A relatively quiet week on the session front.
The burning topic down in the snug of the Chiff and Fipple is whether to continue holding the Wednesday Irish Session at Ye Olde Merrie Beverlie or go back to sticky lino land (don't ask or see previous posts). Tonight will be be the decider. So far the score is: Football 1, Bad Acoustics 3. We will try a different position tonight (as the actress said ...). I mean the session will sit in a different place in the pub to see if that helps.
I'm glad to say that the Thursday session does not suffer from the same problem having been in the same pub for over 20 years. Indeed the difference is that the Irish session has a nomadic existence whereas the mixed fortune session is like an anchor. Not to confuse the Bear with the Anchor which is just up the road. Speaking of which, there will be an Irish Session at the Anchor in Faversham (all being well) on Sunday 30th September from 20:00.
There is a new site for all you Sessioneers and Folkies which is intended to be for the people by the people. It's a wiki of Folk and traditional stuff - Folkipedia. The entries so far are cursory and look like they have been contributed in many cases by Ambrose Bierce - which makes it well worth a read. It's probably a nice feature of the site to leave the little one-liners in for amusement and put a genuine article underneath. If you want to contribute, you need a password for editing - just to stop spammers from spoiling the site and the content can be anything related to folk. Instruments, dance, bands, discographies, venues, sessions, festivals etc. The password is available by email from admin@folkipedia.org. The possibilities are endless!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Wednesday, 19th September 2007
When a landlord invites the session to come and play, is it because he likes the music?
I've mentioned this before in the context of moving the Irish Session to 'Ye Olde Beverlie' in Canterbury. Last week, the hardy sessioneers turned up to find
Now how is a session going to compete with that? And what is the answer to the question:
"When a landlord invites the session to come and play, is it because he likes the music?"
Answers on a postcard, in an email or as a comment. Thank you.
We went down this route before, some years ago now, when we tried to take the session back to its spiritual home of the George on Stone Street. When punters started to drop off because of weather etc, and musicians were not as thick on the ground as they had been, the landlord actually got quite annoyed that we weren't bringing enough custom to the pub.
You know, looking back there have been some great hosts for the sessions. Tony in the Prince Albert at Deal and 'Drew in the George on Stone Street. The great days of the Musician's Jar and the bowl of chips. And up to 30 players!
On Friday, to start the Deal Festival we had an Irish Session in the Deal Hoy and the landlord is as keen as anything on the music. Keeps us supplied with drinks and checks on us regularly. The layout and size of the place is a bit of a problem but nevertheless a music friendly pub and always a pleasure to play in. Sunday saw a marathon 4 hour session in the Ship on Middle Street which went very well. We have tried the Sunday session in there before but it didn't feel entirely natural. I think it was competing with Juke Box that put us off.
Anyway, back to the Beverlie tonight to see what happens. We're having trouble with the acoustics ('...we've put some poison down ... ' anybody remember the Wheeltappers and Shunters club?). A lot of people have said they can't really hear themselves or others which is a problem so we need to reposition ourselves.
The session world seems to divide into two. Those who will go to any old commercial oriented pub, suffer high prices, indifferent service and poor acoustics for a small audience, and those who actually really do prefer a place with good acoustics, welcoming service and not outrageous prices, regardless of an audience. A session is not about audiences. That's a concert. For that, you charge money, do 90 minutes with a loo break and have a production order. And sell CDs at half time. A session is musicians coming together for the music and each other and playing whatever sparks their fancy for as long as they want.
Ho hum.
I've mentioned this before in the context of moving the Irish Session to 'Ye Olde Beverlie' in Canterbury. Last week, the hardy sessioneers turned up to find
- a) the street full of cars so parking was a problem;
- b) the pub full of people watching the football match on large televisual apparati (yes John, OED says apparatuses but apparati has more effect. Forgive me.)
- c) the pub had sold tickets to the event and provided a buffet!
Now how is a session going to compete with that? And what is the answer to the question:
"When a landlord invites the session to come and play, is it because he likes the music?"
Answers on a postcard, in an email or as a comment. Thank you.
We went down this route before, some years ago now, when we tried to take the session back to its spiritual home of the George on Stone Street. When punters started to drop off because of weather etc, and musicians were not as thick on the ground as they had been, the landlord actually got quite annoyed that we weren't bringing enough custom to the pub.
You know, looking back there have been some great hosts for the sessions. Tony in the Prince Albert at Deal and 'Drew in the George on Stone Street. The great days of the Musician's Jar and the bowl of chips. And up to 30 players!
On Friday, to start the Deal Festival we had an Irish Session in the Deal Hoy and the landlord is as keen as anything on the music. Keeps us supplied with drinks and checks on us regularly. The layout and size of the place is a bit of a problem but nevertheless a music friendly pub and always a pleasure to play in. Sunday saw a marathon 4 hour session in the Ship on Middle Street which went very well. We have tried the Sunday session in there before but it didn't feel entirely natural. I think it was competing with Juke Box that put us off.
