Any concertina festivals on west coast of USA?

[Mary B]

After I read about the Old Pal festival in Texas, I was wondering if there are any festivals on the west coast of the USA where concertina players meet. I know of a concertina workshop and a squeeze-in on the east coast, but that is a long way from San Diego! I have been playing the EC now for about 5 months. I am fortunate that I have met one other EC player here at a Morris dance exhibition, as well as one anglo player at an Irish music session, but I am not yet able to play at the speeds required for those tunes. It would be great to play in a slow jam or a tune swap like there was in Texas. Does anything like that exist here on the west coast?

[Daniel Hersh]

After I read about the Old Pal festival in Texas, I was wondering if there are any festivals on the west coast of the USA where concertina players meet. I know of a concertina workshop and a squeeze-in on the east coast, but that is a long way from San Diego! I have been playing the EC now for about 5 months. I am fortunate that I have met one other EC player here at a Morris dance exhibition, as well as one anglo player at an Irish music session, but I am not yet able to play at the speeds required for those tunes. It would be great to play in a slow jam or a tune swap like there was in Texas. Does anything like that exist here on the west coast?

There's the San Francisco Free Folk Festival in June. I'll be co-leading the concertina workshop there, tentatively scheduled for Sunday June 26 from noon to 2 pm. It's a pretty long way to come for a two-hour workshop, but it's on the right coast.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Daniel Hersh

[saguaro_squeezer]

Mary,

 

I'll thinking that= we might put something together in Tucson. Gary Coover and I were talking about another festival on our side of the country. I know of a couple of Tucson folks but hadn't really sought them out. This might be a good time .... a Concertina Band would be a great thing.

 

I'm going to check with the Tucson Friends of Traditoinal Music to see what events they have lined up and if we could add a concertina section to it.

[Aquarussell]

Hi,

 

I am in San Diego too. Why don't I just find a room someplace, and form a club? Would anyone join? Would you Mary? I can put out a call to the Morris group and the English Country Dancers, and we could get together to talk and jam. If not that, perhaps get together someplace to listen and talk. Do they still have Sunday night sessions at the Field(an Irish pub downtown)?

 

Anyone interested please reply here. If this doesn't fizzle, who knows? Maybe have a west coast event of our own someday.

 

<edit>

 

I would like to hear about events in Tuscon, too.

 

Here is some stuff from a fellow named Michael Eskin, Irish slow sessions in San Diego and locally;

 

http://www.slowplayers.org/California_Seisiun_List.html#SoCal_SD

 

<end edit>

 

Aquarussell

Russell Hedges

Edited April 6, 2011 by Aquarussell

[Mary B]

Thanks for all your responses. I am not sure whether it is worthwhile to go to San Francisco for a two hour workshop, but I will think about it. A festival in Tucson with concertina events sounds very interesting. I would be eager to join a concertina club in San Diego.

[gcoover]

Thanks for all your responses. I am not sure whether it is worthwhile to go to San Francisco for a two hour workshop, but I will think about it. A festival in Tucson with concertina events sounds very interesting. I would be eager to join a concertina club in San Diego.

 

Mary, sounds like a good opportunity for you to organize something in San Diego! Yes, that's how these things work - the person with the most interest gets to be the catalyst. With other players in the area, plus Michael Eskin with his "iConcertina" apps, it could turn into something really fun. Does the morris team there use concertina? Any players involved with the "Star of India" square-rigger? And then there is also Coronado Island, Balboa Park, the Gaslamp District.....Ok, I've already talked myself into coming!

 

Wouldn't mind at all going to Tucson either. I met Rod at Palestine this year and he's a masterful player on the Crane, and one of the stalwarts who went the distance on the 3am concertina session. Perhaps there's a nice desert resort where we could organize something? I'm sure the non-musical spouses and hangers-on would appreciate alternate activities. I can see the group photo now, with all of us playing concertina by (or in) the pool.

