Neighbourhood Folk - Zoom Song Circle - 2025 01 30

 

Last night I attended a Vancouver Folk Song Society Zoom Song Circle. The Zoom circles started in response to the pandemic, when face-to-face gatherings were cancelled. This Zoom Song Circle had been convening on the fifth Wednesday of a month having five Wednesdays. The VFSS hosts it's regular weekly face to face gatherings on Wednesday evenings.

This was the first Zoom Song Circle I had attended where there was no live, face to face gathering occurring at the same time. I was skeptical of the efficacy of attending an entirely online gathering but that has been replaced with enthusiasm. 

First, we are not out of the woods in terms of communicable disease. In fact, given the rise of anti-vax and anti-science demagoguery, we are at higher risk of infectious outbreaks. Second, this rise in infection risk is coupled with an over-stressed healthcare system. It behooves us all to take precautions to stay healthy when and where we can.

At the same time, we are in continuing state of rolling catastrophic system failure - social, economic and political. We are inundated with a firehose of information designed to manipulate, coerce or disavow our perceptions of truth and reality. We need trusted relationships for daily reality checks to help us cope and figure out the next right thing to do.

The online gathering last night was attended by thirty-three folk music lovers. We started at 7 pm getting signed in and organized for the evening. 

The 'Main Stage' started at 7:30 pm. There were musicians who had signed up to share songs during this part of the program. 

After half an hour, we were assigned to breakout rooms - there were an average of 6 musicians in each breakout room. We had another half hour to share songs with each other, we all got to share at least one song in the time allotted. After a five minute break, we were shuffled into new breakout groupings, so we could share again with a new group of people for another half hour.

The feature performance was at 9:05 pm, back at the Main Stage. Don Gilbert sang a beautiful song he wrote about what it was like to be a young man in South Carolina called before the draft board during the Vietnam War. 

The main evening event ended at 9:30 pm. An informal after-session continued in the main room for those who wanted to continue the song circle. There were about 12 of us at this point. We continued to go around the circle two times, eventually wrapping up at 11 pm.

7:00 pm Pacific: greetings; social & music lounges 

7:30 - 8:00: Main Stage performances

8:00 - 9:05: singing in breakout rooms

9:05 - 9:30: feature performance: Don Gilbert

9:30 - 10:??: informal after-session

I could not have predicted that I would stay until closing. I felt so safe and comfortable, inspired by the songs, making new friends, and feeling re-assured in the potential of our humanity to share a common purpose for the good of all concerned. 

This was using digital technologies to build social connectivity in the best possible sense, the antidote to infinite replication of false narratives and abusive government overreach.

Sadly, the Vancouver Folk Song Society will not continue to host these Zoom Song Circles on the fifth Wednesdays of 2025. 

I'm feeling motivated that Neighbourhood Folk might be able to figure out how to do this and carry on the tradition. I would like to try.