The Mermaid’s Tavern: Song Sessions in Virtual Spaces

During the summer of 2020, I searched for a form of escapism to detach myself from my reality that currently consisted of masks, isolation, and a fear of disease.  While scrolling through Spotify, I came across a playlist consisting of sea chanteys.  I was no longer in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a pirate hoisting the sails of a ship.  It was perfect.

Boston’s proximity to the sea not only filled its ports with pirate ships throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, but Irish immigrants throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries as well.  Anti-Irish sentiments experienced by the latter led many to turn to music to create a sense of community within a hostile society.  Pub sessions, or seisúns, brought together musicians, both professional and amateur, in a relaxed setting to share a love for playing and listening to music (https://web.archive.org/web/20151130212506/http://www.musicalmakers.org/the-music-of-ireland/).  Boston’s rich Irish history continued this tradition for decades, making it a staple for many pubs spread throughout the city.  But the COVID-19 pandemic shut down these gathering places for music-lovers, barring a community from its natural habitat.  How could a group engrained in physical gatherings survive without being together in the same room?

Massachusetts native Lynn Noel looked to technology to solve this issue, leading to the birth of The Mermaid’s Tavern: a virtual folk music club developed as a response to Massachusetts’s state of emergency announcement about the COVID-19 pandemic.   Every Sunday from 2 pm to 5 pm, people from all over the world, primarily the United States and Europe, meet over Zoom to share songs based around the rotating theme of the group sing: ballads, pub songs, or sea chanties.  This report focuses on the transfer of group sessions from a physical to a virtual setting, and the differing experiences of sharing music in each setting.  Through observations of the group sings, participation, and interviews, I was able to see how technology, a concept thought to isolate people through a screen, successfully connected musicians in a time that required physical isolation.

Before observing my first group sing, I was forwarded a newsletter by Lynn Noel from The Mermaid Tavern’s mailing list.  Under the date was an illustration of a group of men surrounding a table with drinks, all focused on one man.  Below the image was a caption written in by Noel: “Song circle for solo chanteys, sea songs, maritime poetry, and entertainments at least faintly damp and salty.”  On the Sunday of the group sing, I clicked on the Zoom link provided in the email which took me to the meeting that currently consisted of 26 participants.  Noel opens the meeting 10 minutes before the event, so members can chat before singing.  Almost immediately after I joined, I caught a man talking about how grateful he was to be able to continue to sing during the pandemic.  For many people participating in these group sings, their life revolves around music.  In an interview with Johnny Harper, a full-time musician over the last 40 years, he described the impact the creation of these virtual sing circles had on him during the pandemic:

It’s really been a blessing to me,  because it is a format in which I get to share with other musicians, I get to play for an actual audience and it’s different for me alone, if I’m even playing to one other person, it changes.  It changes the energy you bring to it somehow, I think. You know, you’re communicating to someone, and that does a lot for you and then of course that’s my life pretty much. (Personal interview, 31 October 2020)

Despite there being no physical audience, the knowledge that people are listening to you sing creates a dynamic similar to being in a room filled with people.  As a singer prone to stage fright, I can confirm that my fear before singing a rendition of “The Liar” by Tommy Makem during The Mermaid Tavern’s Pub Sing was the same as what I develop before performing in front of an in-person audience.  The similarities in these emotions proved that no matter how an audience is present, an audience is still an audience.  Although they were looking at me through a computer screen, I recognized that I was communicating with those listening through my singing.  This knowledge is what pushed me to practice my song dozens of times before performing; to see the smiles on their faces and two hands shaking as a form of silent applause.

