I was talking to a friend (I use the term loosely) the other day about music in general. And for some strange reason he said that he doesn't believe in 'spirit' in Irish music. And he didn't mean like, nowadays or just some musicians, he meant no spirit at all in general, past or present.
So according to him there is no spirit in Seamus Ennis' playing, in Coleman's or anyone elses. That its all just a big con. Mind you he does have a questionable taste in music and hes young so maybe he'll get some sense, but what does everyone else think of his statment. I had to hold back from telling him he's a complete idiot but however...
I know! But i really had to because it would not have been pretty and really wasn't the time to be having that fight! lol! and ill be seeing him around the scene for another while longer so for the sake of not having to feel uncomfortable in sessions, at festivals and the like i kinda had to, but judging not just on this but on other things he has done I can see him getting his comuppance soon enough from a whole host of other people.
It might be interesting to find out what he actually knows about what he calls "Irish music." Could be he's thinking of canned stuff like Riverdance and (horrors!) Celtic Woman, in which case there would be hope for him, particularly if he's still young.
Bet you dollars to doughnuts he couldn't name five contemporary Irish artists.
I hate it when there's no spirit in Irish music, it sounds awful, minus well be playing bridge with the ladies' auxiliary. I like mine with oomph and soul.
Ruari - If your friend is so sure that this 'spirit' thing is absent from Irish music (a vague and sweeping statement, if ever I heard one), then he must be able to explain what it is, if only by example.
Perhaps his assertion is merely a manifestation of his own insecurity. He doesn't 'get' this music like you and the rest of us do and, rather than accept that there is something lacking in *him* that inhibits his appreciation of it, he would prefer to believe that *everyone else* is deluded. A perfectly normal human response.
I don't think any amount of arguing will bring him round. Hopefully he will learn that not everyone sees (or hears) things the same way. He might even learn to appreciate Traditional Music - or he might not. But that's alright - you don't *have* to like it, so long as you don't make a habit of turning up at sessions (or thesession.org) and telling everyone so.
He knows music well. Be going to a lot of the festivals like miltown, drumshanbo, tullamore and the like. He would have a decent enough knowledge of irish music, listens to it,although he hasn't listened to people he should like Frankie gavin (!), the old greats like coleman, doesn't think finbar dwyer is a good box player, doesn't think Seamus ennis is a good piper (!), not that he doesn't like them he said they are NOT GOOD PLAYERS. hmmm...
plays a lot of instruments. he'd do pretty okay at competitions and such, He just acts pompus and likes himself a bit too much. He's kind of more interested in playing than listening if you know what i mean. And he definatley doesn't mean celtic woman and riverdance! he is talking about past and present like i said, as in there was never any such thing as spirit in the music! And by spirit i knew what he meant cause we were talking bout music for a while before hand and he tends to say stupid things like that.
Agree with granama. 'Spirit' needs to be defined. By you also, Ruari, since you're using the term. This would save a lot of future arguments on this thread - unless of course that's what you want
Just because we know how great and full of spirit this music can be doesn't mean that we need to ram it down other people's throats if they don't like it.
The way you respond to him is to tell him what spirit you find in the music. No need to argue about it. If he pushes back, you can just tell him that spirit is pretty subjective, and you just wish that he could see the beauty that you see in it, and leave it at that...
By spirit I mean like just being connected with your playing, the instrument and the tune. Having good energy in your playing but not necessariyl being a really really fast player. Just being able to put life into the tunes. Not necessarily being a great player technically but being able to fully understand what the music is about to be able to convey your emotions through your playing. Listen to seamus ennis, or willie clancy, martin byrnes, or coleman or tansey any of the like, thats what I would class as spirit. He says that playing a tune is just playing a tune and thats it.
And I know that people can't play with great spirit ALL of the time!
I know what you mean granama, but he is far from insecure! believe me! Could just walk up to anyone and start talking to them you know. and has a habit of telling people such things ye know. His whole family plays., and he is able for a lot of the cultural arts like sean nos and stuff.
