April is for fooling around

  You never know what you are going to find if you put a harp image search on.   So it's April and I'm still in my musical funk, but the sun is shining, so that is something!

Last day of March....First adult student!

It has been a long, cold, windy month.  Full of teasers and hints of Spring, but then...smackdown into winter mode again!  At least the sugaring started in earnest, and the mud roads sprouted their weight limit signs, and the frost heaves are in heave heaven!

And today, a lady who approached me last Sept. To enquire about harp lessons actually made it here for her first.  Carol is an accomplished musician, so I already feel she will blow by me quickly, but despite her major in church organ, being a daily keyboardist who also plays guitar and trumpet, she was having the same "pat your head and rub your belly" moments I remember from when I first started! But so delighted!  So excited to be learning new stuff, and finally playing this harp she has had for years , just waiting for life to calm down enough to take on something new.  This is what I was hoping for!  So, I hope things continue to be as much fun for us both down the road!  Hooray!  2 other potential students in the wings, also adults...but we shall see.  I just have to cultivate my own musical group to jam with, not having Andee's incredible proximity to so much talent!

Church music prep for Palm Sunday paid off!  I love that service!  My choir pulled out the stops, and we had people in tears in the pews.  Music is such a powerful thing, isn't it?  Magical, mystical, healing.

Well, that is my news. Andee and Lucy sound like things are fabulous and right where they need to be!  Wish we could share a cuppa!!  Stay warm and Happy Eastertide!!

March and this butterfly is emerging from her cocoon and spreading her wings

There is a heck of a lot going on for me right now!  My life is wildly different than it was six months ago, and I am emerging for the long dark winter. I have been practicing both harp and fiddle like crazy and making great strides on the fiddle and slowly (not so slowly as before though) adding new tunes to my repertoire.

I am making friends hand over fist at the moment and have established myself as a regular at the Friday and Saturday night sessions at The Roadside Tavern (fiddle only at the moment).  I get support and encouragement there.  I now go to a Tuesday night session in Ennistymon at Cooley's Pub.  Monday night is listening only in Doolin at Fitz's Pub which is more like a performance and features Luka Bloom, except now I have been invited to bring my harp!

There is a large group of French music students coming over here for a week of Irish music experience.  It will be new for them.  Two of the students are  harpists and I am going to show them how to approach the harp for Irish music.  I am excited about this!

Who am I and what is happening to my life?  It is crazy, intense and wonderful!  Playing music in my leaky caravan on a stormy day, turf and wood fire blazing, with my flute playing friend and neighbor and my friend Severine who works here now on fiddle, and a man I have a bit of a crush on, one of the most amazing fiddlers around.

March has marched on by . . .

This is a little late - but I hope you all had a fun time St. Patrick's WEEK (or two) - because it does go on and on!  Mine started with a  fabulous concert,  Caitlin na Gabhann  (concertina and dance) with Ciaran O'Maonaigh (fiddle) that blew me away totally.  Do not miss these two if they are ever in your vicinity.  Then I played concertina at the ceili that the Burlington Irish Heritage folks organize.  I'm not actually fast enough but it is a very casual event and there were plenty of other players who are fast enough.  I sat in back and did the best I could.  We had a ripping good session on Thursday (again concertina only).  Finally I wanted to go tonight to a concert of the Young Tradition players because a group of kids from Philadelphia's Next Generation group are coming up to play there, but I have to meet a plane.  I've seriously thought of making my husband take a cab to the venue, but .. . . he will have been traveling a good part of the day.  Not sure that is fair!  Still considering it though.

In harp news - well - I am not playing.  I am a mess.  A total wreck.   I've had several conversations with people about the musical hiatus.  It is almost entirely because of my other work, I think, which is a vocation about which I feel even more intensely than music.  Music is meant to be -- you know -- my happy thing, no pressure, all fun.  So.  The end is in view for my writing project, at least, let us hope a temporary end while the agent decides they DO want to try to sell it to a publisher for me.  If that happens there will be another round of serious work, I'm sure.

So that is my life.  If I were younger I think I would have more energy to play more at the end of a day of writing.  But as I am I just want to lay about at the end of the day and watch a BBC mystery and go to bed.

The weather is still disgusting.  So disgusting I am genuinely depressed, as in weepy, when I look out the window or think about getting all those damned winter clothes on to walk the dog.  99% snow cover.  Ice.  Misery.  They aren't even sugaring yet  - the temps rise to the right combination for a day or two and then plunge back down, so the sap  isn't running.

A Cold in the Cold!

