“Oh, Lord, I've got some singing to do,” Joe Hickerson croons comfortably, without instrumentation, from his kitchen table.
The fridge behind him is covered with photos and magnets, and he peers into his computer’s video camera toward an online audience of about seventy people attending a recent Friday night Old-Fashioned Hootenanny hosted by Swallow Hill Music over Zoom. He pauses to explain how he learned "Oh, Lord, I've Got Some Singing to Do" in 1957, during his days at Oberlin College.
He and the others gathering online for Swallow Hill's hootenannies are carrying on a tradition that began in 1962 at Harry Tuft’s Denver Folklore Center. Along with selling guitars, Tuft created a meeting ground for the folk-enthused that’s outlasted nearly six decades of changing venues and business iterations — with only the latest hootenannies taking place online. But despite the newfangled setup, sincerity shines through as musicians and students gather to share what they love.