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Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Title pretty much says it, really.
There's a pub (which I'm not going to name - yet) which apparently used to have a really good, very long-running Irish session on a weekly basis, until some time in the past year. A couple of months ago, myself and a friend went there, having heard about this Irish session. We arrived, with our fiddles, only to find 5 or 6 people with guitars, singing a selection of Blues/Pop/C&W trash (yes, trash. I do know what good Blues, Pop and C&W sounds like, and this wasn't it). We played some tunes, to which they "accompanied" us with the chords D and A (and occasionally G. I may have even caught an Em at some point), and we made our excuses and left early.
Recently, in the past few weeks, we have been attempting to reclaim this session. This is a pub which is very open to music at any time, and it is not at all unknown for musicians to come in unannounced, and start playing. So this is what we have started doing. Before the singers are due to arrive, we arrive, and start playing tunes. It has been a great session so far, until the singers come, when it turns into a sort of duel between us and them. They sing as soon as we finish a set, and we start up a tune as soon as the song is over. There is an unpleasant tension. I know, it's a bit aggressive on our part, but the singers themselves have only been there less than a year, and the pub is still known from afar for its Irish session on that night, going since at least the nineties (possibly even before, I don't know).
Where do you all stand on this? What would you do, what do you think we should do, and what would be your proposed course of action?
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Oh stop whinging.
Nahh, joking, I saw it over on the sessions section. This is bad news. Have you spoken to the governor yet? Or do you have any big heavies amongst your regulars? (Or are they big heavies?) Just try and get as many trad players in all the time to drown them out, but that's difficult.
Alternately you could boycott it completely in the hope they won't stay the course.
You say they have been coming just less than a year, so how did this situation deteriorate so quickly and why was it allowed to happen in the first place? Thin end of the wedge?
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
From what you say I understand you to be the new arrivals. I would have a word with the landlord -- ask him what happened to the really good, long-running Irish sessions they used to have there.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Bazouki dave has helpfully pointed out that a few of the old Wednesday guard go to the session on a Friday instead so Joe, seeing as you are on your Shabbat mate, I will try and convince them tonight when I see them.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Frankly I'd find another venue or night to play. For whatever reason the old session died, unless the comments in the session section are misleading this happened some time before the blooz guys turned up.
IMHO turning up now nd hijacking their night by trying to re-introduce an Irish session over the top of their sing around is no less obnoxious than someone trying to hijack a regular Irish session and deliberately turn it into something else. Particularly if this is done deliberately in order to make a permanent change as opposed to just being a socially inept visitor.
You could go the route that Gam suggested and speak to the publican. But to be honest if you do that with a view to getting the other guys evicted by the powers that be rather than simply to find out what happened to the old trad session, then I think that'd be pretty low.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
It's sh*t when it happens, but sometimes sessions just go pear-shaped and then go even more pear-shaped when the good musicians hear about, or find out for themselves, how crap it is and stop going while the Blues/C&W/singer-songwriter wannabes hear it's a great place to thrash a guitar start going. Having "wars" doesn't work.
If you're still studying in Newcastle, I *think* I might know the pub and session in question and some of my friends started up a session on another night and they have done for about three years. The long-running Irish session started going tits up about two or three years ago and was at a point where a melody player could walk in and find several guitarists and bodhran players, most of whom were pretty dodgy players sitting around, waiting for a melody player. Not good! That was about the point the better melody players (and accompanists) around town started going elsewhere. Your Blues etc. guitarists didn't kill it. They filled a gap that's been there for the last couple years. It's sad when a long-running session dies a death but it happens. It would be awesome if you could reclaim that as a high quality session, but given its reputation over the last few years and the fact that you have to dislodge these singer/guitarist types, I wouldn't hold out hope. Given what you've said about it, I wouldn't go. I find it really aggravating to get into the whole tune v. song race.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Why not change the night of the Irish session? But I have seen that before. People see open session, or Irish jam. Then some people say, "Hey, I'm Irish! This must mean me!" Then they come with weird songs like the dreadful Unicorn song etc... They turn an ITM session into some kind of weird jam thing with all their friends. I like jam, but not when it is Irish night.
