Reading: Insurrection by David Weber and Steve White
Music: The Clash
TV/Movie: Thank You For Smoking
Link o' the Day: The Session.org

The other day my old friend Carol dropped a line in the response area to that day's post. In it she asked about what happens at these Patrick's Pub sessions I go to. I figure this would be a good time and place to write a short bit about these sessions.

I try to hit this session as often as I can. these days my work schedule keeps me from attending every week, but I try to get there more often than not. As for what a session is...

A session is an informal gathering of musicians, most often in a pub, playing traditional Irish music.

Usually the musicians sit in a circle around a group of tables laden with glasses and pitchers. A session isn't, strictly speaking, a performance. For reasons both legal and traditional, it's not a setup where musicians face an audience. While many people come to listen to the music, it's not as formal as a performance setting might be.

Tunes are usually played in sets of two or three, followed by general chatter, drinking, retuning, and whatnot. It's very casual. Most sessions have a leader whose job it is is to keep things running smoothly, and to make sure that tunes are played on a regular basis, and it's not just all chatting.

The ideal session is open to players of all levels, with a good mixing of tunes so everyone gets a chance to play. There should also be a variety of instruments, all within relative tune to each other, and a lot of places to sit within reach of a table to put ones glass on.

A session shouldn't be confused with a jam session, so hopefully there won't be musicians sitting in who don't know any tunes and try, instead, to wing it. If there are, I'd hope they'd play very quietly and be considerate. I suppose it's fair warning to point out that you'll rarely hear Clancy Brothers tunes and such. While some sessions will have singing, most do not, and requests for "The Black Velvet Band" or "Danny Boy" will not likely be followed up on.

Still, it's all about having fun. I spent years just sitting and listening until I bought myself a cheap mandolin, starting learning tunes, and played along quietly in the corner. As I got better, I upgraded to a tenor banjo and between that, and my bodhran, I get to play more often then not. It's a blast.

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In keeping with the theme of traditional Irish music sessions, today's link goes to The Session.org--a very useful site for musicians and music lovers with information on session locations and times around the world, tunes, musicians, gossip, and more.

Cheers!

--John