Irish Traditional Session News

	Click the poster to see it larger.

 
  Concerts, News & Events:

• On March 14, a Brooks Institute of Photography film about Ireland will be shown at the Lobero Theater, 33 East Canon Perdido St., 7:00 p.m. The soundtrack features music composed by local bassist Randy Tico as well as a fair amount of traditional Irish music. The show is open to the public and admission is free. The showing will be followed by a reception and photo exhibit at the Brooks Cota Street campus, 27 East Cota St., around 8:00 p.m. with music provided by local Irish group Shepherd's Pie. Brooks Institute has more details on their Ireland Documentary page.

• Saint Patrick's Day is coming up on March 17th. What to do to celebrate? There are sure to be plenty of celebrations in pubs around town. (The folks at Dargan's Pub estimate they serve 4500 pints from a keg of Guinness on St. Pat's Day.) In the meantime, you might like to read St. Patrick's Day – A History, or search the Santa Barbara Independent for St. Patrick's Day events. Or, try this Chocolate Guinness Cake recipe!

 
  Regular Irish music sessions in downtown Santa Barbara and wherever our friends are:

A Muddy Waters session in summer 2007. Click the picture to see more!

The Santa Barbara sessions are now every 1st and 3rd Thursday, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Muddy Waters, 508 East Haley Street. Click for a map to Muddy Waters.

The legendary James Joyce sessions are no longer happening, but we still have the photos!

Morro Bay: Morro Bay Brewing Company, 280 Harbor Street, has a traditional Irish session every Wednesday evening from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information, contact Morro Bay Brewing Company at 805-772-3534. (See any familiar faces?)

Ashland, Oregon: The Black Sheep Pub, 51 North Main St., has a session on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the Black Sheep Pub at 541-482-6414. The pub is on the I-5 freeway corridor, conveniently located for those travelling between the Seattle/Portland area and the SF/LA area. (Nice web site they have!)

Several sessions are happening in the Los Angeles area:

• The Celtic Arts Center hosts a Monday night session at 9 p.m., very friendly and inclusive and social. First Monday of the month, the session starts at 8 p.m. Celtic Arts Center, 4843 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City. Coming from Westlake, take the 101 south to LaurelCanyon. Exit and go left under the freeway a block past Riverside Drive. It's in a little strip-mall accross the street from Jack In The Box. You can park in the bank parking lot if you like. Map to Celtic Arts Center.
   
• Finn McCool's in Santa Monica has an open session Sundays from 4 to 7 p.m. Finn McCool's, 2702 Main St. (Main & Hill Sts.), Santa Monica, 310-452-1734. Map to Finn McCool's.

 
  Links:

Wikipedia describes the social, cultural and musical aspects of the Irish traditional music session, including this charming quote from Barry Foy's Field Guide to the Irish Music Session: "… a gathering of Irish traditional musicians for the purpose of celebrating their common interest in the music by playing it together in a relaxed, informal setting, while in the process generally beefing up the mystical cultural mantra that hums along uninterruptedly beneath all manifestations of Irishness worldwide."

Michael Robinson's Beginner's Guide to Irish Gaelic Pronunciation is a simplified guide for "traditional musicians, radio announcers and anyone else who is interested in traditional Irish music."

The Session has links to sessions and tunes, as well as discussions and pages about the music and recordings. "The exchange of tunes is what keeps traditional Irish music alive. This website is one way of passing on jigs, reels and other dance tunes. Some of the tunes are well known, and some are more obscure. It's this mixture of the familiar and the new that makes for a good session."
     To search for a session, click the "Search" tab at the top of the Sessions page. Important: Click the "Comments" tab above a session listing to see the latest info about the listed session – the info on the Details tab is likely out-of-date.

The bi-monthly newspaper Folkworks has calendars of ongoing sessions and suchlike, and all of the Folk news you need (including dance, music and art) for the greater Los Angeles area. You can find Folkworks in print at libraries and music stores. In Santa Barbara, Folkworks can sometimes be found at the Sunday evening contra dances at the Carillo Recreation Center, corner of Carillo and Anacapa streets.

 
  Radio:

Andrew Doerr hosts the Roadtunes Sessions always beginning and ending with Irish music and also featuring a variety of other singer songwriters, both acoustic and electric. It's on every Tuesday morning on KCSB 91.9 FM in Santa Barbara from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Pacific time. Roadtunes Sessions is simultaneously webcast at KCSB's Webcast page. The phone number in the studio is 805-893-2424 for questions, comments, or suggestions for future shows.

Thistle & Shamrock, Fiona Ritchie's weekly radio program of music from Celtic lands, can be heard on KCBX-FM, Saturdays at 4 p.m., at 89.5 Santa Barbara and 90.1 San Luis Obispo.
     National Public Radio has a web page listing stations that broadcast Thistle & Shamrock in California and elsewhere.

Howard & Roz Larman's FolkScene is back on Sunday nights, 7 to 9 p.m., on KPFK-FM with traditional and contemporary live music, interviews and remote recordings. Tune in at 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, and 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara. See the Folkscene web site for more information, and how to hear the Folkscene webcast.