I'm happy to report that I managed to get to both sessions this week. And they're fine. They're ticking along nicely with the usual suspects and everything is right with the world. It was very kind of them to say they'd missed me but I'm more pleased that they've kept going. And it was good to see everybody again and play those old familiar tunes. Well most of them anyway. There are odd tunes which drive you up the wall - like Drops of Brandy. Different for everyone but I suspect all musicians have a tune or several that they really don't like that much.
Anyway, there is an extra session this Sunday at the Anchor in Faversham, as Paul Lucas is coming down again for a visit. Last time you remember, he brought Tim Edey and Lucy Randall along and there was a great session (albeit transplanted to the Bear) which wasn't strictly Irish. I don't think the purists minded but it's hard to tell sometimes.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
28th November 2007
Apologies to Session Diary fans who have been missing their regular dose of the angst and drama that is sessions. I was going to say that I haven't been able to get to a session for some time now, but then again, I gather that one or two got cancelled anyway.
Last Sunday, being the last Sunday of the month should have been the Irish Session at the Anchor at Faversham. I gather it was cancelled because of a dearth of musicians. Now that happens occasionally but given the past history with the place, I suspect folks just aren't inclined to make the effort like they used to.
And then last Wednesday the Irish suffered again because of some activity called 'football'. Apparently it's a popular evening out to go and watch 22 grown men run up and down a muddy field chasing a ball on something called a 'plasma screen'. And they said that Golf was a good walk spoilt. Anyway, if its one thing we've discovered, it is that Traditional Music and Football are incompatible in the same venue at the same time. So with discretion being the better part of valour and another case of not being treated that well anyway, the session was cancelled.
What we need is a pub that serves real ale, has zero technology of any kind and a clientele that appreciates traditional music. A bonus would be that it was owned by someone who appreciated traditional music and that the place had good acoustics. And a log fire in winter. And does great chips. We used to have one of those - it was called the George. And look what happened when they tinkered with it. Between being a great session pub and being boarded up for years, it enjoyed a brief life as a 'Gastropub' in the middle of nowhere.
Throughout all this though, the mixed lumpy session in the Bear at Faversham has kept going as it does. Even though it was down to a bare minimum sometimes. It's probably a good time to say thank you to Dave the landlord there who has been a friend to the music for many years now. Now you may ask why the Irish session doesn't move there and personally I wouldn't mind. Indeed we have had Irish sessions there - one Sunday when Tim Edey and Paul Lucas came down and the Anchor had forgotten we were coming and of course during the Hop Festival. Well, it's not that central (the Irish session folk come from the Medway to Deal) - oh, it actually is err quite central then. But the acoustics aren't that good for playing and you can't get that many in and it gets hot.
Maybe we're too picky.
Last Sunday, being the last Sunday of the month should have been the Irish Session at the Anchor at Faversham. I gather it was cancelled because of a dearth of musicians. Now that happens occasionally but given the past history with the place, I suspect folks just aren't inclined to make the effort like they used to.
And then last Wednesday the Irish suffered again because of some activity called 'football'. Apparently it's a popular evening out to go and watch 22 grown men run up and down a muddy field chasing a ball on something called a 'plasma screen'. And they said that Golf was a good walk spoilt. Anyway, if its one thing we've discovered, it is that Traditional Music and Football are incompatible in the same venue at the same time. So with discretion being the better part of valour and another case of not being treated that well anyway, the session was cancelled.
What we need is a pub that serves real ale, has zero technology of any kind and a clientele that appreciates traditional music. A bonus would be that it was owned by someone who appreciated traditional music and that the place had good acoustics. And a log fire in winter. And does great chips. We used to have one of those - it was called the George. And look what happened when they tinkered with it. Between being a great session pub and being boarded up for years, it enjoyed a brief life as a 'Gastropub' in the middle of nowhere.
Throughout all this though, the mixed lumpy session in the Bear at Faversham has kept going as it does. Even though it was down to a bare minimum sometimes. It's probably a good time to say thank you to Dave the landlord there who has been a friend to the music for many years now. Now you may ask why the Irish session doesn't move there and personally I wouldn't mind. Indeed we have had Irish sessions there - one Sunday when Tim Edey and Paul Lucas came down and the Anchor had forgotten we were coming and of course during the Hop Festival. Well, it's not that central (the Irish session folk come from the Medway to Deal) - oh, it actually is err quite central then. But the acoustics aren't that good for playing and you can't get that many in and it gets hot.
Maybe we're too picky.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Friday 9th November 2007
All quiet on the session front.
I haven't been to all the sessions since we last corresponded, not feeling the May West but they do seem to have settled down again thank goodness. The Wednesday Irish is a smaller select gathering now but in some ways it benefits. Last Wednesday had some cracking good music.
