Can I suggest another possibility to add to the possible menu for a TOTM.
When I came back to Northumbrian music, after my exile in Norfolk, one of the characteristics that I noticed was the way that tunes were combined into sets for dancing or entertainment. One of the traditions in British folk/country/ceilidh/local dancing is to combine tunes in a creative way to give a lift to the dance as it progresses. This is a somewhat Northern tradition. I have been told that there is a Southern tradition which involves playing the same tune for the whole dance so that the musicians will eventually get so bored that they will start to invent variations. This approach does not appeal to me. -- Don't mention the Rakes of KIldare.
When I went to the Whitby Festival in the late '80s, Alistair Anderson was Field Marshal of the Northumbrian Forces provided by the organizers for the 2 or 3 immensely popular and vastly over subscribed Northumbrian events during the week. Appointed as compere/MC for the evening he would be provided with 10-20 artistes, individuals and groups. Some of these were familiar with one another and others ...
Somehow, he had to mould this disparate bunch of artistes into providing an evenings entertainment with no rehearsal time. At two or three points in the evening there would be points where all the musicians would play together in the manner of "What shall we play?" - the musicians made suggestions, there were rumblings, murmurings, and eventually (usually in less than a minute) they agreed a set. Occasionally they chose tunes which had fractionally (or larger) differences of emphasis in the rhythm, and this led to something I chose to describe as the Northumbrian wrench. The ability to play one tune and then switch to another (in a slightly different rhythm) so that the listener hardly notices the transition, but two bars later feel they are heading in a different direction.
So, my suggestion, for January - or later - is that we pick a simple tune from the core repertoire 'Because He was a Bonny Lad' or 'Herd on the Hill' and ask contributors to combine this with another tune of their choice, to complement or contrast with the specified tune.
In my opinion, the ability to combine tunes creatively is one of the core assets of a good 'traditional' musician and is something we would do well to explore.
Any thoughts?
Barry