Irish Music "Seisiun" at Ashtabula Harbor

On Saturday, July 5th, we had a wonderful Irish music "seisiun" at Kyle Smith's boat dock in Ashtabula Harbor, right near the huge lift bridge. About 8 musicians were there. Kyle was on fiddle; Sheldon Firem on bodhran and whistle; Lynn Higgins on fiddle; Bill Lewis on 4-string banjo and fiddle; I played my guitar and whistle; another fellow on guitar (he sang several songs--very nice); another woman on fiddle; and a woman named Amy playing several instruments. Kathleen O'Neill Webb and her husband Rick Webb and Linda Coughlin listened in on the session, as did several other people. It was a wonderful time in a great setting.

A huge lift bridge about 100 yards from the session site.

Sheldon on small bodhran; Amy; Kyle on fiddle

Amy and Kyle

Bill Lewis on banjo; Lynn Higgins on fiddle

Me on guitar

Hiram Irish Music Session--Spring Version

Today we had the spring edition of the Hiram Irish Music Session. The word "session" (in Irish "Seisiun") is a term used among players of Irish music and it simply has to do with musicians getting together and playing Irish (and other types) of songs, jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, marches, airs, planxties, etc. for two or three hours. Often sessions take place in pubs; this one takes place a few times a year in Frohring Hall, the music building at Hiram College. Tina Dreisbach organizes it and leads it, along with her husband Paul.

Today's session had about 22 musicians and 15 observers. There was a great variety of instruments. I counted about 4 fiddlers, 2 or 3 Irish flute players, many whistle players, 2 people with mandolins (one with a metal resonator), an Irish bouzouki player, a harpist, a bodhran player (Sheldon Firem), many guitarists, a ukulele player, a couple of concertina players, an autoharp player, a pianist, and perhaps other things I just missed. I knew some of the musicians, but certainly not all!

Sheldon on bodhran; Tina on Irish flute

Rob, on piano; he knows every tune and every verse of every song!

Nice view of many of the musicians

I will list many of the tunes played at today's session (my favorites in bold print)

Ash Grove
Augusta Waltz (Bob McQuillen)
Bride's Favorite
Greencastle
Friendly Visit Hornpipe
Keane O'Hara's 1st Air
Hewlett (O'Carolan)
Golden Keyboard
Sligo Maid
Amelia's Waltz (Bob McQuillen)
Sally Gardens (song)
Madam Maxwell (O'Carolan)
St. Anne's Reel
Boyne Hunt
Haunted House
Banshee's Wail
Haste to the Wedding
John Ryan's Polka
Raglan Road
Dennis Murphy's Polka
Ger the Rigger
Maggie in the Wood
Enchanted Lake
Eleanor Plunkett (O'Carolan)
Fanny Power (O'Carolan)
Morning Star
Longford Collector
Whiskey in the Jar (song)
Danny Boy (song)
Whiskey Before Breakfast

. . . and many more!

Another Wonderful Irish Music Session in Harpersfield (near Geneva, Ohio)

John Foyle on bodhran. Maureen McGuire on button-box.

For the second month in a row, we've had an Irish music "session" at the Kosicek Winery in Harpersfield, Ohio (that's about 4 miles south of Geneva). A session is when Irish/Celtic musicians get together and play tunes (and sometimes sing songs) for a couple hours. These take place anywhere, from Galway, Ireland, to little towns in Montana, to Harpersfield, Ohio. There is a corpus of tunes that everyone seems to know--jigs, slip jigs, reels, hornpipes, airs, waltzes, polkas, etc. At yesterday's session there were about 3 guitars, maybe 5 whistles, a concertina, a button-box accordion, 3 mandolins, 2 tenor banjos, a few bodhrans (Irish drums), a set of "bones," and a few other things. There were 15 musicians total (many with multiple instruments), sitting in a circle. I know some of the names: Kyle Smith (fiddle), John Foyle (whistle, bodhran, bones), Jack Lewis (banjo and guitar), Maureen Reich (fiddle and banjo), Maureen McGuire (button box accordion), Sheldon Firem (bodhran, whistle, guitar), Jule (spoons). There were many others I don't know. Musicians came from all over Northeast Ohio--Mayfield, Wickliffe, Chardon, Hambden, Girard, Conneaut, Youngstown, and points unknown. I was there with my whistle.

