Re: Barrett's

[Bards keep <s0jswelc@atlas.vcu.edu>]

Poster: Bards keep <s0jswelc@atlas.vcu.edu>

Lady,
     I'll tell you what, at some event in the future i'll start
singing both and we'll see how many people join in on them.:)
Your enivroment should always dictaite your performance(that goes
for you too Alfredo...by the by, if you like singing and wearing
motley, have I got a group for you :-) ).

"Back to Barrett's:"
This Stan Rodgers song( which starts with the words" Oh the year
was 1778..." gee that would put it out right there.) like other
popular FOLK(i.e. not by Brian Wilson) songs sung a lot at bardic
circles in this kingdom, while altho it is by no means period:
1. Seems to stay in the general mood of what we do( at circles,
not competitions or such)
2. Is well-known, and LIKED(see above about playing to your
audience)
3.Is a great huddling under a leaking tent, holding on to a pole
for dear life kinda song...:-)

And it harmonizies nicely...

It's just one of those things; a Leslie Fish song about phatom
spaceships would not fit the mood of a bardic, but perhaps
something like her setting of Kiepling's "The Quest" would
.It's a thin line performer's have to walk.When Niall and I
would go out on our Tactial Bardic Strikes at Pennsic this year,
we have a rough idea of the songs we wanted to sing together/work
out bugs in harmony, timing etc. All of these songs were
documentable before 1650 or songs written in a period style,
describing peroid events.However, guess what else we sang, songs
like " Born on the Listfield" or more appriopate to this
discussion, Andy M. Stewart's "Rambling Rover"-a modern folk
song.

   OR: In Ostrgard's encampment(New York City) several of the
old-timers there knew Niall, thru his father, John Townley of the
Ex-Seamen, who used to play in town regularly, and those folks
would ask us each time we came there to perform non-period
sea-chanties and folk songs. We obliged, of course, as they were
our patrons, and because we do those songs anyway. Also tho,we
performed our regular stuff(period,and Real-Close stuff). Which
they enjoyed as well.But we couldn't really say to them,naw,
we're gonna do just the stuff we want to hear.It is the Bards job
to educate and sing period stuff, but it's also the Performer's
job to be entertanting, and in the SCA, in Atlantia, often that
includes stuff like Barretts.(which I would like to see people
sing less simply because i'm tired of it... and I haven't really
ever bothered to learn the words...someone else will sing it
anyway, cos' it's usually requested....(see the top of the page
:)...).

Bryce de Byram
(very much smiling and thinking that only Lady Annara would list
"Somewhere in An Tir" on that first list of songs she gave....)
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