Anyway, back to the Beverlie tonight to see what happens. We're having trouble with the acoustics ('...we've put some poison down ... ' anybody remember the Wheeltappers and Shunters club?). A lot of people have said they can't really hear themselves or others which is a problem so we need to reposition ourselves.
The session world seems to divide into two. Those who will go to any old commercial oriented pub, suffer high prices, indifferent service and poor acoustics for a small audience, and those who actually really do prefer a place with good acoustics, welcoming service and not outrageous prices, regardless of an audience. A session is not about audiences. That's a concert. For that, you charge money, do 90 minutes with a loo break and have a production order. And sell CDs at half time. A session is musicians coming together for the music and each other and playing whatever sparks their fancy for as long as they want.
Ho hum.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sunday 9th September 2007
It's been a funny old week.
The Irish session for the Faversham Hops Festival was not so much a session, more a battle with the noisy drinkers but profound thanks to all those who came out and played personfully to entertain the indifferent masses.
To make up for it, on Sunday, after the Festival Band had finished its excellent gig, we retired for a cup of tea and to wait for the Phoenix session led by Chris Taylor. For some reason or another (I think it was the clearing of us off the pavement so that the procession could come by), we retired to the Bear which was almost deserted. There was only Barbara Kelly of the A2 band, Ralph Jordan of Patterson, Jordan & Dipper and Housewife's Choice, Judy Knight fellow sessioneer, Shelagh Bradley (who has taught most of East Kent to play guitar and has been in most of the folk bands in the area) and myself (and briefly, one of the Trommelfluits) and it was a fantastic little session. By fantastic, I mean relaxed, tuneful and inspiring. And enjoyable.
After that, we went to watch the Trommelfluits on the main stage and then home.
The Wednesday Irish session had its first outing at the new venue of The Old Beverlie. Everyone was looking forward to it. There was a big turn out. We arrived and got settled. And started. And then it all went horribly wrong. It was as though we had inadvertently held it on a night where astrologers would tell us that the conjunction of planets was least auspicious. Maybe we'd offended the God of Sessions by moving from the Anchor at Wingham and losing the opportunity to use that well known spoonerism.
The first casualty left after the first set. I'm not sure why so I'm not going to speculate although I have my suspicions.
The second casualty was the piper's case which got filled with drink. Nasty thing, a sticky chanter. That had to be wiped out and then taken away for extensive cleaning of the contents. So the third casualty was the piper. Fourth casualty was the one who accidentally spilled drinks in the case. At this rate, we did wonder on the viability and wisdom of the session, but it seemed to quieten down and we all played longer than usual. It is really good to have Chris Taylor back at sessions though.
By contrast, Thursday at the Bear was very quiet but there were two new faces. Fiddle players who might come more often. We shall see.
The Irish session for the Faversham Hops Festival was not so much a session, more a battle with the noisy drinkers but profound thanks to all those who came out and played personfully to entertain the indifferent masses.
To make up for it, on Sunday, after the Festival Band had finished its excellent gig, we retired for a cup of tea and to wait for the Phoenix session led by Chris Taylor. For some reason or another (I think it was the clearing of us off the pavement so that the procession could come by), we retired to the Bear which was almost deserted. There was only Barbara Kelly of the A2 band, Ralph Jordan of Patterson, Jordan & Dipper and Housewife's Choice, Judy Knight fellow sessioneer, Shelagh Bradley (who has taught most of East Kent to play guitar and has been in most of the folk bands in the area) and myself (and briefly, one of the Trommelfluits) and it was a fantastic little session. By fantastic, I mean relaxed, tuneful and inspiring. And enjoyable.
After that, we went to watch the Trommelfluits on the main stage and then home.
The Wednesday Irish session had its first outing at the new venue of The Old Beverlie. Everyone was looking forward to it. There was a big turn out. We arrived and got settled. And started. And then it all went horribly wrong. It was as though we had inadvertently held it on a night where astrologers would tell us that the conjunction of planets was least auspicious. Maybe we'd offended the God of Sessions by moving from the Anchor at Wingham and losing the opportunity to use that well known spoonerism.
The first casualty left after the first set. I'm not sure why so I'm not going to speculate although I have my suspicions.
The second casualty was the piper's case which got filled with drink. Nasty thing, a sticky chanter. That had to be wiped out and then taken away for extensive cleaning of the contents. So the third casualty was the piper. Fourth casualty was the one who accidentally spilled drinks in the case. At this rate, we did wonder on the viability and wisdom of the session, but it seemed to quieten down and we all played longer than usual. It is really good to have Chris Taylor back at sessions though.
By contrast, Thursday at the Bear was very quiet but there were two new faces. Fiddle players who might come more often. We shall see.
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