Session etiquette 101

At the Charlottesville session this afternoon, an older gentleman took part whom I had only seen once before in the Spring. He played the fiddle and was very enthusiastic. Trouble was, he also had a tin ear and almost no sense of rhythm. Consequently, a number of people left the session halfway through and by 5:00, when the session is usually peaking, only a handful of folks remained. It was excrutiating to listen to him grind through several pieces solo, because the tunes he played were almost unrecognizable and other players didn't want to join in. I wonder, how many more instances like that before we lose our venue, due to complaints from restaurant patrons or simply because the manager doesn't want that horrible racket in his pub?

At a Swannanoa session which I attended, someone posed a question to the fiddler Patrick Mangan on this topic. Patrick summed things up nicely, "Listen to others and play quietly if you don't know the tune." Good advice.

Hail fellow, well met

A few weeks ago, a young fellow named Lanny Fields approached me at the Charlottesville session and introduced himself. He has been playing the banjo for a short while and lives near to me in Goochland county. We agreed to meet on Tuesday evenings at my house to practice various tunes and exchange ideas, etc. For the last two weeks, we have played from 7:00-9:30 and it looks like a nice fit.

Session²

Charlottesville now features two sessions back to back each Sunday. The Shebeen hosts the first session from 3-6pm and then Louise & Kara, a female duo called 'Farewell to the Nunnery', host a session at Durty Nellie's from 7-10pm or whenever everybody quits.

I attended both sessions on Sunday and enjoyed myself, although I have to say that I probably won't play at the Durty Nellie's session too often for a couple of reasons. 1) The majority of attendees were experienced players playing tunes in sets at a pretty fast clip. I felt a bit out of place amongst such advanced players and was only able to play a few tunes. 2) The hours are later than I really want, since I need to return home and care for my animals on Sunday evenings.

I did appreciate that Kara, who plays flute, frequently named tune keys as she launched into playing them. That helped me to locate the notes more quickly in a number of cases.

Mountain music

On Friday night, Keadron, Robin (Keadron's singer friend), and I drove to Montebello, Virginia for a ceilidh at a house in the mountains fifteen miles south of Staunton. The night was fairly chilly and we had to don fleece jackets to stay comfortable. I had two bowls of spicy chili with cornbread and cold beer, followed by a slice of blackberry pie. Yum!

After the meal, we gathered around a bonfire and a session began. Due to a conflict with other musical events (a music camp and music festival in reasonably close proximity), there weren't as many musicians as I hoped, but it was fun. I was happy to see that Keadron had no remaining inhibitions about session playing (sans sheet music) and jumped right in. The session included two flutes, three fiddles, uilleann pipes, two whistles, a harp, and a bouzouki.

The drive was about 1.75 hours each way, so we only stayed a few hours before returning, but it was great fun while we were there.

Getting my Irish up

Since Swannanoa, I have undergone something of a transformation relating to fiddle music. When I first began playing, I focused primarily on the Scottish style. This resulted from my earliest experience with Celtic music through Scottish ballad singers such as Dick Gaughan, Brian McNeill, Jim Malcolm, Ed Miller, etc.

I now have decided that I will focus on Irish fiddle music, particularly as it pertains to jigs, reels, hornpipes, etc. Irish fiddling is more fluid and supple than Scottish fiddling, which is more ornate and rigid, deriving in part from its considerable classical influence. I still really love the Scottish strathspeys and airs and will continue to play them, but have become an Irish fiddler at heart.

Just as an aside, my violin teacher Keadron and I were discussing fiddlers and fiddle tunes on the phone yesterday. During our conversation, it became apparent that we had each independently/simultaneously come to same conclusion regarding Irish fiddling and had a good laugh over it.

A Keane appreciation

While in Swannanoa, Liz Knowles recommended the music of Seán Keane, fiddler extraordinaire and longtime member of the legendary Irish band The Chieftains, as someone to listen to and emulate. He recorded a solo CD in 1975, called Gusty's Frolics, which is a tour-de-force in Irish fiddling. I found a copy in Dublin and listened to it many times as I drove home, captivated with his playing style: powerful, silky smooth, and marvelously precise. Seán Keane is now my favorite Irish fiddler. If I can ever play half as well, I will be delighted.

At Swannanoa, I had a chance to sit down and converse at length with Seán's younger brother James. James Keane is a living legend in Irish music, but as down-to-earth and pleasant a fellow as you will ever meet. James is a highly celebrated button accordion player and a walking encyclopedia of Irish music. Liz Knowles told me that he has a loose leaf binder, hundreds of pages thick. Each page contains dozens of tunes with only a brief space allotted for each, identifying its name and first few notes (written in James' own invented notation since he doesn't read music). These first few notes are all James requires to recall the entire tune. A math degree isn't necessary to get some idea of the number of tunes he knows. I have not met a kinder, more talented, or more consummate gentleman than James Keane.

Dublin town

I spent August 4-6 at the annual Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, Ohio.

The lineup was extraordinary, rivaling the Sebastopol Celtic Festival which I attended in 2004. I saw and heard musicians performing whom I had only heard on CDs or knew by reputation, including Solas, Old Blind Dogs, Bohola, Mick Moloney, Cathie Ryan, and Brian Conway.

I also played in the session tent between performances of the artists I really wanted to hear. On Saturday night, a wonderful session took place in the bar of the Clarion Hotel in Dublin. Members of various bands took part and when I left at 2am, it was still going with no end in sight.

Definitely a place to visit again.