Something been on my mind recently, so I thought I'd trot it out and get a new smattering of wild posts on it.
Several times now I've had folks visiting from out of town who have come to our local sessions. They have remarked on the high level of welcome and camaraderie we seem to have, as well as the lack of politics or competition among the players, lack of cliques, attitudes, or what have you.
Now, I don’t get out much, I will admit. I’m a single Dad, got little lads to care for, work a 9-5, etc. I don’t get to go a-rovin’ all about the world visiting sessions willy-nilly so my frame of reference is limited. I stay close to home, two different pub sessions a week. By default I’ve been told I’m the Alpha, but we operate in a friendly, anarchic fashion. It’s Florida so we do have lots of seniors from all over the country, and the world to a lesser degree, who have retired here with their music. That gives us a laid-back ‘in your own time’ friendly glad-handing sort of feel which will all enjoy and maintain. We’re also a bit rural, suburban, no big metros nearby (in between Tampa and Miami) so perhaps that may do it as well. Come south and west along the road?
Recently, now that’s it’s been the winter months where folks visit much more often than they do in the summer, I’ve had several visitors remark on the lack of politics and competition, specifically making reference to these items.
I took a look back in the archives here for some frame of reference:
I recommend that last one, started by Mr. Llig. No real resolution, but an interesting discussion of the careful high-wire balancing act between ensemble playing and musicians pushing each other a bit in a friendly manner, ‘…it’s there you’ll see the pipers and the fiddlers competing…’ (Galway Races)
OK, so what does everyone think? Please keep in mind the comments I received (and mentioned above) run the full demographic of players, from the intermediate whistler to the auld veteran goat skin beater to the visiting hotshot in a band, all from different locales in the US.
I’m not here to toot my horn, not at all. I can do that in the privacy of my own home.
I’m looking for all your thoughts and experiences of sessions wherever you’ve been, and wherever you are, the general feel of them. Friendly? Cut-throat? Cliquey? Competitive to the point of Mortal Kombat?
Yeah, you should have started with something like:
Why is it that sessions held in [nation] are always so bloody [steriotype], whereas we [superior nation] always get it so [smug descriptor].
That always gets people going.
If you were a smart glaswegian like myself instead of a doofus Floridean you'd understand things like how to get a flame war up and running: Why do americans never get it?
No, but I sure do hear a lot of wiseacre comments on this side of the Atlantic about how Americans don't get irony. Which is pretty damned funny considering some of the great ironic humour that has come from US comedians and the uber dry sense of humour you find over there.
I little bit of Competition, etc., can be a good thing....
To get back to the topic t- I don't think a little edge between musicians is always a bad thing. Me pals and I encourage each other to strut our stuff. It serves as impetus for growth. The idea isn't to blow people away but to gently challenge them.
I sure miss my Friday night session in the place that I recently moved from -- we were cold and unwelcoming to lousy musicians and nice only to the very good ones (and to each other.) So the lousy ones didn't come back and the good ones did, and the music and crack were mighty. (The lousy musicians usually didn't have much to add to the crack, either.) Florida sounds ghastly.
Hey, SWFL. I heard your topic got visited by a gang of feral Glaswegians. [ Grabs broom and pan. Begins sweeping up bits of broken window glass. Picks up items of still salable inventory, and tenderly puts them back on shelves.] It could have been worse. You could have been hit by a hurricane, or been visited by Californians.
Yes, I went about this all wrong. Thanks fork and Christy, let me try that again.
Why is that whenever we get an out of town visitor, they're utterly shocked at how mellow we are? Basically, everyone who comes to visit says that you're all a buncha cliquey elitists, out to show each other up and act like total jerks. "Gee, I really enjoyed your session. I was surprised nobody kicked me in the shins, or ignored me all night, or made it feel like I had entered the bathroom of the opposite gender by mistake. When anyone made fun of me, they actually laughed and smiled to let me know they were just taking the p*ss. I was shocked. I had no idea what to do."
AQ my man, raging Glaswegians are nothing compared to a Category 4. Thanks for the clean up help. How's things in Cali? Y'all got to be a bit mellow too. Sure, you're not overrun with the elderly to keep things civil and calm, but you do have all that State-sanctioned medicine.