So just ask the owner of the place if you guys can come another night. Or maybe time switches for that same night.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Irish sessions in my experience have cycles of being busy and being quiet. Within the last year the one i go has been very quiet at times and then absolutely roaring busy at others. This may also be the case over the course of a few years. It's a shame that a fall off in attendance by irish trad players has allowed these singers to take over this night. and i don't see anything wrong with going and playing a few tunes duriing the course of that evening.,but not if it makes the situation tense. Maybe you should talk to the publican and ask them what they would prefer but remember that if you start a regular session you are making a commitment to turning up every week to ensure it's survival and that's not always easy to do!
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
The pub and session in question is more of a testament to how wrong things can go when you have a combination of weird, cliquey politics, people moving away, people starting up alternative sessions, and a small herd of sh*te bodhran and guitarists coming in every week.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I'd turn up with my recently polished bugle and tarnished silver tenor trombone (neither of which I can really play), sit right in next to them and join in playing loud free form.
(some would say that's what I virtually do at most Trad Irish sessions anyway!)
As I have mentioned before; the pub' just across the traffic lights to my reg sesh has an Open Mic Nite/ BLooZ fest on the same night as the session. This draws all the BlooZ suckin' scum away. Shame there isn't a pub' next door to your one...
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Whatever it's become, it is their session now.
I agree with the idea of simply doing a different night. This lets you set your own policies on trad vs non-trad, for instance. But it might also mean that you're responsible for stocking it with say at least three good players, so it doesn't turn out like the other one.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I repeat my own & gam's suggestion - find out first. You need to speak to the governor. Before you do anything. Knowledge is the key.
If he is keeping a low profile, then that is an answer in itself.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Here in the USA I call it the "white guys who think they can sing the blues syndrome." It usually starts with white middleclass men dabbling in the guitar, listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, and with a little guitar hero thrown in.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Perhaps another venue, for Wednesday's. But, if there is any chance for a good session on Friday that would be better than continuing the battle of the bands scenario.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
The problem with the Friday session, while I dearly love my friends who run it, is that the pub is absolutely MOBBED on a Friday. It's loud and hard to hear each other, or yourself. If the session expands beyond four or five people, it's a bit of a challenge to squeeze everyone in. The pub reserves a few seats and tables for musicians, but space is at an absolute premium when half of Newcastle is cramming themselves into the pub.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I agree with the people who suggest different type sessions on different nights. There are seven nights in the week, seems like more than enough to share. Call it the "tunes session' to avoid confusion.
It is a shame that the singers have taken things over, but It sounds like the new style of the session is pretty well entrenched.
This awkward, we hate you and you hate us arrangement that is currently going on sounds hideous. Life is too short to waste on an uncomfortable evening like that!
Yes, "have the session on Friday" does on the surface of it seem like a good idea, but:
(0. I'm Jewish, and can never play on a Friday anyway)
1. As Emily said, the pub is packed on a Friday night, and so noisy you can hardly hear yourself play
2. There's only about 3 or 4 competent players who attend the Friday session, and not many others who go at all
3. Friday night is not really the night students are inclined to go to sessions. Friday (unless you're me) is generally the night to go clubbing. Digital rather than the Cumberland Arms, kind of thing. And students by far make up the majority of reliable (as in, you can rely on them to turn up on a given night) competent players in Newcastle.
I think we'll try it for the next few weeks. If it can't work out, it can't work out, but for now it's still happening.
Wednesday nights, Cumberland Arms, Newcastle, 7pm till late, you are all welcome!
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
If I were in your shoes I would talk to the pub's manager, explaining that as Wednesdays seems to be the Blues-singaround night these days and Fridays are unsuitable for the reasons you just listed, would the pub be up for another weeknight Irish session.
