Chiff and Fipple Forums

Moved to Astoria a year ago, looking to play in a session again, any recommendations? Lots of folk in this town but not much Irish! Thanks, John.

I live in Vancouver, Wa. I'm a bit out-of-touch with the Portland and coastal side of things, unfortunately. I think for hardcore Irish stuff, you'd have to visit Portland proper. Maybe the Preston Howard (great piper) session at Biddy's on Sunday night late or Caldera on Tuesdays. Apart from that, there are various sessions in Hillsboro, Tigard, and Lake O. I heard somewhere that the Stomptown group found a place in Sellwood area somewhere, but I can't remember any details. Expect just about all of them except for Caldera and Biddy's to be mixed levels and delve into Scottish and American tunes as well as the Irish. Lots of Contra stuff gets mixed in. Dan Compton runs an Irish class in SE Portland on Mondays(?), and he's great, but such a venture requires a weekly commitment for the duration of the "term."

We just started a monthly session here in Vancouver at Kennedy Violins. 2nd Sunday every month at 6pm. This is the only session I'm really familiar with. It's a mixed bag, with beginners and intermediates mostly, and a decent amount of non-Irish repertoire as is typical in the area. All ages welcome, so no adult beverages unfortunately. We'd love to have you visit. PM me for more details about repertoire and such if you like.

The problem I have with most of the sessions is that work and traffic makes them rather inconvenient from North of the river, especially since they are all work nights. I'm not the fastest player, and the only session I get to is the one here in Vancouver. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Thanks for the info, just trying to see what's out there. I play whistle fairly fast, flute a bit slower...know lots of tunes but that doesn't mean I'll know tunes at a new session! Portland would be a long trip for me, Vancouver is a possibility. I'll PM you, J.

PM received.

Aaron already covered most of the general information for Portland sessions. I'm just posting to mention that I haven't heard of any sessions out toward Astoria either. There are plenty around Portland, and he outlined most of the ones I know about. I've been to a few of the sessions, and if you'd like any extra details, let me know!