Im not saying we have to like everything i do but even if you dont like someones playing like ennis', you should still be able to appreciate it for what it is. Saying he is not a good piper is entirely different. I'll agree that not EVERYONE nowadays has spirit in their playing, but to say the past greats like coleman and the like didn't is just silly and ignorant at best.
and llig leachim, you're either talking about some diddley irish music( as you so intelligently call it) today, or you are 1: very clever (in trying to start an argument) or 2: incredibly stupid. we'd probably be willing to forgive you seeing as you are from edinburgh and the only irish music you would be referring to is at the Celtic connections in glasgow.
Very, very foolish words fiddleruari! I used to live in Edinburgh and there was plenty of great Irish and, naturally, Scottish music about the place. And who is this 'we' you refer to in connection with forgiving llig? You and the Queen maybe? Like him or not, the last thing anyone used to this board would accuse the man of being was stupid. Let alone 'incredibly' so.
"we'd probably be willing to forgive you seeing as you are from edinburgh and the only irish music you would be referring to is at the Celtic connections in glasgow."
fair enough seargent! i take it back. if thats the case why does llig waste his time by leaving stupid comments like the one he did.
i think its a bit immature to be saying comments like that, 'tee hee'. lol. aw man, thats embarrassing! calling its didlley irish music, and the rrest of that comment? hmmm...yes i can see now why you don't call him stupid. Leave more worthwhile comments llig like some of the others on the thread.
all of a sudden im the bad guy. lets just get back to the whole point of the thread. okay guys? forgetting other comments just give your opinion on the whole spirit idea.
Perform ITM for schoolchildren and there's your answer: virtually every kiddo there—unprompted—will instinctively and gleefully begin clapping along. Immediately. Happens every time.
Just out of curiosity, why would you consider Llig's statement to be stupid. I think he was being serious. But he may have a different definition of spirit than you...
For my part, I would say that one in ten sessions I play in gets the extra "spirit", where the music is lifted beyond the sum of its parts. Even if it's with the same players as the other nine sessions. Not to say that the other nine are bad, just that they don't have that special spark that appears from time to time.
"but he is far from insecure! believe me! Could just walk up to anyone and start talking to them you know. and has a habit of telling people such things ye know. His whole family plays., and he is able for a lot of the cultural arts like sean nos and stuff."
Ruari - I don't think that necessarily precludes what I said. If he's as heavily steeped in the tradition as you say, then it's bound to be a bit disconcerting for him if he suddenly realises he doesn't understand why he's doing it all. It's much easier for him to take it out on the tradition as a whole than to ask himself why *he* doesn't find any spirit in it.
Or maybe he just gets a kick out of challenging people. The Sacha Baron Cohen of Trad?
"ill be seeing him around the scene for another while longer so for the sake of not having to feel uncomfortable in sessions, at festivals and the like"
So, he must like *something* about the music, if he's still going regularly to sessions and festivals.
i know what you're saying rev, but i was referring to the fact of calling irish traditional music 'diddley irish music' or something like that, and i doubt that 95% hav no spirit either, but thats really besides the point.
anyway, i know what you're saying granama. you may be right, tho i think it may be more getting a kick out of it. we were talking with another guy, quite an older gentleman, and he was quite taken aback by the comment, so i think its abit of audacity also!
oh yea he's quite outgoing yes! the only thing i dont know is if its the music he likes or the publicity it brings, enters quite a lot of competitions and tends to get noticed by people because of his forward character. he's got the whole package that would be good to sell the music by comhaltas or something like that.
