wop, John Prine, Emmylou Harris,
Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith ... you name it, I probably like it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jb_sessoms/29041557846
On 8/18/2016 3:37 PM, Daniel J. Matyola wrote:
I'm an old <G> folk music fan. I'd love to hear about your circle. Do you
all play and sing? Do you play an instrument? What artists to you admire?
Most of my folk heroes are long gone.
Dan Matyola
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola
On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 1:28 PM, John <[email protected]> wrote:
On 8/18/2016 9:08 AM, Daniel J. Matyola wrote:
On Wed, Aug 17, 2016 at 1:31 PM, John <[email protected]> wrote:
Dan's currently down in the bottom of a coal mine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGCKwACj1I
Dan Matyola
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola
That song gets requested maybe once a month in my weekly Folk Music Circle.
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