Hi! Have you ever heard of Julia Ecklar? She sang a lot of sci-fi songs, including some Star Trek ones; I think you might like some of her songs if you haven't heard them already!
I have heard of Julia Ecklar! Thank you for mentioning her, though; I would have wanted to hear about her if I hadn’t yet.
You probably know all about this, @i-like-pirates , but I think there are current fans who might not be familiar with filk songs, which I’ve best heard described by the old saying “Science fiction and folk music had a baby, and they named it Filk.”
In the mid- to late-70s, filk singing was a very popular part of conventions. If you’ve seen convention photos from that era, you’ve probably seen a group of people gathered around someone with a guitar. The words to filk songs were published in some zines, and certain fans were almost celebrities in their own right as filk writers and filk singers.
What happened is less that filk died out and more that it increasingly separated itself from general fandom. It has its own conventions, its own awards, and yes, its own celebrities. Still very much alive, it’s just that filk doesn’t mix in with the rest of fandom as much - every year it seems, there are fewer people dabbling in filk and more dedicated filkers.
Our state’s annual science fiction convention is an old fashioned sort of event where there are fewer signings and no professional cosplayers, more panels and workshops for writers, half the reason for picking up the big program is for the free short stories, and if you really want, you can dive into the music track for the whole weekend and just not come out except for meal breaks.
Thank you for this info @teasugarsalt and others who added comments. You all just taught me something. I’ve been away from conventions for years, and I had no idea filking was still going strong.
Also, @teasugarsalt your state’s annual science fiction convention sounds fabulous: an event without the slick packaging and commercialism that has overtaken most modern cons. Hearing this makes me interested in attending a con again — a smaller old fashioned one where fans can truly participate.