Or talk to the guys who run the ABI session -- they are friendly fellows (I've met a few of them at festivals, where they happily play Irish tunes) -- and explain that politics in the Newcastle session scene aren't what they were when that was started, and maybe they should open it up to some Irish tunes as well. The people who were grumpy about Scottish/Northumbrian/Cape Breton/Scandinavian tunes to begin with still are unlikely to go to it while you and your mates could probably bring something to the session, but you'd really like a few Irish tunes.
The thing is that those guitarists didn't "take over" an existing session. That would be another matter entirely and you'd be quite right to fight for your patch. As I said to you in that email and an earlier post on here, the Irish session has been pretty dead for the last few years and those guitarists just filled an existing gap.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I agree with Emily's first and last paragraphs (don't know enough to have an opinion on the middle bit ).
As things have been described in this thread, my sympathies would lie 100% with the blooz guys if you try to take over the wed sing along session by force.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Joe, if I'm not mistaken it was you and some of your friends who joined in the session at the Tyneside Irish centre last Thursday. I enjoyed the contribution you all made to that session where I heard some new tunes and found inspiration in the quality of your playing. I've been playing the fiddle for a year and I need all the experience and inspiration I can get.
There is a wealth of musical talent among the students in Newcastle. I hear it at sessions like Bob Trollope's and ABI, at events in the Sage, at the Thursday afternoon student performances in Kings Hall and on occasions when students join in the Friday session at the Cumberland.
With so much talent around there should be an Irish session every night of the week in a different Tyneside pub.
In the Cumberland it's on a Friday, and although it can be a difficult environment at times it is a pretty well established session.
If you were to establish a Wednesday session at another venue that would be a great contribution to our musical culture. I'd be happy to support it even though I might not be welcome to join in. In your world I'm afraid I'm a 'fiddle numpty'.
Before you embark on your take over of the Cumberland on a Wednesday evening consider how you might feel if you arrived at Bob Trollope's on a Tuesday to play or to hear a few traditional tunes and found a couple of dozen guitarists had settled in for a sing song. It's just not the way to go.
Set up a Wednesday session by all means but let's make it a constructive development not a destructive war of wills.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
This has happened to us a few times, we took the view that as the session took place in a public house there was not a lot we could do to stop them. So now we meet and play in each others houses fortified by the local off licences.
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
So where have you been for the last year (or whatever the time scale is?). Life does go on outside university terms, and if you (or anyone else) doesn't turn up, well, that's life. You can't expect Wednesday night to be left free for whenever you, or anyone else, decides they want to go to a session again.
Sorry, no sympathry here.
Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Title pretty much says it, really.
)
There's a pub (which I'm not going to name - yet) which apparently used to have a really good, very long-running Irish session on a weekly basis, until some time in the past year. A couple of months ago, myself and a friend went there, having heard about this Irish session. We arrived, with our fiddles, only to find 5 or 6 people with guitars, singing a selection of Blues/Pop/C&W trash (yes, trash. I do know what good Blues, Pop and C&W sounds like, and this wasn't it). We played some tunes, to which they "accompanied" us with the chords D and A (and occasionally G. I may have even caught an Em at some point), and we made our excuses and left early.
Recently, in the past few weeks, we have been attempting to reclaim this session. This is a pub which is very open to music at any time, and it is not at all unknown for musicians to come in unannounced, and start playing. So this is what we have started doing. Before the singers are due to arrive, we arrive, and start playing tunes. It has been a great session so far, until the singers come, when it turns into a sort of duel between us and them. They sing as soon as we finish a set, and we start up a tune as soon as the song is over. There is an unpleasant tension. I know, it's a bit aggressive on our part, but the singers themselves have only been there less than a year, and the pub is still known from afar for its Irish session on that night, going since at least the nineties (possibly even before, I don't know).