 

Gary

[Aquarussell]

Hello,

 

The local Morris group in San Diego is Moreton Bay Fig Morris. They practice on Tuesday nights, so I will see if the other Concertina players are interested. There is no Concertina player at English Country Dance, so I guess that all I can do there is try to get someone to take up playing.

 

What is a good evening for all of you that have posted an interest here? Please pass the word around to anyone you know, and I will try to find a venue for the first meeting. How about outside seating at Shakespears Pub? They have been very Morris friendly in the past.

 

Early next week? Monday night? Come to the Morris practice Tuesday, then to the Pub after?

 

Is it time to move this off the Concertina.net Forum and to private e-mails, or is using the Forum this way okay?

 

Thanks bunches,

Aquarussell

Russell Hedges

[Dan Worrall]

Hi,

 

I am in San Diego too. Why don't I just find a room someplace, and form a club? Would anyone join? Would you Mary? I can put out a call to the Morris group and the English Country Dancers, and we could get together to talk and jam. If not that, perhaps get together someplace to listen and talk. Do they still have Sunday night sessions at the Field(an Irish pub downtown)?

 

Anyone interested please reply here. If this doesn't fizzle, who knows? Maybe have a west coast event of our own someday.

 

<edit>

 

I would like to hear about events in Tuscon, too.

 

Here is some stuff from a fellow named Michael Eskin, Irish slow sessions in San Diego and locally;

 

http://www.slowplayers.org/California_Seisiun_List.html#SoCal_SD

 

<end edit>

 

Aquarussell

Russell Hedges

 

Hi folks,

 

As a catalyst who helped start the Palestine concertina workshop--soon to be in its eighth year, so a success!--I'll forward some thoughts on what helps to make it work. As Gary Coover says, it only takes one interested person to get it started, but of course the work of many folks to make it a success.

 

1) It helps to have a host festival to cling to, especially at first. Concertina meetings alone are boring for spouses, and tend to get stale by themselves. By being part of a larger festival, you get other things to do in off hours, and better sessions with other types of musicians. Moreover, if you play your cards right, they can help defray some of the costs of a headliner if that headliner can perform for the larger group too. At Palestine, we contribute more cash than other attendees of the Old Pal old time music festival, but still don't pay all the costs of bringing our headliner to Texas...we are too small a group relative to dulcimers or guitars or such to pay for a headliner on our own (Texas is a long flight).

 

2) A simple two hour workshop won't get anyone intersted enough to come for more than a local drive. Having a two or three day workshop gives folks a chance to really dig in. In my opinion, this is a key feature of our Old Pal workshop, and a drawback on any one day feature. I went to the Button Box concertina day once, and it was delightful--but at just one day there was not nearly enough interaction and workshop time to make it worth more than a regional-scale drive, to me--even with some fabulous people in attendance.

 

3) Go for breadth. Another Irish music weekend is just that---and there are plenty of them already. Seek out music types that are important to both the West Coast and the concertina. Attaching to a maritime festival is an obvious choice; I'd consider coming all the way from Texas if we were playing near those old ships in San Francisco bay. A music festival in an old western gold mining town somewhere is another possibility, especially if there are possibilities for old time dancing (there are lots of such activities on the west coast; playing for dances is a key draw for concertina players, who tend to be keenly aware that the Anglo was a dance machine before the days of sessions).

 

4) Keep costs very low and make it all a work of love by volunteers. Seek out others to help...they will enjoy that, and the workshop will gain immensely from their help and expertise. Resist the urge to make a 'profit'--it won't happen anyway, and it turns people off.

 

Just some ideas that have worked for us. Whatever you do, be prepared to put a lot of time into it the first year, then watch it grow.

Dan

Edited April 12, 2011 by Dan Worrall

[Dan Worrall]

another duplicate. something is wrong with my PC!

Edited April 12, 2011 by Dan Worrall

[Mary B]

Russell,

I sent you a PM with ideas for a concertina group in San Diego.