https://www.bostonsongsessions.org/Home

In an interview with Bev Paver, another member of The Mermaid’s Tavern, she emphasized that the lack of a physical audience prevents people from singing in a group, as a group sing would suggest.  Normally, in-person group sings provide the opportunity for people to connect through music by singing together and creating harmonies.  After sitting down with Dr. Margaret Steiner, another member of the virtual folk club and researcher focused on folk music, it became obvious that the experience of being in a room filled with the sound of harmony was unlike anything that could be recreated virtually: “There’s a big emphasis...well people sing choruses and there’s a lot of singing in harmony.  When you’re in a room full of people who know what they’re doing, it’s like being inside a great big pipe organ.  It can be, as they say, a peak experience.” (Personal interview, 5 November 2020).  The inability to create a unanimous sound in a virtual setting presents advantages and disadvantages, depending on whether you are a singer or a listener.  During her time researching the An Góilín Traditional Singing Club in Dublin, Ireland, Vanessa Thacker mentions the club’s rule of “if someone is singing, reciting or performing in any way, total attention is given to the performance” (http://www.goilin.com/about).  Noel’s ability as the host to mute the microphones of every member present ensures that nothing is distracting from the current performer, forcing people to listen.  For those who perform but are muted, this is their time to practice.  While scrolling through the small rectangles displaying the members present in the Zoom call during someone’s song, I could see people swaying in their chairs and singing, or closing their eyes and passionately singing along.  Paver, who used to perform with her late husband, uses this time to practice her harmonies without the fear of being criticized.  This created a more comfortable environment for a newcomer like myself, as my knowledge of folk songs is extremely limited.  I was free to mess up while I attempted to sing along with others.  Performers will also accommodate those who are unfamiliar with the song by going over the lyrics of the chorus so others can sing along.  Just like how singing in front of one other person changes the energy of the performance, singing along with one other person creates a connection like singing in a group.  Whether it’s the harmony or the melody, singing together makes singing alone a less lonely experience.  During a chantey sing, one member sang one of the few songs I knew, (“Spanish Ladies”) leading me to sing along with them.  Despite no one hearing me except for myself, I found joy in the connection I had with this performer through our shared moment of singing together.   As a strict listener, the community does not become familiar with your presence until you sing.  Previous to my performance, my camera and microphone were off and muted to not distract anyone who was singing, resulting in most members having no idea that I was observing.  Over time, I noticed that the only people I would recognize from previous group sings were those who sang.  Not participating prevented me from actually interacting with the group.

When I presented my project to the members of the Mermaid’s Tavern, I was met with many confused looks when I mentioned that I was focusing on Irish folk music.  The Mermaid’s Tavern is available to anyone who has a computer that is connected to the internet, so the pieces performed during the 3 hours are not limited to one country of origin, despite the Irish tradition of these song sessions.  The Mermaid’s Tavern is a setting where you will hear a song in English, then the next in French, and the next in Welsh.  Noel emphasizes that “music is the common tongue” of The Mermaid’s Tavern, demonstrating that language barriers do not disrupt the connection between lovers of folk music.  Some who sing in various languages, such as one couple who sang a Welsh song titled “Harbwr Corc (Cork Harbor)”, will put the translation of the song in the chat function of Zoom so people can still sing along despite not knowing the language.  The presence of members from various cultures generates the opportunity for them to teach, whether it be an entire song, such as the couple, or where “Carterhaugh” is referencing in the ballad Tam Lin.  Rather than separating people further, the ability to share these cultural differences bring the community closer together.

After my first session, I spoke with Noel about her experience as the creator and host of The Mermaid’s Tavern’s online group sings.  It was then that she informed me of her apprehension to use “virtual” to describe the community that developed within The Mermaid’s Tavern, as she believes that it implies it is not a “real” community.  She emphasized that The Mermaid’s Tavern is a real community that happens to be online.  Just as if it were an in-person meeting, members will apologize when they cannot make it or have to leave early.  The Mermaid’s Tavern has become a community of its own, whether it be in the physical or virtual realm.

Lynn Noel best described the Mermaid’s Tavern in an analogy to a mushroom in a grove.  The mushroom visible above ground is a part of a greater, interconnected network of roots underneath.  Just like the fungus, The Mermaid’s Tavern is a small but visible representation of the greater folk community.  The love of folk music shared by its members creates a thread that connects them no matter their age, culture, or life experiences, proving that during times of isolation, people will find a way to create a sense of togetherness.

For more information on the Mermaid’s Tavern, visit:

https://sites.google.com/view/lynnoel/music/mermaidstavern?authuser=0#h.p_xSeU5Am1C87B