Con-session

I attended an Irish session at Rosie Connolly's in downtown Richmond last night. This session meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in the back room of the pub. I arrived at about 7:15 and took a seat at the bar, ordering a pint of Harp and began chatting with the regulars. Shortly after eight, several players wandered in and I followed them to the back room, taking a seat at the edge of the session area. I explained my plight and they seemed OK with my observing and listening. Six musicians attended the session and they played these instruments:

fiddle
guitar & whistle
mandolin & whistle
flute
whistle
flute, whistle, & bodhran

Within half an hour, the back room had a healthy crowd of patrons who apparently come to listen each session. Sometime early in the second hour, a couple appeared and took a table nearby. They were wearing Scottish festival attire and produced a bodhran, occasionally tapping on it as quietly as one might during various tunes, sometimes together, sometimes not. They were strictly novices, but deserve credit for having the courage to try.

Naturally, I paid a lot of attention to the fiddle player's technique. He is definitely a better player than I, though I think that I can play at tempo with him after several months of practice. He is the keeper of the set list and said that he would e-mail it to me. While sitting on the edge of the session, I occasionally asked about the music being played and wrote down the tunes as the players told me. My list has twenty entries, fewer than half of the tunes played.

The session went until about 10:30pm, at which point a couple of players started packing up. I took that as my exit cue as well. I will return, listen, and observe. When my elbow is healed, I will begin practicing the tunes and perhaps by late winter or early spring, will be able to play them competently enough so as not to embarrass myself there.