Over the last couple of years at the National Folk Festival there has been a rediscovery of the magic of the massed male voice. In the past we had the Spooky Men, a male a capella group from the Blue Mountains, this year there are two groups present, Voice Male and Bloke-apella. All three groups have two important things in common, they have discovered the power and vibrance of unaccompanied male voices on mass and all have a healthy disrespect for the gift that they have.

There is nothing feminine about these performances, they are all male. It is both invigorating and immensely entertaining to hear a group of men, in good humour, singing their hearts out, their voices untainted by instrument or female voice.

The bit I just don't get however is how the baritone, who you expect to be size of a small tractor, is always this skinny little guy. Small of stature, big of voice; that's yin and yang for you I suppose.