No no, Napa Valley wine, of course. Nothing at all to do with the stuff the politician feller from Frisco was suggesting to tax in order to keep yer gubmint running.
I will attempt to answer this in my best New Pure Drops impression -
Arizona is in itself an unwelcoming habitat. The flora and fauna alike spit forth venom and prickly spikes at every turn. Like any rough and tumble frontier town, when the saloon doors swing forth and a stranger with a guitar and bodhran enters, the locals squint their displeasure; tobacco juice spittle dribbling down their faces in tense anticipation.
"Hey thar!" bellows the bewhiskered barkeeper, "dintcha see the sign? No goat humpers and no strummers."
"Who is gonna stop me?" growls the stranger.
"I'll will" says the flute player slowly rising from his chair. All eyes fix on the two men as the begin to size each other up. After what seems like an eternity, both men reach for their weapons and fire off a barrage of blistering reels. As the notes slowly fade from the air, the stranger staggers and crumples to the ground. Blood oozes from his gapping ear holes inflicted by the ferocity of the blazing Olwell.
"Drinks are on me" says the flute player and the saloon drifts back to it's normal cadence.
Oh, that stuff! California canabis. Gotcha. Do you know, that were California to legalize cultivation, sale, and taxation of the d@mned stuff, the new gross state product abstract would bump us up from seventh place in the world.
...and yes, that was pretty good Jussa; but the man you're looking for is on over on another thread. [ Grabs mop and bucket. Pokes mop handle at dead man on floor. procedes to mop up mess.]
I should like to earnestly address the premise as put forth up top by the eminently likable SWFL, whose thread deserves to earn as large a number as the "Nationality" thread.
When the still-warm body of a newly-deceased Zoroastrian is placed outside for the vultures to pick apart, there is avid competition among those buzzards for the choicest parts. That competition is akin to seeing who at a session can play a highly ornamented gallop through "Boil the Breakfast Early" the fastest. Eyes are wild amid a clucking flurry.
Among those same vultures perched atop that same Zoroastrian (we'll call him Kenneth) there is only scant competition for the flesh at the nape of the neck. That sort of half-hearted competitiveness is like the light jibing one sessionista would give to another for always confusing the B parts of two tunes that few would ever want to play anyway.
As to the mellowness of American players: Americans simply have more than enough Kenneths lying around outside, so everyone gets a chance at beaking out a tangy liver or rich heart fairly often. Less riding on any given Kenneth. ("Any Given Kenneth," E Dorian reel.)
Sigh - my western epic pales in the wake of such a powerfully crafted tale by the true master of the non-sequitur and random reference. I tip my hat unto thee, Pure Drop.
Fine story, NEW Pure Drop; and one with unsettling implications. It should be remembered that we make up only six percent of the world's vultures, and yet we consume forty percent of the world's Zoroastrians. Hardly seems fair, does it? But as I said, you can tell a fine story. Your reward for tonight's entertainment will be to follow SWFL with a mop as he empties out the spittoons.
As Yurpians, we can only marvel at this elevated level of world-encompassing discourse, while, over on another thread, we ponder the mystery of not being who we once thought we were.
yup it is a true steriotype that Americans don't get irony.
Given the context of my intial message, and the phrase "Am I taking this whole, get the flames going thing too far now ?" in my subsequent post I trust that most folks realised I was winking.
Mmm...Zoroastrians, not just for breakfast anymore. [burp]
Well done too, Pure Drop. It may be cultural, it may be an age thing as well. I am in Florida after all. It's not often someone in the mid-30s is the baby of the crew. Perhaps these wise auld ones simply take it all in a different gear than the young bucks.
...which is fine for me, I have no need to wolf down all the juicy parts, there's plenty for the whole flock to gnaw on.
SWFL, if you don't kick the visitors in the shins a bit, how do you keep them in line?
I laughed at Chrishty's description, because it fits the way I generally feel. I am not one who believes in an Irish session being a free-for-all, inclusive event. By its very nature, it is somewhat exclusive. One of my favorite Llig quotes goes like this:
"Me and my mates have a peculiar hobby. We like to play music from a very tightly defined sub-genre. We go out to the pub and indulge our hobby. And we are not interested in people who are not familiar with this tightly defined sub-genre. And if anyone tries to invade our evening with something out with our self-penned remit, well, after a few civil and polite warnings, we may well be rude to them."
