Peter Laban

I don't know Dan. You were busy? I could say I was the man having a cup of tea at the bar on Sunday afternoon while talking to Jim Carrol or that the camera could have been a give away but in all honesty nowadays I prefer to disappear into the woodwork when I find myself in a place with a lot of people around. Jackie Daly coaxed me into playing for a while in Friel's on Fridaynight but that was about as public as it got. Mike did suss me out that night. As for afters, there were fires to be lit and cats to be fed so I didn't linger in town much. On another note, although nobody approached me directly there were inquiries made all over town about copies of 'They'll be good yet' word got back to me from several directions. The recording sold out rapidly and that was fine. I would probably have done another run if Kitty had lived but as things are, I think it has had it's run and I am not planning on making it available again. Sorry about that.

Yes it was a pleasant break in the low part of the year, just before Lent kicks in. I always have my doubts about 'session trails' during festivals (I can see the point from pub and organisation perspective though). I stuck my head in the door in a few places where the booked musicians were playing away to an empty room eg Patsy Lewis and three friends in the Central that had a bit of a lonesome atmosphere around them. This thread crosses a bit with the original thread so if you don't mind I Link back to that again.

The cruinniú kicked off last night, after introductions Dan Worral did his, very informative, talk. Concertinaplayers, including Edel Fox, Caoilfhionn O Fhrighil, Mary McNamara, Aoibheann Queally, Aishling Lyons and Liam O Brien, were playing in a number of pubs. A good night. A few more images from the concert on Saturdaynight, Mick Kinsella & Rick Epping and Noel Hill, Tony Linnane & Alec Finn And a final few images from the final event, an afternoon with the musicians. Tim Collins talked with a number of players and coaxed them into playing a few tunes. It was a in a way sad that of the older Clare musicians only Chris Droney and Gerald Haugh were there (Tommy McMahon was recovering from the flu). And as my wife remarked, it was maybe not very complimentary to shovel the rest of the group into the 'older player' bracket, even if the old generation as we used to know them is nearly gone. Anyhow, thoroughly enjoyable Sunday afternoon with a half set thrown in towards the end. Gerald Haugh: Gerald Haugh, Tom Collins, Dympna O Sullivan: Chris Droney: Mary McNamara and her daughter Sorcha: Jaqueline McCarthy: Jaqui and Marion McCarthy: Final:

I remember the concertina in question being sold a few years ago. There was an extensive thread dealing with it at the time. As far as I remember it was originally part of a trio, each in a different colour.

As far as I know it's still doing the milkroute: Corofin, Ennistymon, Lahinch, Miltown. Mind you, my last experience with the service was maybe a decade later than Geoff's but it's my son's excuse for having me collect him from Ennis when he returns from college in Galway to have his washing done. Buseirreann website

Possibly something similar to O'Farrell's welcome to Limerick?

My guess is Marien directly translated the Dutch expression 'een vreemde eend'.

It WAS a lovely warm night (unlike any you would get in Clare) and watching the dancers at the time I realised everybody, especially the women, was wearing nice shoes of one sort or another. Which is also very unlike what I have become used to. FWIW, my son thought having a bass player in the band was an absolutely brilliant move.

Glad to hear your recovery is making good progress Geoff. It must have been extremely satisfying to be out playing again. [edited to add:] For anyone interested, here's a snap of Geoff and the rest of the band as they were playing in Chateauroux during the last weekend of May. A good night.

There's an Accomodation list up on the site. A number on the list are in town, a few are one to two miles outside the town. It's probably best to phone the info number on the list and discuss what will suit you.

A full program for the event has now been posted. I tried attach a wordfile as it has been sent out but the site refuses a .doc file.

It's the Yellow Wattle , Micho Russell's version.

In my mind 'fiddle' refers to the same instrument as 'violin'. There are however a few more or less home made (folk- if you like) instruments that can be referred to as 'fiddle', the brass fiddles of the travelling musicians of Donegal, the 'Russion' or 'box' (rectangular bodied) fiddles that have occurred in Clare or the 'fiedel' made out of a clog in Belgium or the Netherlands for example.

The concertina meeting should be nice, never mind the weather (the past few weeks have been pretty decent). Arás Oidreacht an Chláir hosted a local event for International Uilleann Pipes Day on saturday which was pleasant. streaming live music through Na Piobairi Uilleann tv and all. I didn't see many concertina players in though. Lisdoonvarna has the Micilín Conlon weekend next week, in case anyone is in the area. He definitely WAS a concertina player of note.

I think many countries have Geoff, we have donedeal.ie (a bit like the old Buy and Sell), there's marktplaats.nl in the Netherlands and Belgium (ebay recently bought that I think). They're useful in their own right. Heard a story a few days ago from a guy at my wife's place of work. He had a trailer he liked and he wanted another one of the same make as a spare. He looked on donedeal and found one. Only, it was a photo of his own trailer in his backgarden in Ennistymon. He decided to contact the seller and buy it just to see what would happen. The same night a few guys turned up to take the trailer from his garden.

Never mind

A bit of cross thread discussion I suppose. Geoff Wooff explained here

Visiting is fine, it takes a few years before serotonin levels get low enough to really feel the effects. After another non-summer I dread going into winter again. Coastal parts of the Netherlands don't even begin to compare, believe me. It's not all bad though, a good day, few as they come, is always a great boost. Last year's Oidreacht an Cháir concertina classes took place the first weekend of February and while it was cold, dark and windy they were a welcome break from all things wintry. Looking forward to the coming goings on. First we'll have International Uilleann Pipes Day to deal with though.

Good to see you participating anyway Geoff! In the context of conertina and pipes, there's a small but interesting bit a few minutes into this documentary of Packie Russell and Willie Clancy playing the Lark on the Strand. Some John Kelly playing the consherthiner later on as well.

It's probably hard to explain Dan. The big winds and the huge waves, they're exciting. Nothing like going out to the ocean, watch and soak up the salt and feel you're alive. It's the slow creeping dampness, cold and darkness, the always present wind, that will eventually turn people drink or anti-depressants. When visiting Geoff in France at the end of May I realised the full extend of it. We were taking a walk through the fields on our second night there, it was pleasantly warm and my body went into a state of relaxed being I realised it hasn't reached ever in Clare. A weight off my shoulders, literally.

I would guess Geoff was more referring to the wind, the lack of light, the horizontal rain and hail. Possibly you need to sit out a few winters here to fully grasp it.

Could you expand on that a bit? Which pipes and what, to your ear, seems to be clashing?

Well, I only guessed as the tune didn't quite move around a diatonic scale. I'll freely admit to my (obviously) almost complete lack of knowledge where it comes to harmonicas.

I don't think either of them (Mick & Rick) play one type of harmonica exclusively. Mick plays the chromatic in the style of Eddie Clarke but I remember going on stage with him at a few festival gigs where he took two large hands full of harmonicas on stage. There was a bit of switching between different types as far as I could see. On one occasion we got him to play this one on his own, because it's a gorgeous tune and he made such a lovely job of it : Leipzig Waltz Obviously he was on the chromatic for that one.

She teaches the accordion and the fiddle but if you'd take you on for the concertina.