Lucy, your last post just read my heart!  How can you not find time or energy for something you love so much to do??  That is a question I ask myself all the time!  I am distracted, unfocussed.  What do I really want to do with my music?  I would love to teach- only dedicated students.  Perform?  Sort of!  Volunteer in a Hospice/ hospital situation?  Yes, but do I really want to spend the time and money involved to get the official okey dokey to do that, when I feel I could just read a really good book or two, and do a really good job, even without the certificate??  Play for my own enjoyment sounds nice, but there are so many wonderful recorded pieces of music by wonderful soloists or ensembles I really enjoy listening to already, and can "do" other things while I listen!  Learn new tunes? Absolutely.  Retain them forever??  Even better!!  I have harp lust, but why buy another harp if the 2 I have are not played nearly enough?  Where has the initial enthusiasm gone- when I started lessons all those 10-15 years ago, I was not distracted, unfocussed, unmotivated.  I was also younger.  But even though there is always an argument to be made that I SHOULD be doing x, y, or z instead of "playing around" with the harp, I have certainly invested enough time and energy in the harp so far that it should merit special time on its own.  Is it the weather?  Could be.  Wasn't a problem at the beginning, but...  definitely harder to keep the harps happy and humidified, while not spoiling them too much to take out to other venues that may be much drier/colder/hotter/wetter... And the bottom line is, I really do love playing and performing on the harp.  So what is the real problem here?

I think I get most excited when collaborating with other musicians- harpists or otherwise.  Different abilities, insights, sounds.  Kind of like belonging to my book club encourages me to read things I may never have chosen myself.  The ensuing discussions may make the book even more valuable, with different perspectives voiced.  I think Andee is living the musical life I would really love to get involved in- but perhaps, not if it entails mucking thru all this snow and ice!  Back to the weather!

I know that learning by ear, a new tune gets under my fingers faster, stays with me longer, and is easier to pick back up again.  So I have been scrounging around on Youtube, etc to find tunes that I really love and want to play.  But for some reason, doing basically the same thing with Sue Richards in Lubec in August is so much easier!  Is it the teacher part that makes the biggest difference?  I know that when I was teaching harp, it helped me to focus myself on better tone and hand position, etc.  and when I take lessons, or attend workshops, the extra motivation to soak it all up and be accountable to the teacher is an energizer in itself.

So, I have friends in Maine who have managed to find other harpists to join and become a harp circle.  I wish I could get the few harpists in the (relatively) local area interested in even just playing duets with me! So far, no takers.  Everybody is too busy.  On overload.  Distracted.  Exhausted.  I am so envious of Pamela's collaboration with her very talented husband.  They have a magical sound when they play together, and a very fun stage presence!  And don't even need to leave the house!!

So- is it the weather, or just the state of things in general at this time of our lives?  I do have lots of other competing interests, as well as responsibilities.  Are we just all on overload?  Too many choices??  AARRGGH!!  I wish we all lived closer together- I would love to meet you all in person!
Drink some tea, play some tunes, knit and/or spin a few rounds, sigh...and really chat!

Well, I am going to end with comments I received from Pam after I played at the last coffee house- that I just seem so much more relaxed and like I am enjoying being up there.  I have been continuing to work on the mind set I talked about in my last post (I think) and am happy the results are this good.  So there is hope!!

Stay warm, safe, well, and musical!  Love you all- Sharon

February in Vermont = SNOW & more SNOW

No signs of spring creeping back here anytime soon - although there is a bit more sunshine at either end of the day and sometimes in between as well.

This leads me to think about a phenomenon that happens around this time of year:  Keeping the harp humidified.   Our house has both radiant floor and woodstove and you can imagine this is not a great thing.  I keep the harp covered and since the floor is cement, there is also a wet sponge on the floor right underneath it.  If I forget to keep the sponge good and soggy when I go to play I REALLY notice how dry the harp sounds.... not to mention that it goes way out of tune in about a minute and a half.

I have pans of water, water on the stove and I spray (and water) my plants frequently.  We should get a gauge to see just how dry the house really is, also one to put in my harp.  We should.  Ahem.

I also feel, perhaps due to age?, that my fingers are more clumsy and that, because the skin is drier they don't feel quite as 'connected' to the strings.  I usually wash them and then put on lotion sometime before I play, not right before, and then make sure I've rubbed the lotion of my finger tips and that seems to help.... but the net result is that I play less when the harp sounds a bit 'distant' (don't know how to describe it) and my fingers like slippery sausages.  What a pain!

That said.  I have been playing the same ten or twelve tunes the last few times at the hospital.  I know I can do better, so this week my goal is to make a list of ten tunes I play perfectly well, practice them, and then play them.  The only 'repeat' will be my three warm-up Carolan's (F. P./Kean O'H 3/ and Captain O'K).  That is my pledge.  Let's see how I do with it!

It's only February 3rd but I am reporting that I have done NOTHING about my promise to myself to play some new tunes.  I keep thinking about my harp playing and what is happening with it.  In a word:  Plateau.

Am I bored?  Maybe a little.  Have I reached the limits of what I am capable of?  No, probably not.  But what do I want from the harp?  I don't really want to teach unless I have the perfect students (harp mad, practice all the time, fun to teach), I don't really want to perform per se.  Maybe I would like to do some weddings and things, but only if I had the perfect chum to do the gigs with.  The hospital gig is about right since I am a volunteer and no once cares, really, whether I am there or not.  So I can fink in the frequent bad weather we have up here in winter.