I dont have a problem with other beliefs, but he says things like, well when he hears someone new that 'they are the best'. His idea of fiddle players went, 'tara breen is the best fiddle player, zoeconway is the best fiddle player, sean smith is the best fiddle player, sean keane is the best fiddle player.' As he hears new players he says they are the best but when asked what about coleman and frankie and the like, he replies that he's never listened to them. he tends to say things without actually listing out an argument, so maybe he actually does do it to draw reaction. But the reason i started the thread was because i'm of the belief that spirit in irish music is an integral part of the music because you can be the most technically gifted in the world but what you play can still sound dead without the oopmh given by spirited playing. I thought that spirit was a given! i still believe that anyway. im only 21 but i grew up sitting on the stairs in cleary; sin miltown during the summer listening to sessions with bobby casey, junior crehan, joe ryan, and other great musicians so i always just thought that spirit is what set the music apart from other genres.
There is a breed of this kind of critic in every walk of life, and I've met a lot of them. Strangely enough, I've always thought that ITM has the major share. A case of everybody is out of step but our Johnny. I find that people who nit pick and over criticize every player and tune, get up people's noses so much, that they run out of friends very fast and eventually fade away into obscurity. I once knew an individual who, if he didn't get his own way at a session, especially on timing, would pack up his instrument and leave. In the end he ended up playing on his own and at his own speed.
!@£$%^&*(), i wish i realised at the time who i was listening to i would have taken greater stock but i wasn't even a teenager, i was around 11 or 12 when junior and bobby died. i was always like 'bobby and junior and joe they play with mam and dad every day after the classes in miltown,' ye know. i only really started appreciating who they were years after they had died, but joe was still around up until earlier this year, and i love his playing also.
Does he believe in the wind? We can have faith that the wind does exist although we can't see it... by the way it moves through the trees... How do we know music exists? By hearing alone? It sounds to me that your friend has reduced the music to just sequences of notes that perhaps he has memorized... many are ok with that. Is there more? But what made him memorize this music? What moved him to sit down with an instrument?
Rubbish.Give him real music to listen to like Micho Russell,Michael Coleman,Joe Cooley and Willie Clancy and them let him say there is no spirit there;)
Sounds like he is playing Devils Advocate. I mean - as if you'd play tunes and not think there was any spirit. I mean - that'd be like taking up Heavy metal if you didnt like the hair. He is obviously poking fun.
There Michael goes, stirring the pot again. Michael, if 95% of the recorded music you are listening to lacks spirit, it is your own fault, since you programmed your ipod, or put the CDs in the player or whatever. And if the live music you hear lacks spirit, you are going to the wrong concerts. And if 95% of the sessions you attend lack spirit, perhaps there is a common element to those lifeless events. So there!!!!!!
Now regarding the clueless friend cited above, as a youngster, I pretty much wrote off most 'roots music' as 'not cool' when I was young. After all, you couldn't like the same music as your parents and God forbid, your grandparents. It was only when I got over the predjudices of my youth that I realized the richness and beauty of many styles of folk music, including the music I play now in sessions. You can try to expose your friend to the good stuff, but don't try to change their minds, that can take decades......
Riddles of dead musicians echo on still today... how many dead poets would love it if you walked around every day with their musings running around your hear incessantly, to remind them what life is like, from this life to the afterlife.... just theoretical theosophy
No spirit in Irish music????!!!
No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I was talking to a friend (I use the term loosely) the other day about music in general. And for some strange reason he said that he doesn't believe in 'spirit' in Irish music. And he didn't mean like, nowadays or just some musicians, he meant no spirit at all in general, past or present.
So according to him there is no spirit in Seamus Ennis' playing, in Coleman's or anyone elses. That its all just a big con. Mind you he does have a questionable taste in music and hes young so maybe he'll get some sense, but what does everyone else think of his statment. I had to hold back from telling him he's a complete idiot but however...
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I would not have held back.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by Steve L
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I know! But i really had to because it would not have been pretty and really wasn't the time to be having that fight! lol! and ill be seeing him around the scene for another while longer so for the sake of not having to feel uncomfortable in sessions, at festivals and the like i kinda had to, but judging not just on this but on other things he has done I can see him getting his comuppance soon enough from a whole host of other people.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Does he know well Irish Music ?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by RoLuPiN
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
It might be interesting to find out what he actually knows about what he calls "Irish music." Could be he's thinking of canned stuff like Riverdance and (horrors!) Celtic Woman, in which case there would be hope for him, particularly if he's still young.