I have been to a few "ultra-inclusive" sessions, and I don't like the music they produce, so I don't go back. (BTW, people may think the same thing about our sessions too, and that's fine too...) So, in the case of most of the sessions that I attend regularly, we go out of our way to be pleasant and welcoming to newcomers, until the newcomer does anything that warrants otherwise, at which point, the room tends to get a bit colder. (As opposed to Ireland, I've noticed, where they seem to shower you with hollow compliments if they don't like you much. You know they really like you when they start slagging you...)
As far as competition goes - on the personal level, I certainly compete with myself to get better. And there is some competition that comes in to play with other people as well. Sometimes it takes on a shade of jealousy or envy. And sometimes, it takes on an aspect of "I don't like how this person plays, so let's show them how it *should* sound". In a lot of ways, those are really ugly traits, so I usually keep those voices subdued and to myself. But they *can* be used productively, to push myself to get better... And then there's the friendly competition, where we urge each other on, by pushing or pulling, but all as fun amongst friends...
As far as organized competition, more power to the people that thrive on that sort of thing, but it's not for me...
Well now please my good Reverend, don't get me wrong. If you decide to waltz in the drive us nuts with your djembe the sergeant-at-arms will take care of business. If you're a novice, you're welcome to hang on, and we'll ask you to start us up a set at some point.
We do all that stuff, for sure! We're just nice about it, I guess? HA! I don't know, just reporting.
Oh please, yes, don't get me wrong. If you want to 'saddle up' and join in our 'jam' session with some meaty bluegrass licks from your 'ax' and then sung us a song about life on the range...well, maybe not shins or cussing, but you will get the point quickly. “Sergeant? Do yer duty…”
...and, to be honest, I've never had someone totally not 'get' what was going on. I've really never had to lay the smack down, which may be why I think it's a rural thing. In the cities, y'all must get bombarded with all manner of eejits showing up to torment you, which is why some sessions need to lay down the law, right on and good on ye if you're in that situation.
Lucky? Maybe. When we get folks come in it's because the pub has booked them for a gig during the week, or they're visiting from out of town and have found us on ye olde mustard board, and know the drill already, or they've locals who have been listening and enjoying our music, and want to do what it is we are doing. Newbies exercise proper grace. Again, maybe this is because it’s Florida, lots of seniors, and all the newbie seniors we’ve added on have been musically polite and tactful.
Though we try to welcome all neither do we suffer fools, or bad manners, I guess, unless it’s really necessary. Maybe I just haven’t come across the situation where they were necessary! Must be the sergeant-at-arms…
It isn't just Americans who don't understand irony sometimes. I can remember one occasion when I was trying to be ironic and the people who misunderstood my irony all seemed to be from other countries besides the United States.
Well, SWFL, maybe your Sergeant-At-Arms' reputation proceeds him... Or maybe the only outsiders who visit do so because of your stellar reputation as a (de-facto) session leader (due to all the innuendo craic, of course)
I think what it comes down to is that some people just get TOO serious about the music, and forget to have fun and enjoy themselves. I remember once at a session when an older guy with years of experience touring with a ceildhe band tacked a tune on the end of a set. A younger guy, who was one of those zealots who is trying to become an exemplar of a specific regional style, who prides himself on his deep knowledge of The Music, said "You can't play a fling at the end of a set of reels!" The other guy looked at him with scorn and said, "That's funny, I thought I just did." People can get too wrapped up in what should and should not be done, what the rules are, be too true to too narrow a definition of what the tradition is about.
The most important rule is that people should have fun making music with their friends--that is what it is all about.
That's it Al, the player I had the most fun playing with was the late Bernie (sometimes Benny) Green a big gentle, mischievous giant of a button box player living in Glasgow.
You never really never knew what was coming next, could be anything. Made sessions great fun (made ceilis a bit of a white knuckle ride sometimes though )
One of my favourite memories of Bernie was of a night in the Toolbooth Bar in the Saltmarket in Glasgow - a pub that could almost have been magically projected into the 21st century direct from a Dickens novel - a serious looking fight had broken out amongst some drunk celtic supporters in the bar, involving attempts at dentistry isung glass ashtrays (fortunately foiled) etc.
