Ireland Music
Ceol agus craíc - you’ll see that written everywhere and it’s Irish for music and good times. The two go hand-in-hand and, until you’ve experienced a bit of her music, you haven’t experienced Ireland.
The Shack Session
Last night was The Shack Sesssion. Last night was Tuesday. Coincidence?
I think not.
I had spent the earlier fragments of the evening consuming an absurdly large portion of spaghetti (wifey’s Sicilian bologneseeeeee . . . mmmmmmmmm) and was looking forward to the walk to allow stomach contents to settle. Walking with what feels like an inflating brick inside one’s abdomen is quite uncomfortable. I was just across the bridge when the sheriff and deputy pulled up and my laziness got the better of my good intentions. *sigh* At least I know what to blame these love handles on.
The evening we had a first: the deputy had brought along an electric keyboard. Normally ours is an acoustic session. It must be said the keys were kept at a sensitive volume and provided a very different sound to things like this version of riders on the storm.
Date: August 22nd, 2007 |
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Kerbside to play with Mundy!
Yes indeed, we just got the call a couple of days ago that they needed one more act for the charity gig for Sarah Ryan with Mundy on September 2nd here in Athlone!
Not only will it be pretty great to share the stage with the big man himself, but it will be the first time since we played Athlone Castle that Kerbside will be appearing in our full rock’n roll glory. Personally, I can’t wait.
Date: August 18th, 2007 |
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Shack Session
The last couple of Shack sessions have been populous, lighthearted musical romps.
Boy, that sounded like a review of something at the west end.
This week Guy Noir and I stuck the heads in early and spent a good deal of time discussing an insightful, but myopic comparison of anglo and yankee masculinity I had read somewhere. We came to the conclusion - me through my U.S./Irish perspective, he through his British/Irish upbringing - that the author, while he makes some interesting observations, is wrong in his assessment (and probably has some serious personal issues as well).
Date: August 15th, 2007 |
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Shack Session
I’ll tell you, the sessions out in the Shack have been getting more interesting lately.
This particular post is just CHOCK FULL of mp3s - enjoy!
Guy Noir and I took our constitutional stroll out Shackwase and found the sheriff poring over some lyrics at the table - I don’t think we got to hear the song he was working on - maybe next week. What we did hear was one of my favourites of his - a lullaby he wrote for his kids.
Date: August 8th, 2007 |
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Fund-raiser for the Athlone School of Music
As anyone who was in the Palace Friday night can tell you - there is a whole lot of music to be had here in Athlone town.
With very few places to play, the GLUT of folks in attendance at the Athlone School of Music fundraiser event practically screams for a proper venue here in town. The Palace Bar is one of the few places full rock outfits can play, but the sound and capacity of the venue still leaves a lot to be desired. For the night there were two stages - one on each floor - and you could hardly move through the crowd.
Date: August 5th, 2007 |
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Sean’s Bar Sunday session
It’s so good to have Las Lunas Ambarinos back and in good form at the Sunday session in Sean’s Bar.
This Sunday was a subdued affair with angel and the bean flanked by yours truly, ze germanz and a kimono-clad whistle player.
Angel sang a lovely version of The Last Call for Ellis Island. At one point wifey and the munchkin arrived and some little fingers got ahold of one of the whistles on the table. It was only a couple of minutes’ observation time before munchkin discovered the trick of BLOWING into the whistle.
Date: August 21st, 2007 |
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Mundy plays charity concert in Athlone
A good friend of mine gave me a shout yesterday to ask if I would mention a charity concert she’s arranging for Sarah Ryan, a handicapped girl from Birr she works with.
It all started with a phone call to Mundy, whom those of you not familiar with the Irish music scene will remember from the profile I did on him some months ago, to see if he might be willing to help out. It turns out - how’s this for coincidence - that Mundy actually knows the little girl’s mom quite well (he is, after all, FROM Birr) and agreed immediately to play!
How awesome is that?
So, here’s the skinny:
Date: August 15th, 2007 |
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Sean’s Sunday session
Another Sunday afternoon session in Sean’s Bar.
This one spelled a bit of difference for yours truly, as it is the first trad session in which I have been the guitar player. Sure, I play the guitar and I do spend a lot of time around trad, but - believe it or not - the two have rarely come together for me. I’m like a babe in the woods. Chord formations, patterns . . . keys? Anyone? What key is that? Oh lord, I’ve ruined everything *insert sound of guitarist hurling himself into the fireplace*
Date: August 14th, 2007 |
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Sean’s Sunday Session
It was the first of two Sunday sessions without the Amber Moon units. I headed down to Sean’s Bar a bit early - I had been out playing the previous evening and the fire to get the fingers on the fretboard was in me.
As I mentioned earlier, the town has been fierce quiet and Sean’s was no exception. My fears were soon allayed however, as the teachers arrived and unpacked accordion and guitar and set to business. It was also the last week the Arizonians (Arizonans?) were in town, so they made the effort and, along with ze germanz and a quiet djembe player, filled out the slots around the table.
Date: August 7th, 2007 |
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The Shack Session
When I was 15 and working at Burger King I noticed inexplicable patterns in the mass movement of humans. It wasn’t just lunch break or movies getting out; some days everyone would suddenly not want pickles on anything or a whole load of folks who had nothing to do with each other would simultaneously decide to drop in for a bite to eat at exactly 10:52 in the evening. It was never one person doing something, there were always a few at least - as if folks here caught in some kind of cosmic ripple effect.
Last night we had four songwriters - three of whom had never attended the Tuesday session - show up to play at the Shack Session.
I had joined Guy Noir and Ciachicken to watch the Transformers movie (first 20 minutes were awesome - after that it went completely downhill) earlier and so got a late start heading out. The weather has been so nice I opted to walk out shackwase and enjoy what may be one of the only nice evenings we get this summer. Guy companionably shouldered the bodhrán and little big man joined us for the walk as well.
Date: August 1st, 2007 |
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