With it being quiet on the session front, I turned my attention to two other projects. One is my custom-built 5-course mandola made by Jimmy Moon which is due to arrive today. Inspired by a similar instrument I saw at The Acoustic Music Company in Brighton, it is slightly shorter than theirs at 19.5 inches scale but still tuned GDAeb. I will report back on how well it works.
The other project is Folkipedia which is maturing nicely but really needs some contributors now to get it off the ground. There are about 260 articles already and as is the nature of these things, they meander all over the place. (Isn't that the idea?) . There is a goodly set of articles on Morris, going back to Sharp and Bacon as references and following up with some of the sides' own sites. There's a wander through electric folk, getting close to 'thrash ceilidh' and 'hypnofolkodelica' at the extremes but really covering the Oysterband, Steeleye etc. The Oysterband led to musings about Oyster Ceilidh Band, Fiddler's Dram, Day trip to Bangor (actually Rhyll but it didn't scan), Duke of Cumberland Folk Club, Whitstable etc. One you start there's no knowing where you'll end up. I did list Folkipedia on Wikipedia's list of wikis only to find it had suddenly vanished again. When I checked, I found:
deleted "Folkipedia" (Speedy A7; web content with no assertion of notability; content was: '[http://www.folkipedia.org Folkipedia] is a free content wiki for the Folk community. Its primary aim is to be a contributable resource for Folk...
Damn cheek if you ask me and what arrogance! No assertion of notability indeed. But that's wikipedia for you. The other listing on Wikiindex just says 'it's in need of love'. How nice. Come on everybody - group hug and give Folkipedia some love.
What has this to do with sessions? Well, Oysterband have run for three years now, 'The Big Session' which is a touring session with guests. Recordings are available. Alright, it's a tenuous link. This was the review:
One day, after performing thousands of concerts for audiences and playing in scores of sessions just to entertain themselves and friends (in the pub, in the kitchen, backstage ...), Oysterband had a simple but actually quite subversive idea: take the informal, all-pitch-in spirit of the session, put it on the big stage - and see what happens.
Sounds like a good idea and it seems to have worked. Is this the future of session? The Transatlantic Sessions on BBC4 have a similar idea except for stage read television and it's certainly entertaining.
I wonder if anyone still has any of the tapes from the Duke of Cumberland? Check out the link for some nostalgia. Anyone remember Percy's Relics?
I haven't been to all the sessions since we last corresponded, not feeling the May West but they do seem to have settled down again thank goodness. The Wednesday Irish is a smaller select gathering now but in some ways it benefits. Last Wednesday had some cracking good music.
With it being quiet on the session front, I turned my attention to two other projects. One is my custom-built 5-course mandola made by Jimmy Moon which is due to arrive today. Inspired by a similar instrument I saw at The Acoustic Music Company in Brighton, it is slightly shorter than theirs at 19.5 inches scale but still tuned GDAeb. I will report back on how well it works.
The other project is Folkipedia which is maturing nicely but really needs some contributors now to get it off the ground. There are about 260 articles already and as is the nature of these things, they meander all over the place. (Isn't that the idea?) . There is a goodly set of articles on Morris, going back to Sharp and Bacon as references and following up with some of the sides' own sites. There's a wander through electric folk, getting close to 'thrash ceilidh' and 'hypnofolkodelica' at the extremes but really covering the Oysterband, Steeleye etc. The Oysterband led to musings about Oyster Ceilidh Band, Fiddler's Dram, Day trip to Bangor (actually Rhyll but it didn't scan), Duke of Cumberland Folk Club, Whitstable etc. One you start there's no knowing where you'll end up. I did list Folkipedia on Wikipedia's list of wikis only to find it had suddenly vanished again. When I checked, I found:
deleted "Folkipedia" (Speedy A7; web content with no assertion of notability; content was: '[http://www.folkipedia.org Folkipedia] is a free content wiki for the Folk community. Its primary aim is to be a contributable resource for Folk...
Damn cheek if you ask me and what arrogance! No assertion of notability indeed. But that's wikipedia for you. The other listing on Wikiindex just says 'it's in need of love'. How nice. Come on everybody - group hug and give Folkipedia some love.
What has this to do with sessions? Well, Oysterband have run for three years now, 'The Big Session' which is a touring session with guests. Recordings are available. Alright, it's a tenuous link. This was the review:
One day, after performing thousands of concerts for audiences and playing in scores of sessions just to entertain themselves and friends (in the pub, in the kitchen, backstage ...), Oysterband had a simple but actually quite subversive idea: take the informal, all-pitch-in spirit of the session, put it on the big stage - and see what happens.
Sounds like a good idea and it seems to have worked. Is this the future of session? The Transatlantic Sessions on BBC4 have a similar idea except for stage read television and it's certainly entertaining.
I wonder if anyone still has any of the tapes from the Duke of Cumberland? Check out the link for some nostalgia. Anyone remember Percy's Relics?
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