There is nothing more gratifying than someone who is touched by your music. I love looking out into the audience and seeing people smiling, singing along or tapping their feet.
Performing, though, takes hours and hours of practice, creating set lists, driving to gigs, and lugging equipment. It can sometimes be discouraging.
So why do we do it?
This past weekend my guitar player and I played a gig a local bookstore. The last song we played in our set was The Star of the County Down.
At the end of the show, this gentleman who was sitting in the back row, pulled me aside to talk to me. He had tears in his eyes and spoke with an Irish accent. He told me the last time he heard that song was when his father sang it to him back in Ireland. He smiled at the memory and revealed that his father has since passed. He then shook my hand, thanked me for our music and slowly walked away.
It was at that moment that I was reminded why I perform.
Session Obsession 
I am looking for a play list for typical Irish tunes played as, for example, at the Bulington Irish Heritage Festival Ceili.
Thank you.
Brendan Keleher
Hi Brendan. The best thing is to visit a session and bring a recorder. Each session has a different set of “core” tunes they play. For a list of what is usually played at that particular Ceili, check out a past blog post.