Bet you dollars to doughnuts he couldn't name five contemporary Irish artists.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by cathrynb
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Maybe the only experience of Irish music your friend has is Comhaltas sessions. If that's the case than he'd be right in his preumptions!!!!
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by The Tune Composer
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I hate it when there's no spirit in Irish music, it sounds awful, minus well be playing bridge with the ladies' auxiliary. I like mine with oomph and soul.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Did you ask him to define 'spirit'?
Is it possible he was just playing Devil's advocate?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
At a conservative estimate, I'd say there was no spirit in about 95% of the Irish diddley music I hear.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Ruari - If your friend is so sure that this 'spirit' thing is absent from Irish music (a vague and sweeping statement, if ever I heard one), then he must be able to explain what it is, if only by example.
Perhaps his assertion is merely a manifestation of his own insecurity. He doesn't 'get' this music like you and the rest of us do and, rather than accept that there is something lacking in *him* that inhibits his appreciation of it, he would prefer to believe that *everyone else* is deluded. A perfectly normal human response.
I don't think any amount of arguing will bring him round. Hopefully he will learn that not everyone sees (or hears) things the same way. He might even learn to appreciate Traditional Music - or he might not. But that's alright - you don't *have* to like it, so long as you don't make a habit of turning up at sessions (or thesession.org) and telling everyone so.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
He knows music well. Be going to a lot of the festivals like miltown, drumshanbo, tullamore and the like. He would have a decent enough knowledge of irish music, listens to it,although he hasn't listened to people he should like Frankie gavin (!), the old greats like coleman, doesn't think finbar dwyer is a good box player, doesn't think Seamus ennis is a good piper (!), not that he doesn't like them he said they are NOT GOOD PLAYERS. hmmm...
plays a lot of instruments. he'd do pretty okay at competitions and such, He just acts pompus and likes himself a bit too much. He's kind of more interested in playing than listening if you know what i mean. And he definatley doesn't mean celtic woman and riverdance! he is talking about past and present like i said, as in there was never any such thing as spirit in the music! And by spirit i knew what he meant cause we were talking bout music for a while before hand and he tends to say stupid things like that.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Agree with granama. 'Spirit' needs to be defined. By you also, Ruari, since you're using the term. This would save a lot of future arguments on this thread - unless of course that's what you want
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by Rudall the time
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Just because we know how great and full of spirit this music can be doesn't mean that we need to ram it down other people's throats if they don't like it.
The way you respond to him is to tell him what spirit you find in the music. No need to argue about it. If he pushes back, you can just tell him that spirit is pretty subjective, and you just wish that he could see the beauty that you see in it, and leave it at that...
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by Reverend
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
By spirit I mean like just being connected with your playing, the instrument and the tune. Having good energy in your playing but not necessariyl being a really really fast player. Just being able to put life into the tunes. Not necessarily being a great player technically but being able to fully understand what the music is about to be able to convey your emotions through your playing. Listen to seamus ennis, or willie clancy, martin byrnes, or coleman or tansey any of the like, thats what I would class as spirit. He says that playing a tune is just playing a tune and thats it.
And I know that people can't play with great spirit ALL of the time!
I know what you mean granama, but he is far from insecure! believe me! Could just walk up to anyone and start talking to them you know. and has a habit of telling people such things ye know. His whole family plays., and he is able for a lot of the cultural arts like sean nos and stuff.
