Rate US cities for Irish Music

ChaoticGemini · Post by **ChaoticGemini** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:40 am

Eric and Jim, Thanks for the info about St. Louis. I'll have to check things out on my next day off.
Tina

Post by **Dale** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:51 pm

slowair wrote:This kind of topic comes up often enough, can there be a page on C&F listing cities where there are sessions, whistlemakers and shops?

New York's capital region has some of each. Plently of sessions, we have Paul Busman and Celtic Treasures in Saratoga. Did have Andy's Front Hall, but they are going out of business in order to focus on concert promotion.

Dale, if you're reading this, is it possible?

Mike

I've had several requests for that. It's a great idea. But, I really think the best way to do it would be a forum this board in which the only thread titles that are permitted are city and state. So, a thread could be called Chicago, Illinios or Asheville, NC, or whatever and then people could contribute. I'll get with Rich about starting a new forum.

Thanks,

Dale

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:18 pm

Spokane, Washington has several jams each week. Tuesday evenings downtown at O'Doherty's, the first Wed. of the month at O'Doherty's other location in the Valley, and there's contra dancing with the band being a jam session every Wednesday night at the Woman's Club, and most of the contra dance tunes are ITM. Info about these events is on the Spokane Folklore Society's web page at http://spokanefolklore.org/jam.html.

As far as places to buy whistles - I think Lundin's Violins in Spokane sells some and over in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, there's a place named All Things Irish that mostly sells Irish clothing and souvenirs, but they did have 2 different types of whistles for sale there the last time I looked.

For those of you who are wondering where to find information about sessions in your area the local Folklore/Folklife (or whatever they call it in your area) society would be a good place to start (IMHO)

páidín · Post by **páidín** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:29 pm

SirNick wrote:I officially rate Charlotte NC as a -5. Yes, that is a negative 5. They don't even play Irish music in the Irish pubs! I am alone.........................

That's not as bad as Asheville, NC. There is one Irish pub in downtown and half the people are too drunk to realise that they're in that particular pub. Most have no clue where Ireland is, much less that they have their own music style.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:32 pm

páidín wrote:
SirNick wrote:I officially rate Charlotte NC as a -5. Yes, that is a negative 5. They don't even play Irish music in the Irish pubs! I am alone.........................
That's not as bad as Asheville, NC. There is one Irish pub in downtown and half the people are too drunk to realise that they're in that particular pub. Most have no clue where Ireland is, much less that they have their own music style.

If you could play the Bagpipes, things might take a turn for the better!

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:45 pm

This isn't going to be terribly helpful, but Pittsburgh has a lot of ITRAD type stuff too. I have not been able to get there (it's only about 45 mins away, but I just don't seem to be able to find the time), but there is a HUGE Irish population there. It is my understanding that the pubs actually play REAL ITRAD music!

There is a Step Dancing school, as well as a couple of Celtic music schools. They even have a big Irish Festival every September. Here's a site that outlines everything that is offered in Pittsburgh:

http://www.irishcentrepgh.org/

flatlandfiddler · Post by **flatlandfiddler** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:14 am

Bloomington, IN has a ridiculously active session scene, with three weekly sessions and some well known players - this is a town of 70,000.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:18 pm

flatlandfiddler wrote:Bloomington, IN has a ridiculously active session scene, with three weekly sessions and some well known players - this is a town of 70,000.

Isn't that close to Seymour, which is John Mellencamp's "small town"?

Kar · Post by **Kar** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:18 pm

Well, San Francisco's got probably 5 or 6 music stores with whistles, including the mother-of-them-all Lark in the Morning. And there's a session just about someplace at least several times a week, if not more.

But the cost of living is high.

flatlandfiddler · Post by **flatlandfiddler** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:09 am

Brassblower, yeah.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:13 pm

flatlandfiddler wrote:Brassblower, yeah.

I used to work with a guy from Seymour, and we had many long-winded discussions concerning Mr. Mellencamp.

Tetra · Post by **Tetra** » Fri May 18, 2007 7:34 am

Montpelier, Vermont isn't too bad for Irish music, considering that it's barely a city. Sure, there aren't too many whistle players (as far as I know, you have to go a little further afield), but there is a piping band that is currently the New England Grade 4 Champions in bagpiping. There aren't too many Celtic bands around here, but I am aware of one that went to the regional exposition (people in New England know it as the Big E). I am not too aware of any sessions or anything, as I am not quite ready to play in big sessions yet (I'm not good enough). So, as far as I know, Montpelier is pretty average when it comes to Irish music. However, I can't compare it to other cities; I've never lived near any other cities that I can remember (other than Cambridge, Maryland, and I can remember that being a total Celtic wasteland).

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:10 am

Arizona kinda goes up and down. There have been some damned good musicians pass through here. One of them was by far the best fiddle player I've ever heard live, Sheila McGuire. They do seem to only pass through though. Many have made a home here for a few years to a decade and then moved on. I don't blame them, mind you, I'm not a big fan of Phoenix even though I'm a native but I'm always sad to see them leave us. Most of the accomplished musicians living here that have published albums or made a name for themselves no longer come to sessions so that's lame. The flute player that leads the session I frequent is quite an accomplished player and has released several albums with a band and one solo. Other than that the sessions are largely comprised of beginner to intermediate players. A great bunch of people though.
There are virtually no places to buy instruments here. I can buy a Clarke, Feadog, or Generation from the giftshop at the Irish Cultural Center and I've seen Generations in a few music stores sitting in a display box on the counter advertised like a childrens toy. Nobody at our Irish cultural center really listens to trad Irish music. They like things such as Celtic Woman and Riverdance so there's not a lot of good music being kept alive there.
Overall I'd say there are some good players and I know I'm fortunate for the Irish community we have here but I wish more were interested in the Trad stuff and less in the cheesy shamrock and shillelagh show bands tailored for the general American audience. There are also a fair amount of players who live a few cities away, about an hours drive but I'm usually too busy to make it out that far... maybe I'm missing some good action out there, who knows.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:39 am

Woah! Zombie thread. Lots of faces here that we don't see anymore...

Duffy · Post by **Duffy** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:28 pm

fearfaoin wrote:Woah! Zombie thread. Lots of faces here that we don't see anymore...

Place is full of ghosts and not a one mentioned Milwaukee. Irish Fest and the Cultural Center always have something going year round, Currently 3 or 4 sessions a week, never tried to buy a whistle but most local music stores carry the standard assortment of low end. plus 25 years of Irist Fest.

Beer may have made Milwaukee famous, but I have a good idea of who drank a bunch of it.

Old Blind Dogs playing tonight!