12th January 2022. It has just been announced that the music ban has been extended until 23rd January. In today’s www.voria.gr there was an article saying that the music ban alone has resulted in a 50% drop in turnover for the catering sector. Lockdown cost the sector even more. It seems pointless too. Though new cases have multiplied, daily deaths and intubations remain at under 100 and 700 respectively.
Six of us got together on Sunday. We managed to practise all the songs on our playlist. We will get together the weekend after next to go through both songs and instrumentals. Although there were only six of us, there is the potential to have around 10 or 11 of us playing together, so we might end up becoming more of a showband or céilí band rather than a group. Could we become this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hal5MGcCQH0 Maybe a monster has been created. Some of us are too old and unfit for the dancing! If you listen to the change from the first to the second reel, you will hear how positively an audience responds to a key change.
There are two famous Ceili Bands from Clare, the Kilfenora CB and the Tulla CB, from north and east Clare respectively. The Kilfenora is Ireland’s oldest céilí band (founded in 1909), so it’s older than the Republic. The Tulla started in 1946.