In Dingle I went into a Pub with a sign outside saying "mighty sessions nightly". In the almost empty place (it was very early that night) a tall grey haired guy was fixing a microphone stand in the corner. "Is it an open session tonight?" I asked him. "Well, what do you play?" "Fiddle" "Ok, it would be fine if you join us - but let us play a set on our own first" So I got me a beer and found a seat near the little stage. The two guys opened with "Carolans Concerto" on low whistle and guitar played fast but swinging like tiptoing happiness. During one of the next tunes the grey haired changed from his whistles to Uillean pipe and I felt some panic growing - "where is my secret exit" I thought and wished to become invisible. At the same moment the guitar player asked "well, where is the fiddle player?" and the other one looked at me and told me to sit next to him. I was asked for some tunes. We started with "King of the fairies". It worked fine and sounded great within this wall of sound of the uillean pipes on my left side. After we finished the tune we got lots of applause from the crowd in the pub and my panic vanished a little bit ... .. "Lets play a jig next" the grey guy said to me. Ok, I mentioned "The Irish Washerwoman" which was the first jig I ever started practicing and so I can play it quite well. I played it one time alone next time with low whistle and guitar, than a couple of times with uillean pipe and guitar and still it grew bigger and bigger before it turned into some improvised wild thing I needed a while to check what could be my part in. Suddenly I was kicked on my left knee and the grey one shouted "We are back on the tune, man..we are back on the tune ." I managed even that although I hardly knew anymore where and who I am..... The whistle and uillean pipe player turned out to be Eoin Duignan, famous irish musician. "Well, Volker," he said to me "that was real baptism on fire". I was done and let them finish their gig - which was never planned to be an open session.
Great story. Despite the "session" sign out front, the microphone was a give away, eh? It's a good thing to be annointed by someone of Mr. Duignan's stature, even if you were scorched a little in the process. *grin*
Re: The band arrives at 10... (session thrills part two)
thank you Will for the comment - I often grin myself when I remember that Ireland trip (as one of these naive ITM addict greenhorns) .... the idea behind telling this story was hopefully to read more short reports about thrilling session adventures from other session members .... so go for it! here comes one more from my Ireland 2000 adventure:
A couple of days after the Dingle session we wanted to visit the Cragganowen Project in County Clare but came to late that day. So we spent the night at a farmhouse B&B close by. I asked our host for music sessions and she sent us to a certain pub in the little village Tulla...I didnīt expect much because It was a Wednesday night. Empty Pub, no tables, just banks along the wall and a big dancefloor. "The band arrives at ten," the patron said to me.
The band turned out to be a young fiddler, a midage squeeze box player and a drum computer. Meanwhile the place was crowded with people most of them aged between 50 and 75 and I was very curious what I could expect. The band opened with some slow waltzes and I felt safe to join. But next thing was a set of reels driven by the drum machine goin crazy and a speed stepdancing crowd - That really knocked me out. "Sorry", the fiddler appologized "we have to play that fast because the people arround here want to dance!"
I sat down and watched them dancing. It was a great experience. They all stepdanced in a way that makes the riverdance company look like stupid schoolgirls. Lateron the band asked me to join them and play some tunes while folks have a break and a drink. We had a couple of Irish and even some bavarian tunes and finished with "the maid behind the bar". In the next dance set (This time I watched the fiddlers right arm closely) I heard that tune again - twice as fast!
These are great stories! And the musicians seem to have been nice to you, too. I think a few experiences like that really go a long way to teach you about the music and the culture. BTW, Volker, are you German?
One of the things I enjoy about sessions is how unpredictable they are. And more often than not, when you're expecting a thin turnout or just the usual suspects, that's when someone new pops in and adds magic. Kinda like the Unexpected Party scene in the Hobbit....
Even here in woebegotten Helena "Big Empty" Montana, someone truly talented shows up to brighten our evening. One of the best of these was Nigel, a world class bodhran player and formerly the drummer for pop star Sheena Easton. He was in town on business, borrowed a goatskin, and kept me and the guitar player going for 3 hours. A pity no one else showed up that night....
Our colleagues in almost as woebegotten Bozeman "Big-Empty-with-interior-decorators" Montana like to tell the story of the night some gent with a heavy Scottish brogue sat at the edge of the circle. After tossing back a few pints and listening in for near an hour, he asked to borrow the fiddle of one of the better players. Then he led the session through reel after reel. Until then, no one recognized him as Johnny Cunningham. (He was later overheard in the men's room crowing, "This is #$%@! great!")
These are minor miracles when you live this far off the tour circuit, and we live off the fumes for years.
