youth trad song weekend 2018

another yts, come and gone.

i remember at the first couple of yts weekends, i went to workshops and led songs and generally participated a ton. contrast to the past couple of years, when i’ve mostly done sound, played games, sang some daily book, and joined in a song circle or two.

i’m of two minds about all of this. am i wasting my money, and taking a space that somebody else could have, who would more fully enjoy the programming of the weekend? i love yts, or i wouldn’t go; it’s a fantastic concentration of my friends, a welcome respite from the winter¹, and i really do love being around singing.

i’ve also got the protection of doing sound for the event. i provide an important service, that nobody else does — my presence would help the weekend to function, even if i sat in my room all the time i wasn’t working.

angst about taking space aside, yts 2018 was as delightful as usual. i was apprehensive going in, having had nicki’s and my family in town for a few days around new year’s, but once i arrived and got settled i felt right at home². i hung out with people i only rarely see, listened to people loving music and their voices, played games. went to sleep early friday night³, an increasingly common for me good choice.

i didn’t dance an irish set in the bathroom, for the first time in a few years. it may not have happened; when sam tried to rally a crowd, most of the likely suspects were feeling burnt out from the earlier set of Mon(e)y( )[M/m]usk in the men’s room.

open mic was closer to an enjoyable experience than i remember it being, apart from its tremendous length. i can’t speak to whether that stems from the acts being better curated, people being more mindful about submitting acts, chance, or me being more open to it. i’d guess chance.

the immediately-following contra dance, while a bit stressful from a sound point of view, was a huge success; while the dancing is never outstanding at yts, the spirit and community are. the lack of pretense, and openness to people going up on stage, serves as a refresher from serious contra dancing for serious people⁴.

whisk(e)y⁵ followed, along with the only public baby screams of the weekend⁶.

sunday morning: more games. lunch. Feelings Sing™ happened to align with my cleaning up sound equipment. roads home were clear, and i didn’t once fear for my traction, unlike the way there. ended the day celebrating nicole’s birthday at her apartment, with an assortment of weekend attendees and others.

slept. wrote. published.

you can find out more at youth trad song dot org!