òran mór

What is that doing here?

If you’ve been walking near the intersection of State and Penhallow in Portsmouth on a Thursday or Saturday night, you may have heard a familiar song or a set of tunes floating on the breeze. Nothing too blaring, mind you…but just something loud enough to catch your ear.

Like Dylan at Newport, we’ve gone electric! This propably isn’t huge news to most people, but to the session purist, it may come as a shock.

Our thinking is that since the windows are open for the summer and people are out walking, it’d be nice to broadcast a bit to make sure passers-by know that there’s good food, drink and music waiting for them upstairs at McMenemy’s. So during the last few weeks we’ve worked with a couple of mikes and speakers…and things seem to be going pretty well. We’re doing our best to ensure guest players at the session are getting picked-up by the gear, and the reports so far is that the mix sounds terrific both in the pub and on the street.

Of course, there’s nothing like honest input from our trusted friends…let us know how you think the experiment is going!

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.

This past Sunday, I had a chance to help out our friends from the band Celtic Tribe since their regular rhythm player wasn’t available for a gig. We were playing at the fest for the Murray Irish Dance Academy in Stratham, NH. What a fantastic afternoon! The dancing was great, featuring absolute beginners (around 4 and 5 years old) to incredible displays by some of the students who will be competing at the World Competitions in a few weeks! I even got to see Sue Dunlavey — wife of bandmate Bob — as she was part of the set dancing group.

Of course, playing with Celtic Tribe was a hoot. As another Portsmouth-based group, we get to play with them at sessions regularly and they frequently join us at McMenemy’s. Their approach to the music is high-energy and driving, so I was working hard to keep up. I also had never played with a full drum kit behind me (particularly one with a superb jazz drummer at the wheel), so I got the chance to play around with a few new strums. It was a great time playing music with friends!

The Tribe was also joined by Patrick Bowling for this special appearance…a fantastic flute, bodhran and pipes player. Perhaps the best bit, however, was when Paddy got out from behind the mike and started step dancing to a set of reels we did. A former competitive step dancer, he was LAUNCHING himself off that stage. Good on you, Paddy!

As we’ve mentioned before, one of the sessions we like to haunt, er, play at is the one Terry Weir runs at Harrington’s in Wakefield, MA. During the last year or so, we’d get a visit once in a while from a mandolin player from Tuscon, AZ. He’d pop-in with his mando when he was in town on business. I didn’t know his name for the longest time, so I just referred to him as Tucson Dave, as in: “When’s Tucson Dave coming back?” “Has anyone heard from Tucson Dave?”…etc. He’s always friendly, jovial guy, and a fantastic mando player to boot.

Round the House

Turns out that Tucson Dave is actually Dave Firestine, a member of Round the House. Last Friday (6/12) I had the opportunity to see him and his bandmates play live – they had schlepped cross-country to play a gig at The Blue Mermaid in Portsmouth to kick-off an East Coast tour. How convenient!

And as an added bonus, our friend Jeff Baker (the very talented flute player from NH) performed with them…apparently they’d met at a festival in Texas and Jeff convinced them to come East. 

For the record, they were a lot of fun. Great tune sets. Fine song selections. Engaging stage presence. For part of the night, I just sat back and watched the guitar player so I could pick-up some tricks (always the thief).

The only downside to the whole experience is that I missed Dave at the Harrington’s session, and they’re headed back to Arizona at the end of this week…

…so I’m left to go back and ask “When’s the next visit from Tucson Dave?”

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. LeBrun!  Lindsay Laughton and Steve LeBrun tied the knot on Saturday June 13th at the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester, NH, and òran mór played for the wedding and the pre-reception cocktail hour following the wedding.  The setting was under a large tent just off the golf course, and the rain held off more than long enough to make it a perfect weather day for the ceremony and celebration.  The wedding party, parents of the bride and groom, and 50+ guests enjoyed the music, and a good time was had by all!