A look back over this last weekend

[Joseph E. Smith]

I am still high as a kite from last weekend's GNIPC Tionol. It has been a very long time since I have had so much fun, laughed as hard and been so mesmerized by the great tuneage I had the honor of witnessing.

Jerry O'Sullivan has got to be the nicest man upon the face of this planet (in addition to being the funnest guy to get laughing... when you see him, just offer him a blueberry muffin and say SQUEAK, he'll know what I mean ). He has a patience that is deep and his encouragement is warm leaving one desiring to play better and more often. I was overwhelmed by his gentle spirit, and the joy he has for the pipes, music and life. I look forward to meeting him again someday.

Patrick D'Arcy.... well, need I say more? Patrick is a brilliant piper and The Holy Order was singing all weekend long. His technique is wonderful and a pleasure to hear in addition to his take on the music. He is a tireless piper. He is also a great teacher of this instrument and it was a pleasure and very inspiring to listen to his instruction. Larry Dunn (No E) again made the trip with Patrick from L.A., and again it was a pleasure to enjoy his company and his expansive wit... a funnier person you'd be hard pressed to find.

Pat Cannady and Karen Cook made the trip from Chicago, and provided great music every day there. Their concert set was a great pleasure to listen to, and their blend of fiddle and B pipes is very warm, delicate and at the same time strong and richly lyrical. The Sunday night session at Keegan's was a thing of magic where these two played with a fire and passion I hadn't seen before.... I'm still humming from the experience.

I had a pleasant morning and afternoon sitting with Royce at the reed making table, swapping ideas, reeds, chanter and drone cane. He and his wife (Baglady) were also at the session, adding to an already joyfully charged evening.

It was very nice to meet up with Nanohedron again, talk pipes, smoke too many cigarettes and have a pint or two at the session. Building a reed for his Ginsberg C chanter was one of the easiest experiences I have had to date. It was very nice to hear his flute and bozou... uh.... cittern playing Sunday evening. Nice fella that Nano.,

And last, but certainly not least, I wish to thank my hosts Tom, Adele and Flora. Such generous, kind, pleasant and more giving people simply do not exist compared to these three. I am truly honored and thankful to know them, and their hospitality cannot be rivaled. Thanks you so much for making it possible for me to attend the Tionol, and for housing me over the weekend. I am enternally greatful.

If fate allows, I intend on making the GNIPC Tionol a yearly tradition.

[djm]

Yeah, sure, but did you have a good time?

djm

[Joseph E. Smith]

Yeah, sure, but did you have a good time?

djm

Can I get back to you on that?

[Baglady]

Would have loved to sit at the feet of Mr. O'Sullivan, the first time I heard his Colonel Frazer I was in love, but family commitments had priority and I have to let the Baglord out on his own once in a while or he gets very peevish.

[Nanohedron]

Yes, indeed. Thanks are in order:

-to Tom and Adele for their selfless efforts and easygoing hospitality;

-to the IMDA et al. for their financial contributions toward the tionól;

-to Jerry O'S. and Patrick D'A. for their teaching, patience and good humor;

-to Jerry O'S., Patrick and the Holy Order, and Pat Cannady and Karen Cook for a wonderful and friendly concert all around;

-to Joseph Smith for his reedmaking skills when I had fallen on despair;

-to Pat Cannady for loaning me his B whistle when the insomniacs' B pipes session got started;

-to Tom Dahill for loaning me his Willie Rowsome concert chanter for the classes, and for gently pointing out that the Landmark Center actually had an elevator I could use;

-and last but not least, to Patrick Maun for ensuring that coffee worth the name was available for us. That was a boon indeed.

Thanks all around to everyone for making this year's tionól a most enjoyable one.

(edited for stupid nitpicky punctuation issues.....and spelling...)

[myrddinemrys]

Glad you had fun. I should go to one sometime.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Glad you had fun. I should go to one sometime.

... you would certainly not regret it.

[Bill Reeder]

So, what tunes did you all work on throughout the weekend?

[Nanohedron]

Others would likely remember the names of the other tunes better, but among those that Jerry O'Sullivan had us work on was the barndance "Lucy Farr's". Simple, but very appealing. It appears to have caught on a bit hereabouts.

[Bill Reeder]

Thanks! I've heard that tune someplace and can't recall where. I think I'll see if I can't make it popular here also.

[Nanohedron]

Reliable dots for it can be got over at The Session. It's a very Scottish-sounding tune.

[Nanohedron]

Oh, yeah: Patrick D'Arcy had us working on "The Ravelled Hank of Yarn". That one really wants tight fingering in order to sound its best. Reliable sources (nudge, nudge) inform me that the dots, for those that want them, are also found at The Session.

Jerry also had us learning a jig, and another barndance that preceded "Lucy Farr's". Can't remember the names for the life of me.

[No E]

Jerry didn't have the name for the jig, but was refering to it as "Jack Coen's." The other barn Dance was "James Gann's"

No E

[Patrick D'Arcy]

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/246

Perhaps?

[Nanohedron]

Yep, that's it. "James Gannon's", although the the B part's a wee bit different as I recall Jerry played it.

Jerry had an amusing take on that one; referring to the barn dance as possibly an import to the tradition from the New World, he pointed out the rather "American" flavor of "James Gannon's" and how it would have stood up well as a sound track on "Spanky and Our Gang".