Im not saying we have to like everything i do but even if you dont like someones playing like ennis', you should still be able to appreciate it for what it is. Saying he is not a good piper is entirely different. I'll agree that not EVERYONE nowadays has spirit in their playing, but to say the past greats like coleman and the like didn't is just silly and ignorant at best.
and llig leachim, you're either talking about some diddley irish music( as you so intelligently call it) today, or you are 1: very clever (in trying to start an argument) or 2: incredibly stupid. we'd probably be willing to forgive you seeing as you are from edinburgh and the only irish music you would be referring to is at the Celtic connections in glasgow.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Very, very foolish words fiddleruari! I used to live in Edinburgh and there was plenty of great Irish and, naturally, Scottish music about the place. And who is this 'we' you refer to in connection with forgiving llig? You and the Queen maybe? Like him or not, the last thing anyone used to this board would accuse the man of being was stupid. Let alone 'incredibly' so.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by sergeant fox
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
"we'd probably be willing to forgive you seeing as you are from edinburgh and the only irish music you would be referring to is at the Celtic connections in glasgow."
Now who's trying to start arguments?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Sorry - poss-crosted there.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
tee he
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
"doesn't think finbar dwyer is a good box player"
QED, the guy's an idiot. Finbarr Dwyer has more spirit in his little fingernail than most people have in their entire bodies!!!!!
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by The Tune Composer
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
"Like him or not, the last thing anyone used to this board would accuse the man of being was stupid."
Not so sure, Sarge. I think he's been accused of most things. And I reckon he loves every bit of it.... eh, Michael?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
There's no spirit in this thread...yawn.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by saltcast
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
fair enough seargent! i take it back. if thats the case why does llig waste his time by leaving stupid comments like the one he did.
i think its a bit immature to be saying comments like that, 'tee hee'. lol. aw man, thats embarrassing! calling its didlley irish music, and the rrest of that comment? hmmm...yes i can see now why you don't call him stupid. Leave more worthwhile comments llig like some of the others on the thread.
all of a sudden im the bad guy. lets just get back to the whole point of the thread. okay guys? forgetting other comments just give your opinion on the whole spirit idea.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Perform ITM for schoolchildren and there's your answer: virtually every kiddo there—unprompted—will instinctively and gleefully begin clapping along. Immediately. Happens every time.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Just out of curiosity, why would you consider Llig's statement to be stupid. I think he was being serious. But he may have a different definition of spirit than you...
For my part, I would say that one in ten sessions I play in gets the extra "spirit", where the music is lifted beyond the sum of its parts. Even if it's with the same players as the other nine sessions. Not to say that the other nine are bad, just that they don't have that special spark that appears from time to time.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by Reverend
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
"but he is far from insecure! believe me! Could just walk up to anyone and start talking to them you know. and has a habit of telling people such things ye know. His whole family plays., and he is able for a lot of the cultural arts like sean nos and stuff."
Ruari - I don't think that necessarily precludes what I said. If he's as heavily steeped in the tradition as you say, then it's bound to be a bit disconcerting for him if he suddenly realises he doesn't understand why he's doing it all. It's much easier for him to take it out on the tradition as a whole than to ask himself why *he* doesn't find any spirit in it.
Or maybe he just gets a kick out of challenging people. The Sacha Baron Cohen of Trad?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
"ill be seeing him around the scene for another while longer so for the sake of not having to feel uncomfortable in sessions, at festivals and the like"
So, he must like *something* about the music, if he's still going regularly to sessions and festivals.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
i know what you're saying rev, but i was referring to the fact of calling irish traditional music 'diddley irish music' or something like that, and i doubt that 95% hav no spirit either, but thats really besides the point.
anyway, i know what you're saying granama. you may be right, tho i think it may be more getting a kick out of it. we were talking with another guy, quite an older gentleman, and he was quite taken aback by the comment, so i think its abit of audacity also!
