Session Obsession

I don’t know about you but Christmas shopping can really try my patience. Too many lines, too many people and I can never find what I want. I’m not sure what you do to calm your Christmas shopping nerves but I did what any good Irish musician would do, I headed to Ri Ra The Irish Pub for a Guinness and some tunes.

There’s really nothing more fun than playing Irish music at an Irish pub, especially after a hard day of, well, shopping (I know, tough life huh?).

This particular session takes place twice a month and luckily it landed on the very day that I decided to unsuccessfully shop for my loved ones.  It was the perfect end to a not-so-perfect day.

Ri Ra is one of my favorite locations for a session. First of all they pour a damn good Guinness and second of all the audience is very welcoming, which isn’t to say audiences aren’t welcoming anywhere else. It just seems like more people feel comfortable tapping their toes or even getting up to dance to Irish music when they’re in an Irish pub. It’s almost expected isn’t it?

Because of the way the building is set up, the session circle feels intimate. They clear the upper level for us, so it’s almost like we have our own little private area to play and yet everyone in the restaurant can hear the music. Though the football games are on in the background many a listeners can be found standing around the stage, clapping at the ends of sets and even cutting up the rug, as they did yesterday. The host Kerry Alley, makes sure everyone gets a chance to start a tune or two. So be sure you have some tunes to share.

Check out photos of the Irish session at Ri Ra here.

As with any session there is no concrete set of tunes to know but if you know any sets from the recording of  Live at Mona’s by Patrick Ourceau, you should be just fine.

If you want to be included on the email list to get a reminder email Kerry_alley@yahoo.com. The session takes place every other week so the next one is Sunday, January 3rd from 5-8pm. Hope to see you there!