òran mór

Here in the Seacoast area we often thank our lucky stars that there are so many great musical people and events to enjoy – every night of the week.  The Irish, Scottish, and (yes, even) English music interweaves with  the sounds and songs of the sea, and in that connection we enjoy a camaraderie  with our friends around Gloucester, MA.  They host a gathering  every Tuesday night at Cameron’s Restaurant  in Gloucester, where shanties, forebitters, and the occasional song or tune from anywhere anyone wants fill the air from about 8:30 to midnight.

We knew that last night at Cameron’s  would be special, as Danny Spooner,  one of our favorite folk and shanty singers would be visiting in.

Peter Hale headed up after work, and Chris Maden, Marty Stock, and I headed south from NH to arrive in time to enjoy the whole night.

Peter and Joanne Souza informally lead the event, encouraging the many folks around the big comfy room to get in the songs or music they’d like to share.

You never quite know what you are going to hear next – and that’s a big part of the fun.  Shanties from time to time involve the whole group in work-songs, and plenty of songs about sailors and their lives on and off ship come to the fore.

Beyond that – last night we enjoyed hearing ‘The King of Rome” telling the story of a heroic homing pigeon, and the now infamous “Cow Song” led by Colin and friend (in the collage below) which cracked everyone up.

Barry Finn was there in strong form, gathering his own set of pictures to document the special night.

Last night we were joined by Mike Jeanneau, Reagh Greenleaf, Gary Usher, and Marty Stock … and some enthusiastic and very capable singers in and about the pub.

Particularly memorable for me – and fitting to the picture of the night sky outside our window – was Reagh’s rousing rendition of “The Rising of the Moon.”

That kind of named the night and topped it off for me.

After we’d already planned our May trip to Ireland we learned that the Fleadh Nua was on that week in Ennis, and that the Chieftains would be playing their first-ever concert in Ennis at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral – about a one-minute walk from our B&B.  Sometimes you gets lucky.

We arrived a bit early, and got to watch their setup and sound check, and then found our way to some excellent seats for the show.  The opening band, ‘F0olin’ in Doolin’ was great, and besides some energetic jigs and reels, their bouzouki-based arrangement of the  The Longford Weaver inspired my first  thievery(of a song) on this trip (but that’s a story for another post).

As it was our first time seeing the Chieftains in concert, I can’t compare this one with their other incarnations, but we really loved the mix of tunes, stories, and dance.  While Seán Keane is still the main fiddler, he is joined by Jon Pilatzke, who adds some great chair dancing to his fiery bowing.  Then, to bring things over the top, Jon’s brother Nathan, and Cara Butler come out from time to time to dance in wild style.  As there was no open ban on photograph, we were able to capture  these shots (Chris got the best  and first one here, of Matt Malloy).  Also caught this little clip of the chair dancing and mixed Irish and French Canadian folk dance.

All in all a great night – full of inspiration that I can bring back to our session the many fun musical events we all have back home.

It was a  Thursday night with a fine start – as Mike Jeanneau had finished up some work at Hideaway Studios and sauntered in for some tunes.

But not long after Mike had headed home, to avoid bringing ‘There’s Sure to Be a Row’ from song to reality, Steve Carrigan happened in.  He joined us a few songs – and then gave us a first – himself on guitar.

Steve”s obviously been holding out on us, being  pretty comfy and adept at his chords and accompaniment.  That gave us a nice finale to the night – and a nice scoop.

Many thanks  Steve.

It was a damp and drizzly Tuesday eve  – a soft night that was Irish enough to suggest it could be fun to swing by the Barley House in Concord.  Our cohort Bob Dunleavy is a regular there, but I rarely get the chance to make a visit.

I was happy to see another sometimes-visitor R.P. Hale (no relation, that I know, to our Pete Hale) was there with one his own customer hammered dulcimers.

Paddy Keenan happened to drop in to listen and chat. As I’d noticed him sporting a nice camera the last few times I’d seen him, I enjoyed talking with him a bit about the picture-taking opportunities that become a part of his musical travels.

Greg Heppe stayed later than me – no worries about getting the store opened on time in the morning.

All in all it was a great night, with good fun all the way ’round.