So I know that OVFF and GAfilk exist but I had yet to go to a filksing, myself. because culture is as much local as it is online or research. and I mostly table at anime shows, where you don't really plop down in halls and sing, or do song events that aren't concert or karaoke. Fan music isn't self-identified as 'filk' most of the time, in those circles, these days. (this aside from spontaneous shenanigans. I think I would like to filk at some other shows I do, now, anyway.)
This weekend I was at a scifi convention. And I was at a filksing. Not one but two actually; the second rather impromptu. I walked in knowing that I wanted to sing more than I was afraid of being told I wasn't that good. (I'm nearly 40. That helps, too.) At this filk circle, everyone was welcome to sing. I sang in front of people, which is not something I really do (until now), nor have done much before. I can carry a tune, actually, but I haven't been really trained, and I think it took a decade to outgrow "you haven't learned how to do that [pejorative]" and another to spend long enough singing in the car to think I could try.
I heard a dozen other people sing. One with renfair experience and training; one with operatic training; one with a long-standing love for filk and her own journal. One trufan elder who, having lost her voice, brought some brief comedic delights and lyric sets for us to sing in a group; one individual who wasn't sure they could do it without an audio track, and thus sang along; one who couldn't sing, but had stuff to play. One gentleman had some scurrilous shanties. We had eighties filk; we had recently composed filk by present singers; we had original songs, we had parodies, we had traditional songs. We had a sea shanty K-pop Demon Hunters song. Was I cringe? I'm delighted to not give a damn. On the second night, by the time we were done, two or three people turned up with their own material just because they could.
This was not a judgemental event. You got your turn? Go for it. What's a filk song? A filk song is what you sing in the circle. Mess up? Take a breath. You have to stop? You did a good job. It's okay. We applauded everyone. You want to pass on your turn, and not sing? You are free to pass. No snark comments, no picking clique members to play next. I think if someone had laughed in mockery, they would have gotten a rebuke. Anyone who went after someone later to go "why'd you do that, you were embarrassing, I don't like your song very much" would have been against the entire thesis of the idea. (A filksing at an event that doesn't normally have them would have to lay down the premise. It's a good premise.) Which isn't to say that someone couldn't be an utter terror about the idea of filk. Filk drama is older than I am. I am sure people have had bad experiences, humiliation, and bitterness. Humanity carries those things. But this weekend was a delight. It was a gift. And I'm meeting up with someone from the circle, later on this month, because they do filksings regularly. I'm going to hunt down some singing technique videos. And I'm going to see if I can make a proper filk out of a song, myself. Things are so hard. Getting to share an experience that was good was ... priceless.
We talk about how singing as a social activity used to be so much more common. This was that. This was a gift. You do what you can.
