laramie

At the risk of alienating friends and non-friends alike I'm going to jump in here. As a musician, even one as peripheral as I am, who is not a filker, sitting through some of the long and multitudinous verses of clever and not-so-clever filk songs can be very difficult. I do like filk music in general, although I don't play it or write it. However, I do like playing music in the circle. I don't think I would favor a combined filk and "mainstream" music party. I'm not advocating "separate but equal" either. I think that what filkers want out of a music circle may be different from what other musicians want out of a circle, in the same way that a musician who does nothing but covers of songs might not be appropriate in a circle of musicians whose interest is in sharing original material.

I know that I am treading on thin ice here, and I certainly don't mean to imply that filk is any less valid or creative than any other form of musical expression, it is certainly more creative than some. I'm just saying that, as someone who does not have a passion for filking, it would be less enjoyable to me to have to wait a turn to play in a large circle where people were playing music that might not interest me, or that might be very long and involved. I have been in some of the circles, both mixed and SEMP (if that is what I think it is) that were huge, where it took an hour for a turn to come around, where some people just didn't really "get" the dynamics of the circle, and it was very painful to sit through.

With all of that pussy-footing around, I guess what I would like is to see filk on an equal footing with non-filk circles, not cast in competition with each other and not forced to cohabitate either. In an ideal convention/party world, the mainstream music circle and the filk circles wouldn't be going at the same time, and both would be put in comfortable and accessible and open venues. That way people who wanted to participate in both could have the opportunity, and those who weren't interested in one or the other wouldn't have to endure something that they didn't enjoy.

I truly hope I haven't offended anyone here. So many of my friends are in one camp or the other, and some of them are in both camps. Sigh...it's so complicated.