In my opinion, one of the saddest and most dysfunctional elements of the Edinburgh (and wider) folk scene is the rigorously maintained division between those who class themselves as "songsters" and those who fall into the "tunester" camp.

I believe that the folk scene is doing itself a disservice  by dividing along these partisan and parochial lines.  As primarily a singer, I suppose I fall into the "songster" camp although this was never a conscious decision, it just seemed to happen by a natural folkie osmosis.

Anyhow, the very best sessions I've ever had the privilege of being in have been those when the technical expertise of tunsters has been merged with the passion of songsters.  A mixture of tunes and songs adds variety and subtlety to a session and I believe that the two groups of musicians have much to offer each other, to their mutual benefit and to the betterment of the folk scene.

My question is, how could we go about building a golden bridge?

I think that the problem here lies not so much with the "songsters" or "tunesters" as individual groups, but with the fact that both parties have a very different approach and style to playing - and it would be safe to say that they do not share the same definition of "session".

Tune sessions seem to be relatively heavily policed (from within anyway), and they tend to operate on the basis that a certain standard of proficiency is expected from session members - as opposed to the song session, which rewards loyalty and a passion for singing over ability.

personally, as a "songster" - I'd love to bring the two elements together more often, but resistance will come from those tunesters who refuse to attend singing sessions, and the select few who might "freeze out" singers from some tune sessions.

I accept that there are some generalizations here, and I would add that all the tunesters i know are lovely people.

I'd agree with Jack in that there is a more apparent internal structure in tunster sessions, and this could be deemed more neccessary for the nature of a more individual approach of expression. 'Songsters' are more able to join in together, while with 'tunsters' there is a greater need to know the tunes, and less opportunity for personal interpretation, as there needs to be a prodominent melody player and a prodominent backer. Saying that i object to the division that 'tunster' and 'songster' creates, we are all muso's, together striving to maintain the folk scene and bring it forward, treasuring the past but along the carrying stream to wind and diverge into many new cuts.

Sounds like a Dylan song Kirsty!