Where do you all stand on this? What would you do, what do you think we should do, and what would be your proposed course of action?
(Tunes forever!! We shall not be defeated!!
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Joe CSS
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Put something in their drinks!
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Mark Harmer
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Oh stop whinging.
Nahh, joking, I saw it over on the sessions section. This is bad news. Have you spoken to the governor yet? Or do you have any big heavies amongst your regulars? (Or are they big heavies?) Just try and get as many trad players in all the time to drown them out, but that's difficult.
Alternately you could boycott it completely in the hope they won't stay the course.
You say they have been coming just less than a year, so how did this situation deteriorate so quickly and why was it allowed to happen in the first place? Thin end of the wedge?
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Rudall the time
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
From what you say I understand you to be the new arrivals. I would have a word with the landlord -- ask him what happened to the really good, long-running Irish sessions they used to have there.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by gam
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Bazouki dave has helpfully pointed out that a few of the old Wednesday guard go to the session on a Friday instead so Joe, seeing as you are on your Shabbat mate, I will try and convince them tonight when I see them.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by I ♥ Dow
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Even if they ARE the newcomers, why has it changed and why weren't you told - that's what you need to find out.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Rudall the time
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Frankly I'd find another venue or night to play. For whatever reason the old session died, unless the comments in the session section are misleading this happened some time before the blooz guys turned up.
IMHO turning up now nd hijacking their night by trying to re-introduce an Irish session over the top of their sing around is no less obnoxious than someone trying to hijack a regular Irish session and deliberately turn it into something else. Particularly if this is done deliberately in order to make a permanent change as opposed to just being a socially inept visitor.
You could go the route that Gam suggested and speak to the publican. But to be honest if you do that with a view to getting the other guys evicted by the powers that be rather than simply to find out what happened to the old trad session, then I think that'd be pretty low.
- Chris
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
It's sh*t when it happens, but sometimes sessions just go pear-shaped and then go even more pear-shaped when the good musicians hear about, or find out for themselves, how crap it is and stop going while the Blues/C&W/singer-songwriter wannabes hear it's a great place to thrash a guitar start going. Having "wars" doesn't work.
If you're still studying in Newcastle, I *think* I might know the pub and session in question and some of my friends started up a session on another night and they have done for about three years. The long-running Irish session started going tits up about two or three years ago and was at a point where a melody player could walk in and find several guitarists and bodhran players, most of whom were pretty dodgy players sitting around, waiting for a melody player. Not good! That was about the point the better melody players (and accompanists) around town started going elsewhere. Your Blues etc. guitarists didn't kill it. They filled a gap that's been there for the last couple years. It's sad when a long-running session dies a death but it happens. It would be awesome if you could reclaim that as a high quality session, but given its reputation over the last few years and the fact that you have to dislodge these singer/guitarist types, I wouldn't hold out hope. Given what you've said about it, I wouldn't go. I find it really aggravating to get into the whole tune v. song race.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Why not change the night of the Irish session? But I have seen that before. People see open session, or Irish jam. Then some people say, "Hey, I'm Irish! This must mean me!" Then they come with weird songs like the dreadful Unicorn song etc... They turn an ITM session into some kind of weird jam thing with all their friends. I like jam, but not when it is Irish night.
So just ask the owner of the place if you guys can come another night. Or maybe time switches for that same night.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by pipersgrip
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
As I said, it's been done. There's an Irish session on a Friday now.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
"Blues/C&W/singer-songwriter wannabes"
There are places like this for these people: Open Mike Nights, or 'Folk Clubs' I believe ye 'olde School' calls them.
Why are they taking over what is traditionally a mostly instrumental session?