With this mayhem going on all around him Bernie started up "When irish eyes are smiling", tears of laughter running down his face.
A joyful man he was, never lost the wee boy he must have been once.
Al and fork, thank you. That's a-what-I'm-a talkin' 'bout. I'm telling ya, it's the auld ones. Perspective and humor, does everybody good, no doubt. Dear friends who love the music and having laughs. A session without laughs feels a bit incomplete.
I've been the out of towner at Nutter's sesson. His description is no lie! Though things settled down a bit after I smashed a bottle over the Apache Indian box-player's head and emptied my revolver into the ceiling.
Great bit of craic after that!
The doctor says the wound in my stomach should be completely healed this year!
Mr. Van Steenwyk is not telling fables. I've seen many the rowdy swamp pub denizen reduced to a whimpering blob by his swagger. Woe to ye, if ye be crossing blades with this buccaneer.
Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Something been on my mind recently, so I thought I'd trot it out and get a new smattering of wild posts on it.
Several times now I've had folks visiting from out of town who have come to our local sessions. They have remarked on the high level of welcome and camaraderie we seem to have, as well as the lack of politics or competition among the players, lack of cliques, attitudes, or what have you.
Now, I don’t get out much, I will admit. I’m a single Dad, got little lads to care for, work a 9-5, etc. I don’t get to go a-rovin’ all about the world visiting sessions willy-nilly so my frame of reference is limited. I stay close to home, two different pub sessions a week. By default I’ve been told I’m the Alpha, but we operate in a friendly, anarchic fashion. It’s Florida so we do have lots of seniors from all over the country, and the world to a lesser degree, who have retired here with their music. That gives us a laid-back ‘in your own time’ friendly glad-handing sort of feel which will all enjoy and maintain. We’re also a bit rural, suburban, no big metros nearby (in between Tampa and Miami) so perhaps that may do it as well. Come south and west along the road?
Recently, now that’s it’s been the winter months where folks visit much more often than they do in the summer, I’ve had several visitors remark on the lack of politics and competition, specifically making reference to these items.
I took a look back in the archives here for some frame of reference:
(Oct. 06) Session Politics: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/11416
(Oct. 06) Before Session Politics: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/11421/
(Oct. 05) Competitiveness? good or bad?: http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/8179/
I recommend that last one, started by Mr. Llig. No real resolution, but an interesting discussion of the careful high-wire balancing act between ensemble playing and musicians pushing each other a bit in a friendly manner, ‘…it’s there you’ll see the pipers and the fiddlers competing…’ (Galway Races)
OK, so what does everyone think? Please keep in mind the comments I received (and mentioned above) run the full demographic of players, from the intermediate whistler to the auld veteran goat skin beater to the visiting hotshot in a band, all from different locales in the US.
I’m not here to toot my horn, not at all. I can do that in the privacy of my own home.
I’m looking for all your thoughts and experiences of sessions wherever you’ve been, and wherever you are, the general feel of them. Friendly? Cut-throat? Cliquey? Competitive to the point of Mortal Kombat?
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
I picked the wrong day for this one. Everyone is over fighting in the "Nationality" thread. Ah well.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Must have been the welcome, cameraderie and lack of cliques and attitudes that scared them off
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by Here Lyeth
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Yeah, you should have started with something like:
Why is it that sessions held in [nation] are always so bloody [steriotype], whereas we [superior nation] always get it so [smug descriptor].
That always gets people going.
If you were a smart glaswegian like myself instead of a doofus Floridean you'd understand things like how to get a flame war up and running: Why do americans never get it?
- Chris
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Oh just in case ;-p &
- chris
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Is that the emoticon for a 'Glasgow kiss'?
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by Here Lyeth
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
no, I was just helping out SWFL Fid.
Afterall everyone knows about Americans and irony.
Am I taking this whole, get the flames going thing too far now ?
- chris
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
No, but I sure do hear a lot of wiseacre comments on this side of the Atlantic about how Americans don't get irony. Which is pretty damned funny considering some of the great ironic humour that has come from US comedians and the uber dry sense of humour you find over there.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
I mean that in the most ironic way possible.
