May 2015 Old Songs Slow Session

Hi, Friends,

It's that time again! Slow Session on Wednesday, May 21 from 7:30-9:00 pm at Old Songs Community Arts Center, 37 S. Main, Voorheesville, NY 12186. We'll go over old tunes and some new ones. This month's learning tunes: Trip to Durrow (3 part dmaj reel), Gentle Maiden (waltz), Carraroe (dmaj jig) - to put together with Hughie Travers Jig (gmaj jig), and maybe one or two more tunes, if I think of them. 

See you Wednesday!

Hilary

The Session I Ne'er Forgot (or I keep meaning to get to this earlier, but...)

Howdy, gang! It's that time again - Slow Session Time! Yay! We'll be meeting at 7:30 PM on TAX DAY, Wednesday, April 15 for a dose of lovely tunes and fun chat. I've missed everyone and I'm looking forward to seeing you.

I'll be introducing Man of the House and the reel we talked about last time: The Maid I Ne'er Forgot. Also a slip jig to be determined, and possibly a new hornpipe.

We're going to go over Hughie Travers Jig, our Geese in the Bog jig set, Within a Mile of Dublin, the Silver Spear/Torn Jacket set, Planxty Irwin, and some other things that aren't coming to mind at the moment.

See you at Old Songs at 7:30 on Wednesday, 4/15!

Hilary

March Slow Session March 18

Hello, Tune-sters! I hope you're digging into your extensive collection of trad Irish recordings, fun sessions, and plenty of live Irish music concerts! We recently discovered the Qello channel on our Roku and have been overdosing on videos of live rock concerts.

Anyway, the Old Songs Irish Slow Session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 18. I'll be introducing a fun jig called Hughie Travers, and a reel to be determined, and then we'll review the tunes we've been going over the past couple of months.

See you at 7:30 on Wednesday!

Hilary

Let's Get Ready for March or Brace Yourselves, St. Patrick's Day is Coming!

Thanks to everyone who came out for our February slow session. It was a lot of fun! We went over jigs The Geese in the Bog and The Lilting Banshee, and we added Maid on the Green to make a three-tune set. We'll review that one next month as well. (Corrected versions to be added soon.) We reviewed Within a Mile of Dublin, and then continuing on the reel theme, we learned O'Connell's Trip to Parliament and The Torn Jacket. I'd hoped to also work on the Battering Ram jig, but decided to postpone that until March.

Speaking of March: OK, so let's say it is a common perception in the general population that the month of March is reserved for traditional Irish music. Sort of seems like maybe it's the one time in the year they expect it. Nay, they demand it. They cram it like a student at mid-terms, using green beer as their Red Bull of choice, and prefer The Unicorn Song, Black Velvet Band and Carrickfergus to the wall of tunes we'd really much rather play. OK, nothing wrong with any of that, right? Someone's got to drink that green beer...but please, if you have green beer, do NOT wrest the mic away from the band and sing When Irish Eyes are Smiling, because we may have to physically harm you.

And I will say I'm grateful for March, because it means at gigs most of the audience really, really appreciates what we do, moreso than the other 363 days of the year (the other day is "halfway to St. Patrick's Day" or that one weekend day around September 17), and we see lots of our friends and get to play a. ton. of. tunes. Yeah. Cool. But you and I both know that Irish music goes waaaaay beyond the confines of one month on the calendar.

In fact, we celebrate it just about every month of the year! Slow Irish Session takes place on the third Wednesday of the month between September and June, and you are always welcome to join us!

See you on March 18 for the next Irish Slow Session!

Cheers,

Hilary

p.s. by the way Old Songs is starting early! This Saturday, February 21, Old Songs hosts the fun trad Irish group Songs in the Frying Pan! Come out and hear some great music!