Baptism on fire... (session thrills)
Baptism on fire... (session thrills)
In Dingle I went into a Pub with a sign outside saying "mighty sessions nightly". In the almost empty place (it was very early that night) a tall grey haired guy was fixing a microphone stand in the corner. "Is it an open session tonight?" I asked him. "Well, what do you play?" "Fiddle" "Ok, it would be fine if you join us - but let us play a set on our own first" So I got me a beer and found a seat near the little stage. The two guys opened with "Carolans Concerto" on low whistle and guitar played fast but swinging like tiptoing happiness. During one of the next tunes the grey haired changed from his whistles to Uillean pipe and I felt some panic growing - "where is my secret exit" I thought and wished to become invisible. At the same moment the guitar player asked "well, where is the fiddle player?" and the other one looked at me and told me to sit next to him. I was asked for some tunes. We started with "King of the fairies". It worked fine and sounded great within this wall of sound of the uillean pipes on my left side. After we finished the tune we got lots of applause from the crowd in the pub and my panic vanished a little bit ... .. "Lets play a jig next" the grey guy said to me. Ok, I mentioned "The Irish Washerwoman" which was the first jig I ever started practicing and so I can play it quite well. I played it one time alone next time with low whistle and guitar, than a couple of times with uillean pipe and guitar and still it grew bigger and bigger before it turned into some improvised wild thing I needed a while to check what could be my part in. Suddenly I was kicked on my left knee and the grey one shouted "We are back on the tune, man..we are back on the tune ." I managed even that although I hardly knew anymore where and who I am..... The whistle and uillean pipe player turned out to be Eoin Duignan, famous irish musician. "Well, Volker," he said to me "that was real baptism on fire". I was done and let them finish their gig - which was never planned to be an open session.
# Posted on March 19th 2002 by crannog
Re: Baptism on fire... (session thrills)
Great story. Despite the "session" sign out front, the microphone was a give away, eh? It's a good thing to be annointed by someone of Mr. Duignan's stature, even if you were scorched a little in the process. *grin*
# Posted on March 19th 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: The band arrives at 10... (session thrills part two)
thank you Will for the comment - I often grin myself when I remember that Ireland trip (as one of these naive ITM addict greenhorns) .... the idea behind telling this story was hopefully to read more short reports about thrilling session adventures from other session members .... so go for it! here comes one more from my Ireland 2000 adventure:
A couple of days after the Dingle session we wanted to visit the Cragganowen Project in County Clare but came to late that day. So we spent the night at a farmhouse B&B close by. I asked our host for music sessions and she sent us to a certain pub in the little village Tulla...I didnīt expect much because It was a Wednesday night. Empty Pub, no tables, just banks along the wall and a big dancefloor. "The band arrives at ten," the patron said to me.
The band turned out to be a young fiddler, a midage squeeze box player and a drum computer. Meanwhile the place was crowded with people most of them aged between 50 and 75 and I was very curious what I could expect. The band opened with some slow waltzes and I felt safe to join. But next thing was a set of reels driven by the drum machine goin crazy and a speed stepdancing crowd - That really knocked me out. "Sorry", the fiddler appologized "we have to play that fast because the people arround here want to dance!"
I sat down and watched them dancing. It was a great experience. They all stepdanced in a way that makes the riverdance company look like stupid schoolgirls. Lateron the band asked me to join them and play some tunes while folks have a break and a drink. We had a couple of Irish and even some bavarian tunes and finished with "the maid behind the bar". In the next dance set (This time I watched the fiddlers right arm closely) I heard that tune again - twice as fast!
# Posted on March 24th 2002 by crannog
Re: Baptism on fire... (session thrills)
These are great stories! And the musicians seem to have been nice to you, too. I think a few experiences like that really go a long way to teach you about the music and the culture. BTW, Volker, are you German?
# Posted on March 26th 2002 by Bloomfield
Bloomfield Slow Reel ....
how did you guess?
# Posted on March 26th 2002 by crannog
Re: Baptism on fire... (session thrills)
In the spirit of swapping tales....
One of the things I enjoy about sessions is how unpredictable they are. And more often than not, when you're expecting a thin turnout or just the usual suspects, that's when someone new pops in and adds magic. Kinda like the Unexpected Party scene in the Hobbit....
Even here in woebegotten Helena "Big Empty" Montana, someone truly talented shows up to brighten our evening. One of the best of these was Nigel, a world class bodhran player and formerly the drummer for pop star Sheena Easton. He was in town on business, borrowed a goatskin, and kept me and the guitar player going for 3 hours. A pity no one else showed up that night....
Our colleagues in almost as woebegotten Bozeman "Big-Empty-with-interior-decorators" Montana like to tell the story of the night some gent with a heavy Scottish brogue sat at the edge of the circle. After tossing back a few pints and listening in for near an hour, he asked to borrow the fiddle of one of the better players. Then he led the session through reel after reel. Until then, no one recognized him as Johnny Cunningham. (He was later overheard in the men's room crowing, "This is #$%@! great!")
These are minor miracles when you live this far off the tour circuit, and we live off the fumes for years.
# Posted on March 26th 2002 by Will Harmon