That goes for any time this tiresome and all-too-often situation rears its ugly head.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Because when they took it over, there wasn't much of a mostly instrumental session to argue with.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Right, and the start of that drives away good players, as you mentioned. It all sort of feeds on itself.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Irish sessions in my experience have cycles of being busy and being quiet. Within the last year the one i go has been very quiet at times and then absolutely roaring busy at others. This may also be the case over the course of a few years. It's a shame that a fall off in attendance by irish trad players has allowed these singers to take over this night. and i don't see anything wrong with going and playing a few tunes duriing the course of that evening.,but not if it makes the situation tense. Maybe you should talk to the publican and ask them what they would prefer but remember that if you start a regular session you are making a commitment to turning up every week to ensure it's survival and that's not always easy to do!
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by flossie
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
The pub and session in question is more of a testament to how wrong things can go when you have a combination of weird, cliquey politics, people moving away, people starting up alternative sessions, and a small herd of sh*te bodhran and guitarists coming in every week.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I'd turn up with my recently polished bugle and tarnished silver tenor trombone (neither of which I can really play), sit right in next to them and join in playing loud free form.
(some would say that's what I virtually do at most Trad Irish sessions anyway!)
As I have mentioned before; the pub' just across the traffic lights to my reg sesh has an Open Mic Nite/ BLooZ fest on the same night as the session. This draws all the BlooZ suckin' scum away. Shame there isn't a pub' next door to your one...
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Whatever it's become, it is their session now.
I agree with the idea of simply doing a different night. This lets you set your own policies on trad vs non-trad, for instance. But it might also mean that you're responsible for stocking it with say at least three good players, so it doesn't turn out like the other one.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Jmbu
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I repeat my own & gam's suggestion - find out first. You need to speak to the governor. Before you do anything. Knowledge is the key.
If he is keeping a low profile, then that is an answer in itself.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Rudall the time
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I think your answer lies within your subject line... keep the same words, just rearrange a few---
"Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues Smothered By Established Irish Session"
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by horatio spens the blademan
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Here in the USA I call it the "white guys who think they can sing the blues syndrome." It usually starts with white middleclass men dabbling in the guitar, listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, and with a little guitar hero thrown in.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by horatio spens the blademan
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
It's a lot older than either of those, my friend.
"Folk singers are born to lose
They wear old and worn out shoes
Then they try to sing the blues
Folksingers are boring
First they sing a song about a train
Then they sing a song about a train
Then they sing a song about a train
Folksingers are boring"
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Make friends with two or three people who play the Highland pipes and bring them down. That might flush out the other crowd.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by nicholas
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Is there a rent-a-mob bagpipe contingent on the Folk Degree?
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by nicholas
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Find another venue.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Michael Eskin
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Perhaps another venue, for Wednesday's. But, if there is any chance for a good session on Friday that would be better than continuing the battle of the bands scenario.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Ben Steen
Wednesdays
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
The problem with the Friday session, while I dearly love my friends who run it, is that the pub is absolutely MOBBED on a Friday. It's loud and hard to hear each other, or yourself. If the session expands beyond four or five people, it's a bit of a challenge to squeeze everyone in. The pub reserves a few seats and tables for musicians, but space is at an absolute premium when half of Newcastle is cramming themselves into the pub.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Give the singers Friday.
# Posted on February 18th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I agree with the people who suggest different type sessions on different nights. There are seven nights in the week, seems like more than enough to share. Call it the "tunes session' to avoid confusion.
It is a shame that the singers have taken things over, but It sounds like the new style of the session is pretty well entrenched.
This awkward, we hate you and you hate us arrangement that is currently going on sounds hideous. Life is too short to waste on an uncomfortable evening like that!
# Posted on February 19th 2011 by AlBrown
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
"They sing as soon as we finish a set, "
Just do one of those turn-based never-ending sets.