I'm not slagging you, Chris, but seriously, I've heard that A LOT.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by DrSilverSpear
I little bit of Competition, etc., can be a good thing....
To get back to the topic t- I don't think a little edge between musicians is always a bad thing. Me pals and I encourage each other to strut our stuff. It serves as impetus for growth. The idea isn't to blow people away but to gently challenge them.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by David Levine
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
I sure miss my Friday night session in the place that I recently moved from -- we were cold and unwelcoming to lousy musicians and nice only to the very good ones (and to each other.) So the lousy ones didn't come back and the good ones did, and the music and crack were mighty. (The lousy musicians usually didn't have much to add to the crack, either.) Florida sounds ghastly.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by Chrishty
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Hey, SWFL. I heard your topic got visited by a gang of feral Glaswegians. [ Grabs broom and pan. Begins sweeping up bits of broken window glass. Picks up items of still salable inventory, and tenderly puts them back on shelves.] It could have been worse. You could have been hit by a hurricane, or been visited by Californians.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Yes, I went about this all wrong. Thanks fork and Christy, let me try that again.
Why is that whenever we get an out of town visitor, they're utterly shocked at how mellow we are? Basically, everyone who comes to visit says that you're all a buncha cliquey elitists, out to show each other up and act like total jerks. "Gee, I really enjoyed your session. I was surprised nobody kicked me in the shins, or ignored me all night, or made it feel like I had entered the bathroom of the opposite gender by mistake. When anyone made fun of me, they actually laughed and smiled to let me know they were just taking the p*ss. I was shocked. I had no idea what to do."
Better?
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
AQ my man, raging Glaswegians are nothing compared to a Category 4. Thanks for the clean up help. How's things in Cali? Y'all got to be a bit mellow too. Sure, you're not overrun with the elderly to keep things civil and calm, but you do have all that State-sanctioned medicine.
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
State-sanctioned medicine? You mean like what they serve out in the death house at San Quentin penitentiary?
# Posted on March 5th 2009 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
No no, Napa Valley wine, of course. Nothing at all to do with the stuff the politician feller from Frisco was suggesting to tax in order to keep yer gubmint running.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
I will attempt to answer this in my best New Pure Drops impression -
Arizona is in itself an unwelcoming habitat. The flora and fauna alike spit forth venom and prickly spikes at every turn. Like any rough and tumble frontier town, when the saloon doors swing forth and a stranger with a guitar and bodhran enters, the locals squint their displeasure; tobacco juice spittle dribbling down their faces in tense anticipation.
"Hey thar!" bellows the bewhiskered barkeeper, "dintcha see the sign? No goat humpers and no strummers."
"Who is gonna stop me?" growls the stranger.
"I'll will" says the flute player slowly rising from his chair. All eyes fix on the two men as the begin to size each other up. After what seems like an eternity, both men reach for their weapons and fire off a barrage of blistering reels. As the notes slowly fade from the air, the stranger staggers and crumples to the ground. Blood oozes from his gapping ear holes inflicted by the ferocity of the blazing Olwell.
"Drinks are on me" says the flute player and the saloon drifts back to it's normal cadence.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
[applause] That was masterful Jusa, I could actually hear the theme from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" playing in the background.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Oh, that stuff! California canabis. Gotcha. Do you know, that were California to legalize cultivation, sale, and taxation of the d@mned stuff, the new gross state product abstract would bump us up from seventh place in the world.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
...and yes, that was pretty good Jussa; but the man you're looking for is on over on another thread. [ Grabs mop and bucket. Pokes mop handle at dead man on floor. procedes to mop up mess.]
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Jusa, Atahualpa, SWFL—
I should like to earnestly address the premise as put forth up top by the eminently likable SWFL, whose thread deserves to earn as large a number as the "Nationality" thread.
When the still-warm body of a newly-deceased Zoroastrian is placed outside for the vultures to pick apart, there is avid competition among those buzzards for the choicest parts. That competition is akin to seeing who at a session can play a highly ornamented gallop through "Boil the Breakfast Early" the fastest. Eyes are wild amid a clucking flurry.
