It's a week for Sessions

Hey, Friends!

Long time, no talk. We've been a little busy. We ran the session down in Jersey on Saturday night, and it was just the right size -- small and full of great musicians! Thank you to Iris for inviting us, and thank you to Bill, Lesl, Eileen, Tom, John, Frank and Bill for sharing the tunes! If you weren't there, we hope you had a darn good excuse...

Just a reminder: Lesl Harker's second Mike Rafferty tune book, "Second Wind", is complete now! You can buy it direct from Lesl for $25. We will bring a copy to slow session so you can look it over. We'll be seeing her in the beginning of June so let us know if you want a copy and we can grab one for you.

Also, Veronica MacNamara's book of Michael Coleman tunes is available, thanks in good part to the hard work of Iris Nevins in preparing the volume. I don't remember what the book costs, but that is also available through Iris. If you want a copy, let us know and we will connect you up. We are hoping that Veronica and Iris will work together to put together a second volume of Coleman's tune books.

*Both Lesl and Veronica are being honored for their work at the Fleagh Nua this year. Congratulations, Ladies!

Monday night found us over in Concord, MA at a session that left us utterly speechless. What an amazing group of musicians. We spent the evening with a pile of Childs' fiddles, including one tucked under the chin of Laurel Martin, who just returned from her first tour out on the West Coast. It is always brilliant to hear Laurel play, as she carries the absolute best of the east Clare tradition firmly in her pocket. She's one of those musicians that makes everyone around her better. That being said, there was noone in the group who needed to be "raised up." It was an absolutely brilliant group of musicians, including our friend Gary from down near New Bedford. Great to see you (and hear you), Gary!

Another Child's fiddle was in the hot grip of Sheila Falls, an All-Ireland Fiddle champ and a member of Child's Play, who has just released her new album "All in the Timing." Sheila is a highly accomplished traditional fiddler, and this effort shows the range and versatility of her musicianship. Congratulations, Sheila! CDs are available direct from the artist, and we'll be seeing her again in a few weeks, we hope, so if you're interested, we'll give you a listen to ours and then we can grab one for you.

Yes, along with Bonnie and Sarah on their own Childs' fiddles, Rod on concertina and whistle, Gary on box, John on guitar, and Frank on whistle, plus us chickens (and one fiddle player whose name I missed), we had a fabulous time with great tunes and chat! Many thanks to Bonnie for organizing it. We'll be doing that again in a couple of weeks. We can't wait!

Tomorrow Night: We're having a real honest-to-goodness session tomorrow night, Thursday, May 21 at 8 PM, down at McGeary's Pub, 4 Clinton Square, Albany. The Trad, Trusty and Whippersnapper will be hosting. You're invited! Colin (Whippersnapper) has been lamenting the fact that there are no proper sessions over here, as he just left Galway or Limerick or someplace like that where there are fine tunes every single night of the week, so he decided that we needed to put a session together. So dust off your favorite tunes, come on out and let's blast the night with chunes!

I'm hoping that we'll have a session out in Ohio this weekend -- I've been in contact with some folks who have a ceili band out their in Eastern Ohio, and we're trying to find a good time for everyone to get together. Keep your fingers crossed!

So, for somebody who isn't all that into sessions, I'd say we've had a pretty good run of it, and there's more to come! I'm hoping you'll all help continue the trend and come out to play tomorrow night! See you soon,

The Trad

Grand Tunes, Ladies & Gents!

Guys and gals, Last night was brilliant! We had a good crowd and some great tunes on the table. No listening corner this month, and probably not next either. But I think people have stuff in their CD players, and are enjoying what they're doing.

I especially appreciate Trusty for his willingness to listen to the accompanists, encourage everyone, and keep the rhythm section pretty much on the same page! Thanks, Babe, you rock!

Also, special thanks to Phil for singing his song "Old Songs." We've been really lucky to have Phl join us over the past year, and we always enjoy his songs. We can't wait to hear what you cook up for us next month!

A thousand welcomes to Paul and Charlie...and MIKE! Mike -- I'm so sorry I forgot to put you in my e-mail. It was great to have you there.

Last night, I had a little glitch with my flash drive and wasn't quite ready with my photocopies, so the gang played Gentle Maiden to start (We miss you Jeff!). Then we worked on a set of reels: Dunmore Lasses (emin)/The Peeler's Jacket (The Flannel Jacket) (gmaj).

David and Dave suggested a set of Jigs: Tatterjack Walsh (dmix) and The Cook in the Kitchen (3-part) (gmaj). While I ran to make photocopies, the gang played one of our regular session sets of reels, which we ended with a rousing round of Cooley's Reel!

FYI, gang: June's session will be on Wed. June 10. There will be no July session, because it falls during Catskills Irish Arts Week. I'm so pleased to hear that more and more of my compadres from Old Songs are traveling the light years to East Durham to join us this year! Wait 'til you guys hear what happens in singing sessions! Whoo-eeee!

Next month's tunes will be as follows:
Reels: The Four Courts, The Mossy Banks
Jigs: A Patrick Ourceau classic set -- The Goat on the Green/The Pipe on the Hob

Also, Trusty and I and Colin Harte (forthwith known as Whippersnapper) will be hosting a session next Thursday, May 21 at 8:00 PM downtown in Albany at McGeary's Pub on Pearl. Come on out, have a pint with us, and celebrate Dave and Allison's anniversary.... ;-) See you all soon!

The Trad