Very sadly James died before I added his "Why I sing" contribution. I thought however, you would still like to read about his musical journey.
My introduction to choral singing came when I was just eleven. I had passed my 11+, and it was my first week at Technical High School (oooh). It was during the first music lesson, that Mr. Rowley asked us all to recommend a favourite song from the book in front of us, that we could all sing together. I chose "Annie Laurie", mainly because it was my mother's favourite. She was always humming it. Unfortunately, I was the only one who knew it, and I was asked by Mr. Rowley if I wouldn’t mind standing up, and for the benefit of the rest of the class, sing it. You should understand that everyone in the room were total strangers to me, and I was shaking in my shoes. It was my first ever solo, and it must have been good enough, because soon after I was asked to join the school choir.
I was 19 when the Warden of the youth club I used to go to, decided to celebrate the opening of a new extension, by organising a concert in the extension. It would be open to friends and family, but Mr. Clark's idea was that only club members would take part, and so he called for volunteers. I put my hand up.
I planned to sing "Stormy Weather", and so I produced a 6 foot high map of the UK, and stuck panel pins all over. When I went on stage, I had a handful of cut-outs of dark stormy clouds, and during the piano introduction, I placed these on the pins. I suppose this was my second solo, but having had lots of rehearsal, this time I had no nerves.
The only non-members taking part were three of Mr. Clarks' colleagues from school, who played guitar and banjo, and sang American folk songs. Well, I must have done well enough, because later Peter and his wife Emma asked me if I would like to join them. The third member, also a teaching colleague did not want to continue. So, the three of us started singing English folk songs, with a few Scottish and Irish. We called ourselves The Medway Folk Trio. Several months later, in a pub called "The Crown", we opened the Rochester Folk Club, which ran for the next nine years. We had guests every week, and I met and sang with performers such as Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor, Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins and Julie Felix.
Some years after the club closed, a friend said they were asking for men to sing in a small choir she was with, and would I care to come along. There was about fifteen of us, and we sang everything in unison. We would visit sheltered accommodations around North Kent, entertain for an hour or so, and accept any donation which was offered. These monies were then kept aside until the end of the year, when they were given to a charity which we would have decided upon at the start of the year.
I sang with them for the next 28 years, until moving to Burton in 2004. Within a few months I was with RCS, and just three or four years later, also with Beatus.
...and thats how it happened.
Stay safe,
James