Hi, we are going to London next week & staying at St. Martin's Lane hotel (DH there for business). When we were in Ireland a few yrs ago, seemed like there were many pubs that had live music, some of it sing-a-long. Are there pubs like that in London or is that an Irish thing? Any recommendations for fun pubs (with or without music) in the area we will be staying in would be appreciated.
Thanks!!

Depends what you mean. There are plenty of pubs that have live bands –young up and coming bands. The best of these are probably the Barfly, Dublin Castle, Water rats and the Half Moon in Putney. In general these host the stars of the future (and a staggering amount of dross).

If you want pubs that you can join in with you really want folk clubs. The two best that I know are the kings Head in Islington and the Cabbage in Twickenham.

Loads and loads of pubs have cover bands playing popular songs. The Puzzle chain do this most nights.

I have heard live jazz at the Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden. According to some information I found, that is only on Sunday nights.

our favorite spot was Le Mitre, it was a few blocks from Paddington station and a block from the Cordova House Hotel, where we stayed.

You could do worse than purchase a copy of Time Out magazine on the day you arrive, as it will list all live music going on in pubs and clubs for that week.

Last time we were in London, we took the Along the Thames Pub tour from the Original London Walks. The last Pub we went to was the George. There happened to be a session playing that night, so we stayed there for quite a while after the walk. I believe that particular session was playing Morris, French, and Danish tunes?! It was a really great treat to wander into.

The session at the George isn't listed, but here is a Web site that has some other sessions listed:

http://www.folkmusic.net/sessions