Among those same vultures perched atop that same Zoroastrian (we'll call him Kenneth) there is only scant competition for the flesh at the nape of the neck. That sort of half-hearted competitiveness is like the light jibing one sessionista would give to another for always confusing the B parts of two tunes that few would ever want to play anyway.
As to the mellowness of American players: Americans simply have more than enough Kenneths lying around outside, so everyone gets a chance at beaking out a tangy liver or rich heart fairly often. Less riding on any given Kenneth. ("Any Given Kenneth," E Dorian reel.)
(And Jusa—well played, amigo.)
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Sigh - my western epic pales in the wake of such a powerfully crafted tale by the true master of the non-sequitur and random reference. I tip my hat unto thee, Pure Drop.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Jusa—Those indeed make up the list of things I have mastered. Warren Buffett refuses to swap skill sets with me.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Fine story, NEW Pure Drop; and one with unsettling implications. It should be remembered that we make up only six percent of the world's vultures, and yet we consume forty percent of the world's Zoroastrians. Hardly seems fair, does it? But as I said, you can tell a fine story. Your reward for tonight's entertainment will be to follow SWFL with a mop as he empties out the spittoons.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Or you can ride up front with Cap'n Atahualpa as I make the rounds with the 'removal' wagon.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
As Yurpians, we can only marvel at this elevated level of world-encompassing discourse, while, over on another thread, we ponder the mystery of not being who we once thought we were.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Here Lyeth
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Hi Silverspear,
yup it is a true steriotype that Americans don't get irony.
Given the context of my intial message, and the phrase "Am I taking this whole, get the flames going thing too far now ?" in my subsequent post I trust that most folks realised I was winking.
best - chris
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Mmm...Zoroastrians, not just for breakfast anymore. [burp]
Well done too, Pure Drop. It may be cultural, it may be an age thing as well. I am in Florida after all. It's not often someone in the mid-30s is the baby of the crew. Perhaps these wise auld ones simply take it all in a different gear than the young bucks.
...which is fine for me, I have no need to wolf down all the juicy parts, there's plenty for the whole flock to gnaw on.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
SWFL, if you don't kick the visitors in the shins a bit, how do you keep them in line?
I laughed at Chrishty's description, because it fits the way I generally feel. I am not one who believes in an Irish session being a free-for-all, inclusive event. By its very nature, it is somewhat exclusive. One of my favorite Llig quotes goes like this:
"Me and my mates have a peculiar hobby. We like to play music from a very tightly defined sub-genre. We go out to the pub and indulge our hobby. And we are not interested in people who are not familiar with this tightly defined sub-genre. And if anyone tries to invade our evening with something out with our self-penned remit, well, after a few civil and polite warnings, we may well be rude to them."
I have been to a few "ultra-inclusive" sessions, and I don't like the music they produce, so I don't go back. (BTW, people may think the same thing about our sessions too, and that's fine too...) So, in the case of most of the sessions that I attend regularly, we go out of our way to be pleasant and welcoming to newcomers, until the newcomer does anything that warrants otherwise, at which point, the room tends to get a bit colder. (As opposed to Ireland, I've noticed, where they seem to shower you with hollow compliments if they don't like you much. You know they really like you when they start slagging you...)
As far as competition goes - on the personal level, I certainly compete with myself to get better. And there is some competition that comes in to play with other people as well. Sometimes it takes on a shade of jealousy or envy. And sometimes, it takes on an aspect of "I don't like how this person plays, so let's show them how it *should* sound". In a lot of ways, those are really ugly traits, so I usually keep those voices subdued and to myself. But they *can* be used productively, to push myself to get better... And then there's the friendly competition, where we urge each other on, by pushing or pulling, but all as fun amongst friends...
As far as organized competition, more power to the people that thrive on that sort of thing, but it's not for me...
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Reverend
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Well now please my good Reverend, don't get me wrong. If you decide to waltz in the drive us nuts with your djembe the sergeant-at-arms will take care of business. If you're a novice, you're welcome to hang on, and we'll ask you to start us up a set at some point.
We do all that stuff, for sure! We're just nice about it, I guess? HA! I don't know, just reporting.
