Last week was a very good week for music. The Thursday English session went extremely well as already reported. The Barn Dance at Painters Forstall was a roaring success. It was the kind of dance where the enthusiasm of the dancers lifts the band and the band, playing with the enthusiam inspired by the dancers, in turn lifts the dancers as well. The mutual boost takes the event to a whole new level and everybody had a good time.

On Sunday, there was a dilemma caused by a clash between the regular Irish Session and an annual visit of American students who love to round of their visit with a traditional session in a pub. The pub is always Simple Simon's in Canterbury, and they regard it as the highlight of their trip. Again, appreciative audience inspires the session. I think the decision to play for the Americans was the right one. It was acually very well balanced as an event, with 4 singers taking well controlled turns between the sets. The singers were Katie Bradley, Richard Mathewman, Bernard Quimby and Roly. Each one brought a different style which the audience loved. Even Mike's traditional drinking songs went well. Bernard sang comedty songs from Jake Thackwray and one I hadn't heard before - The Red-eyed Drinking Team. Katie sang Blues, Richard, traditional and Roly did his eclectic mix including the Beautiful Stranger which always goes down well.

It restores your faith in going out and playing when you have three events in a row which are as appreciated as these. Let's see what this week brings.