Castlebay Irish Pub session--Annapolis, MD

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 9:25 pm

Though it's a rare thing for me to drag myself out of the house post-primetime, I'm glad I did tonight.
This is Lee Marsh (enjoy your music!) and a fraction of the usual crew at the Castlebay Pub. Lee tells me 8-12 musicians are more the norm, but Jeff and I would have enjoyed this quartet immensely even without the Bass on Draft.
Lee claims that his whistling skills are not up to session level--he is, he says, a "professional beginner," so here he's playing bodhran, and I heard some nifty licks from his guitar between sets.
These guys were great and deserve recognition--maybe Lee can supply names.

On the right, Lee on bodhran. The guitarist also played Irish flute.

The fiddler here sometimes played concertina.

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:04 am

That's Jim Masche, whose last name I always misspell, on guitar, Spencer Nitchie on fiddle, and Patrick Cavanaugh on banjo. Great guys all.

LeeMarsh · Post by **LeeMarsh** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:25 am

It was great to meet Emily, even if it was an off night. In part due to half the core group missing and in part due to competition with the Red Sox fans.

The core group is Jim (Moshee), Spence, Patrick, Doc (Denis Botzer), Charley, and Henry. There's also about 5 or 6 occasionals that show up. Its a great group of folks to play with. I'm playing Bodhran in part because Henry, our normal Bo player is out of town, and in part because my fingers are still sore from playing all day friday, saturday, and sunday at <a href=http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... 1>Catoctin Mountain Music and Dance weekend.</a>

Pat (banjo, whistle) and Doc (Fiddle, Guitar, etc) generally lead the session and Charley joins in on Uillean Pipe (Pipes, whistle, flute). Henry (bodhran), Jim (Guitar, flute, Whistle), Spense (Flute, guitar, whislte, fiddle, and now concertina) round out the core group. They've been playing togeather for a few years. I've just joined a couple of months ago and I'm still getting upto speed with their sets and tunes.

I can't overstate how fun it is to be around these guys, it just a great time to ...

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:38 pm

This has been a carefully controlled secret. What are the regular nights and times for this marvelous session? I am only about an hour away. Do they have diet coke on tap since I don't drink?

Ron

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 4:11 pm

Every Tuesday from about 9 to 11:30 p.m. They will undoubtedly serve you soft drinks. They also have a nice looking dessert menu...and there's always dinner. But it seems a very relaxed setting for just sitting and listening to the music, too.

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 5:36 pm

Sounds good. Maybe one day soon. I just have to convince Mrs. K.

Ron

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:14 am

FWIW, I'll be filling in for Doc on the 16th. Come say hi.

Ailin · Post by **Ailin** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:00 am

Castlebay?! I've been there many times for a Guinness or 2 and crab soup or a corned beef sandwich for lunch! But I didn't realize they had sessions there. It always did seem like it would be a great place for sessions, but I never did ask while there if they had any or not. Next time in the area (my brother lives in Chesapeake Beach) I'll have to stop in on Tuesday night.

Ailin