Irish music and life in northern Greece
April was quiet. On the 2nd of the month, we did our April session. It was our quietest since we began in October 2021, with only seven of us playing. Further bad news – three of our regulars, Kostas from Tir Fada and his twin sons are moving to Crete. This is in addition to... Continue Reading →
Only in Greece! How can a small mountain town of 14,000 inhabitants host a 4- or 5-day St. Patrick’s festival? Well, Grevena manages it, and it is a commercial and artistic success. We set off at 10:30am on Saturday, 18th March, our destination a restaurant called Marmita in a village called Megalo Sirini (Μεγάλο Σειρήνι)... Continue Reading →
Looking forward to our session next Sunday, 12th March. I will need to send a reminder out to the troops. A group of us have begun practising in earnest for a gig on 19th. We are meeting in a tiny theatre called Nemesis – a name that doesn’t augur well! Tuesdays and Thursdays up to... Continue Reading →
Is it a whole month since I’ve posted anything? Our session on Sunday 12th February went very well. Twelve or thirteen of us showed up. Again the bar was busy. Always good to see. Our next task is to get ready for March and activities for St. Patrick’s Day. We kick off the week with... Continue Reading →
14th January. A week ago about seven of us met here for cheese, mulled wine and a run-through of the sets for tomorrow’s session. We were not at our best, so I hope all goes well tomorrow. When we were using Zoom to practice during lockdown, we used YouTube clips converted to mp3s. These were... Continue Reading →
As the year draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the past 12 months. Attempts to form a band have been a failure. There is too much conflation between band and session material and personnel. Finding a practice time and venue that suits us all has also been a huge problem. The... Continue Reading →
On Sunday, 11th December, we had our last session of 2022. Ten of us were there. Personally, being a fiddler, I missed the other violins, but we delivered the full program. I change the music every two months, usually adding around five new items, but with Christmas and New Year coming up, I will recycle... Continue Reading →
The scheduled practice for Wednesday, 9th Nov had to be cancelled because the pub had some event booked. Plan B – to go to someone’s house – was rendered impossible by a 24-hour strike, so there were no buses or taxis on Wednesday. We like to use practices before sessions for a combination of band... Continue Reading →
24th October. A great afternoon in the Dubliner yesterday where Tir Fada played their first gig in quite a while. They were on form, the audience appreciative, the pub full, and I overdid it with draught Lagunitas, a Californian IPA. I’m suffering today. Practice continues to be a problem for the same reasons expressed in... Continue Reading →
On Tuesday 20th September, five of us plus our injured guitarist met in the Dirty Glass. The previous practice was intended as a run-through of new items for the monthly session in the Dubliner. This practice was more band oriented and more organised in that it was our first effort in a while during which... Continue Reading →
Our monthly sessions resumed yesterday, 11th September, after our break in August. There was a fair bit of new material in the playlist, but we coped very well. Some of the musicians brought friends and family to the pub – a captive audience – but we also went down well with a group of Russians... Continue Reading →
Yesterday we assembled at the Dirty Glass to shake off the summer torpor and prepare for this Sunday’s session. And we were rusty!Fortunately, as only a few practice items were chosen, we had time to repeat them and pick up speed. Present were Vasilis (guitar), Petros (injured guitarist), Giannis (accordion), Gregory (standard & low whistles),... Continue Reading →
Nothing is happening in the Irish music scene right now. The summer slump. I have made myself busy by downloading and editing ABCs. My latest set is two 3-part reels, Mayor Harrison’s Fedora and The Cup of Tea. This will be included in the November-December playlist once one of my pals makes sure the chords... Continue Reading →
The musicians: Kate, Panos, Gregory, Andy, Anna, Evridiki, Luke, Petros, Kathleen, Vasilis, Robert We were locked down in January but from February to July we have manged to hold very successful sessions. Last night, 4th August, was different; we did a gig. We were well received in the Σπίτι του Φύλακα in Angelohori. About 200... Continue Reading →
Lawrence (GDAE-tuned uke), Tikitu (mandola), Jaqui (harp), Giannis (accordion), young Giannis (σαντούρι - Greek hammer dulcimer), Kostas (βιολόλυρα - a GDAE-tuned Cretan lyre) and Apostolos (Irish bouzouki) 8th July. We finally met Jaqui and Lawrence in person. They are the couple, resident in Malta, who organised sanity-saving online sessions during lockdown. We ate at Kathleen’s... Continue Reading →
19th June 22. Midday. I have just posted LinNG 13/22, and now I am contemplating this afternoon’s session. How many will show up? To be honest, although we have always had a reasonable turn-out, I find the anticipation a bit stressful. This should be the last session as we are taking a break in July... Continue Reading →
May has finished on a high. We got together last Wednesday, 25th May, in the Dirty Glass, to practise the Athens session set. To speed maters up we reduced the repetitions and flew through the set in no time. Then the madness began. Seven of us committed ourselves to playing in the inaugural Athens Irish... Continue Reading →
We had our 7th monthly session on Sunday 8th May. It should have been our eighth, but January’s was cancelled because of an upsurge in Covid numbers. We had fewer players than usual, but I am pleased about the way it went. The music festival in Athens is turning into a three-day event. We should... Continue Reading →
Finding a practice venue is a perennial problem. Some people are reluctant to have seven or eight unrelated people in their homes as Covid is still an issue. One or two want to practise in the open air out of similar concerns. Unfortunately, April has been a surprisingly cold month. On Thursday we gathered in... Continue Reading →
11th April 2022: Yesterday’s session was a little different. We started 30 minutes earlier to accommodate a live YouTube broadcast from the Ukraine. Jolly’s Irish Music Band are based in Odessa. Their income is now near zero as they cannot perform, so they are trying to earn some money by doing YouTube broadcasts. The manager... Continue Reading →
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