On April 22, 2017, Maya and I had the honor of being inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame. For those of you who don’t know what filk music is, broadly speaking it’s music created by fans of science fiction and fantasy, and shared at science fiction and fantasy conventions. Over the years, filk has developed as a recognized subset of general fandom, with its own conventions held all over the US and the world. The Filk Hall of Fame is based near Toronto, and inductees are announced each year at the FilkOntario filk music convention held toward the end of each April in the Toronto area.

What we find special about the Filk Hall of Fame is that the selection process starts with nominations from the members of the filk music community (basically anyone who self-identifies as such). The people who administer it review the submitted nominations, and when someone (whether performer, group, or someone who helps organize events, etc) has received enough nominations with specific reasons why they should be inducted, they are reviewed by a jury comprised of representatives from all the filk music conventions held around the world. That jury then selects the inductees. Essentially, the process is driven by the members of the community choosing to nominate people. To be inducted therefore, is to be acknowledged by your peers that you have contributed something worthwhile to the community.

Maya and I have been playing music together since 1979, and we both agree that our experiences with the filk community have been among the best musical experiences we have shared. To be honored as inductees of the hall of fame is especially nice because of this.

As part of the citation at the ceremony, my work recording albums with other people was also mentioned as one reason for our indiction. I take great pleasure in collaborating with talented people like Mary Crowell, Scott Snyder, Betsy Tinney, Twotonic, Seanan McGuire,and others to help them to create recordings that convey their musical vision. It makes me happy that this work was a factor in our being inducted, especially because in almost every case, Maya has contributed greatly to the work as a vocalist.

Maya and I have been part of the filk community for 22 years, and we look forward to many more years of friendship and music.