Oh please, yes, don't get me wrong. If you want to 'saddle up' and join in our 'jam' session with some meaty bluegrass licks from your 'ax' and then sung us a song about life on the range...well, maybe not shins or cussing, but you will get the point quickly. “Sergeant? Do yer duty…”
...and, to be honest, I've never had someone totally not 'get' what was going on. I've really never had to lay the smack down, which may be why I think it's a rural thing. In the cities, y'all must get bombarded with all manner of eejits showing up to torment you, which is why some sessions need to lay down the law, right on and good on ye if you're in that situation.
Lucky? Maybe. When we get folks come in it's because the pub has booked them for a gig during the week, or they're visiting from out of town and have found us on ye olde mustard board, and know the drill already, or they've locals who have been listening and enjoying our music, and want to do what it is we are doing. Newbies exercise proper grace. Again, maybe this is because it’s Florida, lots of seniors, and all the newbie seniors we’ve added on have been musically polite and tactful.
Though we try to welcome all neither do we suffer fools, or bad manners, I guess, unless it’s really necessary. Maybe I just haven’t come across the situation where they were necessary! Must be the sergeant-at-arms…
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
It isn't just Americans who don't understand irony sometimes. I can remember one occasion when I was trying to be ironic and the people who misunderstood my irony all seemed to be from other countries besides the United States.
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by fauxcelt
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Well, SWFL, maybe your Sergeant-At-Arms' reputation proceeds him... Or maybe the only outsiders who visit do so because of your stellar reputation as a (de-facto) session leader (due to all the innuendo craic, of course)
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by Reverend
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Let's just say he's a retired Boston firefighter with a handlebar mostache who used to play ice hockey.
Yes, I'm just a nice guy, darn it, and I like to LMAO off at sessions. Craic is mandatory!
One of these days, fauxcelt and the missus will retire and move to Florida. Then we'll doing some serious ironing!
# Posted on March 6th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
I think what it comes down to is that some people just get TOO serious about the music, and forget to have fun and enjoy themselves. I remember once at a session when an older guy with years of experience touring with a ceildhe band tacked a tune on the end of a set. A younger guy, who was one of those zealots who is trying to become an exemplar of a specific regional style, who prides himself on his deep knowledge of The Music, said "You can't play a fling at the end of a set of reels!" The other guy looked at him with scorn and said, "That's funny, I thought I just did." People can get too wrapped up in what should and should not be done, what the rules are, be too true to too narrow a definition of what the tradition is about.
The most important rule is that people should have fun making music with their friends--that is what it is all about.
# Posted on March 7th 2009 by AlBrown
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Too pished to day much else, but, aye, good post, Al.
# Posted on March 7th 2009 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
That's it Al, the player I had the most fun playing with was the late Bernie (sometimes Benny) Green a big gentle, mischievous giant of a button box player living in Glasgow.
)
You never really never knew what was coming next, could be anything. Made sessions great fun (made ceilis a bit of a white knuckle ride sometimes though
One of my favourite memories of Bernie was of a night in the Toolbooth Bar in the Saltmarket in Glasgow - a pub that could almost have been magically projected into the 21st century direct from a Dickens novel - a serious looking fight had broken out amongst some drunk celtic supporters in the bar, involving attempts at dentistry isung glass ashtrays (fortunately foiled) etc.
With this mayhem going on all around him Bernie started up "When irish eyes are smiling", tears of laughter running down his face.
A joyful man he was, never lost the wee boy he must have been once.
- chris
# Posted on March 7th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
Al and fork, thank you. That's a-what-I'm-a talkin' 'bout. I'm telling ya, it's the auld ones. Perspective and humor, does everybody good, no doubt. Dear friends who love the music and having laughs. A session without laughs feels a bit incomplete.
# Posted on March 7th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
I've been the out of towner at Nutter's sesson. His description is no lie! Though things settled down a bit after I smashed a bottle over the Apache Indian box-player's head and emptied my revolver into the ceiling.
Great bit of craic after that!
The doctor says the wound in my stomach should be completely healed this year!
# Posted on March 8th 2009 by jwvansteenwyk
Re: Session Politics, Competition, etc.
HA!
Mr. Van Steenwyk is not telling fables. I've seen many the rowdy swamp pub denizen reduced to a whimpering blob by his swagger. Woe to ye, if ye be crossing blades with this buccaneer.
# Posted on March 8th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler