The Single Malt & Song Society

About SMSS

The Single Malt & Song Society (SMSS) is a recurring private gathering of like-minded friends dedicated to the appreciation of good whisky and good song, and to the recognition that both are vastly improved by good company.  At its core is a BYOB singing party, but SMSS is really so much more than that.  Perhaps the following will help:

• SMSS is not a place to get drunk.  We may sing to excess, but we drink in moderation.  We're here to appreciate good whisky and good song, and actual inebriation gets in the way.
• SMSS does not provide a stage for performances, but rather a table around which we all sing together; to increase participation and thereby enrich the experience of us all.
• At SMSS we believe that songs, like drams, have "finish"; that lingering flavor that echoes remembrance of the experience.  So we like to savor both whisky and song.  The taste of a good song well sung should linger in your heart in the same way that the taste of a good dram well presented lingers in your mouth.  We feel that jumping immediately from one song to another ("speed singing") diminishes the experience, just as would slamming down shots of booze.
• At SMSS we sing from the heart, from the mind, and sometimes from the bottle, but only rarely does anyone sing from the written page.  It is certainly not forbidden, it just doesn't happen much.
• SMSS is not a pub sing.  We're not drinking and talking in small clutches, until someone starts a song and then everyone bellows at the top of their lungs to make the rafters shake.  No, we're having musical conversations, and really listening while we sing.  We enjoy a good game of "Get off My Note".  Of course we also enjoy making the rafters shake.
• SMSS is neither a public organization nor a performing group; in fact, we're not really a group at all — SMSS exists in the gathering itself.  When SMSS regulars have been invited to sing at another function, we have always adopted a different name for the event (names such as "Bell's Ringers" or "Distilled Spirits")
• SMSS is not just a whisky tasting session and not just a singing party, but a wonderful synthesis of the two.  Whiskies we have enjoyed, and about which we have learned, include single malts from all over Scotland (with an occasional blend or Irish Whiskey sneaking in).  Songs we have enjoyed come from everywhere.

So raise a dram and sing together one and all, and let us strive to achieve unison in harmony!