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
oh yea he's quite outgoing yes! the only thing i dont know is if its the music he likes or the publicity it brings, enters quite a lot of competitions and tends to get noticed by people because of his forward character. he's got the whole package that would be good to sell the music by comhaltas or something like that.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
back to the beginning....
your friend expressed a belief and I suppose that belief is a matter of his own opinion and therefore his own business
If he'd put up a reasoned but flawed technical argument to prove that the music lacks spirit you might have had grounds for argument
why worry what anybody else thinks?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by millionyears_bc
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I dont have a problem with other beliefs, but he says things like, well when he hears someone new that 'they are the best'. His idea of fiddle players went, 'tara breen is the best fiddle player, zoeconway is the best fiddle player, sean smith is the best fiddle player, sean keane is the best fiddle player.' As he hears new players he says they are the best but when asked what about coleman and frankie and the like, he replies that he's never listened to them. he tends to say things without actually listing out an argument, so maybe he actually does do it to draw reaction. But the reason i started the thread was because i'm of the belief that spirit in irish music is an integral part of the music because you can be the most technically gifted in the world but what you play can still sound dead without the oopmh given by spirited playing. I thought that spirit was a given! i still believe that anyway. im only 21 but i grew up sitting on the stairs in cleary; sin miltown during the summer listening to sessions with bobby casey, junior crehan, joe ryan, and other great musicians so i always just thought that spirit is what set the music apart from other genres.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I envy you fiddleruairi, how many can say they literally grew up listening to Bobby Casey, Junior Crehan and Joe Ryan?!!! You lucky bastard
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by The Tune Composer
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
There is a breed of this kind of critic in every walk of life, and I've met a lot of them. Strangely enough, I've always thought that ITM has the major share. A case of everybody is out of step but our Johnny. I find that people who nit pick and over criticize every player and tune, get up people's noses so much, that they run out of friends very fast and eventually fade away into obscurity. I once knew an individual who, if he didn't get his own way at a session, especially on timing, would pack up his instrument and leave. In the end he ended up playing on his own and at his own speed.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
!@£$%^&*(), i wish i realised at the time who i was listening to i would have taken greater stock but i wasn't even a teenager, i was around 11 or 12 when junior and bobby died. i was always like 'bobby and junior and joe they play with mam and dad every day after the classes in miltown,' ye know. i only really started appreciating who they were years after they had died, but joe was still around up until earlier this year, and i love his playing also.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by fiddleruairi
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Does he believe in the wind? We can have faith that the wind does exist although we can't see it... by the way it moves through the trees... How do we know music exists? By hearing alone? It sounds to me that your friend has reduced the music to just sequences of notes that perhaps he has memorized... many are ok with that. Is there more? But what made him memorize this music? What moved him to sit down with an instrument?
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by McCracken
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Rubbish.Give him real music to listen to like Micho Russell,Michael Coleman,Joe Cooley and Willie Clancy and them let him say there is no spirit there;)
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by dinn2
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Sounds like he is playing Devils Advocate. I mean - as if you'd play tunes and not think there was any spirit. I mean - that'd be like taking up Heavy metal if you didnt like the hair. He is obviously poking fun.
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by bb
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
There Michael goes, stirring the pot again. Michael, if 95% of the recorded music you are listening to lacks spirit, it is your own fault, since you programmed your ipod, or put the CDs in the player or whatever. And if the live music you hear lacks spirit, you are going to the wrong concerts. And if 95% of the sessions you attend lack spirit, perhaps there is a common element to those lifeless events. So there!!!!!!
Now regarding the clueless friend cited above, as a youngster, I pretty much wrote off most 'roots music' as 'not cool' when I was young. After all, you couldn't like the same music as your parents and God forbid, your grandparents. It was only when I got over the predjudices of my youth that I realized the richness and beauty of many styles of folk music, including the music I play now in sessions. You can try to expose your friend to the good stuff, but don't try to change their minds, that can take decades......
# Posted on May 19th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
I took spirit to mean with life, not having it to mean sounding rote or utilitarian.
Wait a second, we were talking about the kind of spirits you drink, right?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
If it is those spirits, I will have scotch on the rocks, please....
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: No spirit in Irish music????!!!
Riddles of dead musicians echo on still today... how many dead poets would love it if you walked around every day with their musings running around your hear incessantly, to remind them what life is like, from this life to the afterlife.... just theoretical theosophy
# Posted on April 16th 2009 by fedorastain