I tried to write down the names of most of the tunes:

1. Swallowtail Jig
2. Morrison's Jig
3. Fox Hunter's
4. The Rattling Bog
5. Merrily Kiss the Quaker
6. Planxty Irwin (O'Carolan)
7. Irish Republican Army (song, sung by John Foyle)
8. John Ryan's Polka
9. Haste to the Wedding
10. Dennis Murphy's
11. Si Bheag Si Mhor (O'Carolan)
12. Irish Washerwoman
13. Bally Desmond
14. Higgins'
15. The Butterfly (Slip Jig)
16. The Rose of Mull . . . (didn't get all of the name)
17. Rights of Man
18. May the Road Rise to Meet You (song)
19. Whiskey Before Breakfast
20. Off to California
21. Banshee Reel
22. Maid Behind the Bar
23. Drunken Sailor
24. Donneybrook Fair

And many others! Oh yes. And John Foyle did a fine rendition of "Danny Boy."

Hope to play with these musicians again, maybe at the Hiram College Session, in Cleveland, in Niles, Ohio, wherever!

Kyle on fiddle. Sheldon on bodhran.

Wonderful Irish Music Session In Harpersfield, Ohio (Near Geneva-on-the-Lake)

The session, in Kocicek's Winery, Harpersfield, Ohio

Sheldon Firem on the Bodhran (Irish Drum)

Maureen Reich, on fiddle

18 Irish musicians, crowded into Kocicek's, a new winery in Harpersfield, outside of Geneva, Ohio, on Saturday, February 1st. Snow still deep on the ground, some cold rain falling--didn't bother musicians, who came from Greater Cleveland, Chardon, Youngstown, Warren, Conneaut, Girard, and God know where else. Bringing fiddles, whistles, guitars, drums, a buttonbox accordion, an autoharp, ukulele, 2 tenor banjos, bones, voice, mandolin, and whatever. What a great way to spend a winter Saturday afternoon!

Hiram Irish Music Session (#2)

Tunes played at Hiram College yesterday include:

1. Tom Hackett's Dream
2. Madame Maxwell (O'Carolan)
3. Morning Mist (James Keane)
[the above 3 tunes were new to the Hiram Session]

4. Eleanor Plunkett (O'Carolan)
5. Fanny Power (O'Carolan)
6. Golden Keyboard
7. Sligo Maid
8. My Cape Breton Home (Jerry Holland)
9. Ash Grove
10. John Ryan's Polka
11. The Butterfly
12. Maggie in the Woods
13. Si Beag Si Mor (O'Carolan)
14. Rights of Man
15. Off to California
16. Christmas Eve
17. Wind that Shakes the Barley
18. Haste to the Wedding
19. Frost Is All Over
20. Cliffs of Moher
21. St. Anne's Reel
22. Gaspe Reel
23. Over the Moor to Maggie
24. O'Carolan's Concerto
25. Gentle Maiden
26. Sally Gardens [we sang this song--WB Yeats wrote a lyric for an old tune]

Some of the musicians: Bob Coughlin (me--whistles, guitar); Ellen Eckhouse, harp; Sheldon Firem, bodhran, whistles, guitar; Paul Dreisbach, uilleann pipes, whistle; Tina Dreisbach, Irish flute, whistle, concertina; Robin Montgomery, grand piano; and Frank Krygowski, on fiddle and whistles. There were also 2 people playing button-box accordions;other fiddlers; another concertina player; an autoharp player; other whistle and guitar players--I don't know everyone's names, unfortunately.

P.S. Frank Krygowski has given me the names of a few other musicians present: Jean McGeary, John Sharp, Barb Montler, and Dennis Akers on button-box accordion.

Irish Music Session at Hiram College(1)

Sheldon Firem , bodhran (Irish drum) player extraordinaire, at the Hiram College Irish music session, organized by Tina and Paul Dreisbach, music profs at Hiram. At the harp is Ellen Eckhouse.

In the above video you can see Ellen Eckhouse playing an O'Carolan tune on her harp. You can also see many of the 14 musicians present, including Tina Dreisbach on flute

I will post one or two more short videos plus the tune list from this session--I'll do that tomorrow.

Hiram Irish Music Session Coming Up Soon!

Got this note from Tina and Paul Dreisbach, music profs at Hiram College:

SEAN MOORE IRISH MUSIC SESSIONS

at HIRAM COLLEGE

Fall date:  Sunday, October 6, 2013

Learn tunes: 2:00

Open session: 3:00

Potluck refreshments—All welcome

Frohring Music Hall Room 102 (recital hall)

11746 Dean St., Hiram Village

Other 2013-14 dates:  February 16, March 30

This is one of my all-time favorite things. I'll bring my whistles and guitar. And I hope we'll see other Irish musicians from the area with their bodhrans, whistles, concertinas, flutes, fiddles, harps, guitars, and other instruments (including Robin Montgomery on the piano).

Great Tune Heard at Irish Festival: "Come Give Me Your Hand" by Rory Dall O'Cathain

I heard Maureen Reich (on fiddle), Dennis Doyle (on celtic harp), and Sheldon Firem (on bodhran) play this beautiful tune yesterday at the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival at an "open session" (I was there playing too, but not on this particular tune). The tune, called "Give Me Your Hand" (Tabhair dom do Lámh in Irish) was composed by the blind harpist Rory Dall O'Cathain around 1603. 410 years later it was played in a Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds building in Berea, Ohio. Below is a version from Youtube by the Chieftains:

Hiram Irish Music Session

The last Irish Music Session of this academic year took place at Hiram College today. The group was smaller in size than normal (9 or 10 musicians and maybe 7 observers), but the music was still wonderful.

Ellen Eckhouse, on harp, with one of her students

Sheldon Firem on guitar, with Robin Montgomery on piano

Sheldon also is a terrific bodhran and whistle player

Paul Dreisbach on whistle (his uillean pipes on his lap); Tina Dreisbach on Irish flute. Tina also plays the concertina

Who know more tunes and song verses than Robin Montgomery? (No one!)

Not pictured: me on whistle and guitar, Marlene Connell on bodhran; and a fiddle player (don't know his name). Marlene was married to the late John Connell, County Cavan native and terrific button box player and singer. Among those in the audience--Kathleen O'Neill Webb and her husband Rick Webb.

I'm going to try to list all the tunes played--[coming in a later post].

Irish Music Session at Hiram College

Yesterday there was another Irish music "session" at historic Hiram College (some 35 miles or so southeast of Cleveland). The sessions take place three or four times a year, on Sundays, 2-4 PM in Frohring Hall. Yesterday was a bitter cold winter day, which might have held down the number of participants a bit. Still, there were many fine musicians there and a few observers.

The organizer of these sessions is Tina Spencer Dreisbach--helped out by her husband Paul. Tina plays Irish flute (a simple-system flute) and concertina; Paul plays tin whistle and the uillean pipes (Irish elbow bagpipes). I'm pretty sure Tina and Paul play many other instruments too!

Also there was master bodhran player and whistle player Sheldon Firem (he lives a mile or so from me near Chardon, Ohio). We also had a piano player, a woman who played autoharp; an excellent guitarist; me, with my whistle and guitar; Bill Kennedy, emcee of the radio program "Sweeney Astray," on WCSB, 89.3 FM--Bill was playing a mandolin. There was also a fiddle player and the harp player, Ellen Eckhouse, of the Garrettsville Village Bookstore.

So not bad for a cold and snowy winter's day in Northeast Ohio! A wonderful Sunday afternoon of Irish music.

Irish Music Session at Hiram College

Yesterday we had a rather small but wonderful Irish music session at Hiram College (located in the small college town of Hiram, about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland). We have these sessions about three or four times a year, organized by Professor of Music Tina Dreisbach and her husband Paul Dreisbach. Tina plays several instruments, from whistle to Irish flute to concertina; Paul plays whistle and uilleann pipes (he is also a fine oboist, but doesn't bring out the oboe in the Irish session). Yesterday, to our surprise, another uilleann pipe player came--a fellow named David from Cuyahoga Falls (possibly David Daye). There were also two harp players, Ellen Eckhouse from Garretsville, where she owns the Village Bookstore, and one of her students. So two harpers and two uilleann pipers at the same place and same time--incredible!

We also had a piano player (his name doesn't come to mind--but he is very good; he must know hundreds of tunes) and the premier bodhran player, Sheldon Firem. Sheldon also brought his guitar and his bag of whistles. He can play the whistle as sweet as anyone and I can't imagine a better bodhran player. I was there with my homemade guitar and my Susato whistles. Another man, Denny (from the Akron area, I think) had a button box accordion. And a young woman was there with her fiddle. She is an excellent player and also seems to know many many tunes (she loved playing polkas).

So it was a small group, but well-balanced with the mix of instruments. And we had a wonderful two hours at this historic little college.

Wonderful Irish Music Session at Hiram College

Today around 25 musicians from all around Northeast Ohio met at Frohring Hall at Hiram College and played Irish tunes. Tina Dreisbach, music prof at Hiram, organizes this session, which meets three or four times a year.

Hiram is about 25 miles from where I live in Chardon and perhaps 40 miles from Cleveland. It's a beautiful place, a very small college with a long and important history. Here is what Wikipedia says of Hiram: "a private liberal arts college located in Hiram, Ohio. Founded by Amos Sutton Hayden of the Disciples of Christ Church in 1850, the institution has, since its first days, been nonsectarian and coeducational, and throughout its existence Hiram College has sustained this egalitarian tradition of educating men and women from diverse backgrounds. U.S. President James A. Garfield was a student, instructor, and principal of the institution while it was still the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute."

Of course the musicians weren't thinking too much of the college's distinguished history--we were thinking about making music! I wish I knew the names of all the musicians, but I know only a few: John Sharp, Robin (the piano player), Ellen (harpist), Tina's husband (uillean pipes, whistle) . . . .

There were 2 harpists there today, a piano player, 2 concertina players, 1 mandolin player, several classical flutists, several players of the Irish flute, maybe 5 whistle players, a player of the low D whistle, a few fiddle players, a few guitarists. Our regular bodhran player, Sheldon Firem, was unable to make it today (he was at the open house Chardon High School had for the community).

I will list many of the tunes played at the session: [coming]

Wonderful Irish Music Session at Hiram College

Last Sunday, February 13th, twenty-two Irish musicians, a couple of Irish dancers, and about 10 onlookers met at a Hiram College music room for a "session," organized by Hiram professor Tina Dreisbach. The musicians included a harper, a player of uillean (Irish) pipes, a mandolin player, several fiddlers, players of Irish and classical flutes, whistle players (including a "low D" whistle player), a bodhran player, a bongo player, two players of concertinas, guitarists, a piano player, and so on.

I sat on the edge of the circle, but was able to join in on a few tunes (this time with my guitar). We played a lot of traditional tunes, but were treated to two new tunes: "The Heights Hornpipe," by Dermot Sommerville (who also played guitar and flute during the session); and a beautiful tune called "Ottinger's Lament," played by fiddler and composer John Reynolds. Both tunes were spectacularly beautiful. Toward the end of the session, two fairly young girls did some Irish dancing. I was really pleased with the number of young musicians at this session--there is a future for this beautiful music!

Thanks to all the musicians and organizers: Tina Dreisbach (and her husband,Paul, the uillean piper); Ellen Eckhouse, harper who played O'Carolan's "Morgan Megan" so beautifully; Sheldon Firem, bodhran player extraordinaire; Mike Mazur, a cultural force in the Cleveland Irish community; and all the other wonderful Irish musicians whose names I do not yet know.

One of the beautiful tunes we played at Hiram was the slip jig "The Butterfly." I located a youtube version of this tune, which can be accessed below or by clicking on the title to this blog entry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKkeXBY-emA