Started playing Irish music in the 1970s in with what was an anarchic bunch of friends. Street sessions you might call our style. Thanks to the recorded influence of Lunny and Irvine, was introduced to the delights of Balkan dance music. For a while we played punk Balkan before it started appearing in coffee shops in new York.
Today the old friends have scattered. I live in a town with a very quiet session scene. Maybe EXTREMELY quiet is closer to the mark. Would love to play in a session that easily flitted between Celtic and Balkan tunes. Don't know of any sessions like that in my part of Australia, so I amuse myself by the occasional effort at transcribing tunes in the hope others may start to play them, and my dream session might appear. I'll have to learn those tunes myself first.
Instruments: Mandolin, bouzouki, banjo. Taken delivery of a brand new custom short neck cittern. Finally, after 30 years, I now have a good instrument. I'll just have to learn to play to its standard.
Tunes in _________'s tunebook: 35
| Take No Prisoners | slip jig | July 11th 2005 |
| Mominsko Horo | slip jig | July 3rd 2005 |
| Paidushko Horo | jig | June 30th 2005 |
| Plains Of Kildare | jig | June 14th 2005 |
| Sandansko Oro | slip jig | July 1st 2004 |
| King Of The Melodeon Men | Jimmy Shand | January 31st 2007 |
| The Tain | Horslips | January 27th 2007 |
| Dance Album | The Bushwhackers Band | January 26th 2007 |
| The Classic Recordings Of Michael Coleman | Michael Coleman | June 13th 2004 |
| Farewell To Connacht | Na Fili | June 3rd 2004 |
| What I want for Xmas next year: A tune tamagotchi! | January 13th 2006 |
| How do you learn tunes? How fast, how stable the memory? | January 12th 2006 |
| Preferred bouzouki (cittern) body shapes. Opinions please. | December 12th 2005 |
| disability being no disability- any one handed fiddlers? | September 28th 2005 |
| Anyone from Bendigo (Australia) interested in starting a session? | July 9th 2005 |
| Tunes | Goose Cove | October 31st 2007 |
| Tunes | Waynesboro | August 22nd 2007 |
| Tunes | May 2nd 2007 | |
| Discussions | Re: Irish vs. Scottish | March 11th 2007 |
| Discussions | Re: Strangest trad to non-trad (or vice versa) segue you've heard | January 26th 2007 |