# Posted on February 19th 2011 by Whiddler
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Hahaha, I gotta say I like Whiddler's suggestion
I might as well say now, the session in question is the Cumberland Arms on a Wednesday night. http://www.thesession.org/sessions/display/509/
Yes, "have the session on Friday" does on the surface of it seem like a good idea, but:
(0. I'm Jewish, and can never play on a Friday anyway)
1. As Emily said, the pub is packed on a Friday night, and so noisy you can hardly hear yourself play
2. There's only about 3 or 4 competent players who attend the Friday session, and not many others who go at all
3. Friday night is not really the night students are inclined to go to sessions. Friday (unless you're me) is generally the night to go clubbing. Digital rather than the Cumberland Arms, kind of thing. And students by far make up the majority of reliable (as in, you can rely on them to turn up on a given night) competent players in Newcastle.
I think we'll try it for the next few weeks. If it can't work out, it can't work out, but for now it's still happening.
Wednesday nights, Cumberland Arms, Newcastle, 7pm till late, you are all welcome!
# Posted on February 20th 2011 by Joe CSS
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
If I were in your shoes I would talk to the pub's manager, explaining that as Wednesdays seems to be the Blues-singaround night these days and Fridays are unsuitable for the reasons you just listed, would the pub be up for another weeknight Irish session.
Or talk to the guys who run the ABI session -- they are friendly fellows (I've met a few of them at festivals, where they happily play Irish tunes) -- and explain that politics in the Newcastle session scene aren't what they were when that was started, and maybe they should open it up to some Irish tunes as well. The people who were grumpy about Scottish/Northumbrian/Cape Breton/Scandinavian tunes to begin with still are unlikely to go to it while you and your mates could probably bring something to the session, but you'd really like a few Irish tunes.
The thing is that those guitarists didn't "take over" an existing session. That would be another matter entirely and you'd be quite right to fight for your patch. As I said to you in that email and an earlier post on here, the Irish session has been pretty dead for the last few years and those guitarists just filled an existing gap.
# Posted on February 20th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
I agree with Emily's first and last paragraphs (don't know enough to have an opinion on the middle bit
).
As things have been described in this thread, my sympathies would lie 100% with the blooz guys if you try to take over the wed sing along session by force.
- chris
# Posted on February 20th 2011 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
Joe, if I'm not mistaken it was you and some of your friends who joined in the session at the Tyneside Irish centre last Thursday. I enjoyed the contribution you all made to that session where I heard some new tunes and found inspiration in the quality of your playing. I've been playing the fiddle for a year and I need all the experience and inspiration I can get.
There is a wealth of musical talent among the students in Newcastle. I hear it at sessions like Bob Trollope's and ABI, at events in the Sage, at the Thursday afternoon student performances in Kings Hall and on occasions when students join in the Friday session at the Cumberland.
With so much talent around there should be an Irish session every night of the week in a different Tyneside pub.
In the Cumberland it's on a Friday, and although it can be a difficult environment at times it is a pretty well established session.
If you were to establish a Wednesday session at another venue that would be a great contribution to our musical culture. I'd be happy to support it even though I might not be welcome to join in. In your world I'm afraid I'm a 'fiddle numpty'.
Before you embark on your take over of the Cumberland on a Wednesday evening consider how you might feel if you arrived at Bob Trollope's on a Tuesday to play or to hear a few traditional tunes and found a couple of dozen guitarists had settled in for a sing song. It's just not the way to go.
Set up a Wednesday session by all means but let's make it a constructive development not a destructive war of wills.
# Posted on February 21st 2011 by DanG
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
This has happened to us a few times, we took the view that as the session took place in a public house there was not a lot we could do to stop them. So now we meet and play in each others houses fortified by the local off licences.
# Posted on February 22nd 2011 by SamHall
Re: Established Irish Session Smothered By Numpties Who Think They Can Sing The Blues
So where have you been for the last year (or whatever the time scale is?). Life does go on outside university terms, and if you (or anyone else) doesn't turn up, well, that's life. You can't expect Wednesday night to be left free for whenever you, or anyone else, decides they want to go to a session again.
Sorry, no sympathry here.
# Posted on February 22nd 2011 by minijackpot