Do I want to play every Carolan tune there is like Catriona Rowsome did?  Kind of.  But, seriously, some aren't worth the bother.
Do I want to figure out how to play accompaniment the way Eileen McIntyre does?  Who wouldn't!!!!
Do I want to learn more tunes? Yes, but I don't want to forget so many of the old ones!

I think this latter problem is one of my discouragements, in fact, from doing anything new.  I hate working so hard on a tune to find if I don't play it for a few months I practically have to start over!  To get a tune deeply embedded just takes so so so long!   But the pleasure of a new tune is exciting and invigorating.

Music is important in my life, but it is not the central focus.  As I get older, my writing, which has been my vocation, maddening and frustrating and sometimes rewarding, has taken on an urgency that I cannot ignore and I admit is making it hard to practice as much as I was able to ten years ago when I was not writing much (child, mother ill, etcetera) due to RL issues.  So how to fit the music in?

Anyway these are some of the things on my mind.  Back when I was a 'harp virgin' - just so wild to play morning noon and night, things were so much simpler.  The learning curve was so steep and stimulating.  Obviously you can't go back to that feeling, but I would love to find my way back to something steadier.

I'm not looking for any answers or advice really, just putting it out there.

And in the meantime too, here are some of the knitted harp wristlets, harp gauntlets, pulse warmers, or whatever you want to call them! The top piles are the small ones.  I'm experimenting with different yarns and trying different types of knitting patterns.  The lower group has the thumb hole.   Most of the wools I've bought are not full wool, but partly silk or flax or cotton or acrylic because of the scratchy factor.  I'm figuring that out too, what people can tolerate.  If any of you are interested in being guinea pigs, lets me know!  I want to make a 'lace' one too for summer, but I haven't gotten there yet.   And, of course, shouldn't I be playing the harp?  Well, yes, but I listen to books and music while knitting, and with the simpler stitches I can even read and knit, which I love to do in the depths of winter.

 

February and Spring is Creeping Back

I have seen daffodil leaves poking up out of the ground and we even had a couple days that felt like spring was in the air.  We have also had snow and ice covered windows in the morning, too.  But here in Ireland, St. Brigid's Day (Feb 1st) marks the first day of spring, so I'm going with it!

Last night I brought my fiddle to the session at The Roadside (because Paul Dooley and Terry Bingham were getting fed up with me *not* bringing it) and I did the best I could.  It's hard work as you all know and can imagine, but I played on several tunes and Paul got a kick out of my piece of paper with the 'confident' sets written down on.  "What's on the menu?" he joked.  The guys are very kind to me.  And more harp related, Paul started messing around with a piece that turned out to be O'Carolan's Mr. O'Connor which I'd not heard before.  He asked if I played it and you can bet it'll now be on my 'to learn' list!

I also have a 'date' to play in the session on Friday next week as the man who runs that one knew I played from the way I was intently listening every time.  So thanks to Colin the box player I'll be playing on Friday next week.  He said the only way to really get the tunes up to speed is to just jump in, it's the best way.  He suggested I talk to Paul about fiddle lessons which has occurred to me....

So I am realizing my new year's resolutions but I've got to keep pushing.  I am out of my comfort zone for sure, but Abiola Abrams (look her up on youtube ladies!) says the only way to realize your dreams and goals is to get comfortable with being UNcomfortable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB8Wonny5fs

That's a youtube of  Paul Dooley on harp, the link doesn't work so you'll have to cut and paste it into browser.

Pilgrimage to Janet Harbison's Irish Harp Cente! 
My friend Fiana, who studied under Janet and teaches at the harp centre picked me up at the bus station in Limerick and we spent the day and evening together.  I re-connected with Janet and met another harp friend, Patti who is from Texas but now lives in Cork.

In the evening Fiana and I went to a session in Castleconnell and she brought her harp.  I attempted a set but had some issues as her harp is so different to mine and the chairs were far to high for the harp.  That didn't cause Fiana any trouble at all of course as she is an absolutely brilliant harpist.  The next time I go down there I am going to have a proper lesson with Fiana and maybe Janet as well!

Harp night at the Roadside Tavern
It was a night of harp coincidences at the Roadside on Saturday!  First of all I brought my fiddle and felt really confident, played on loads of tunes.  The really fun thing though was that two young guys from County Derry showed up.  One a fantastic banjo player, the other a harpist!  Now this is the first time I have seen a harp at the Roadside!  The harp he had was the Janet by Camac in Walnut which is what I would love to have!  I practically jumped on the guy I was so excited!  There was also a young woman there who was a classical harpist and we both tried the harp out.  I played Cooley's Hornpipe and Paul Dooley played along with me on fiddle.  At the end of the night he had a go on the harp, too.
It was so much fun, we were all there til past one in the morning!

Two upcoming gigs 
One is definite, at the beginning of March with two of the owners of Boghill, Sonja (fiddle) and John (guitar).  The other is a strong possibility!  It's a little festival down in a tiny village on the coast in West Cork.  Now, I just need somebody to do it with and that somebody has to have a car.  I am making friends here all of the time so it could happen....

Please, give me your my opinion on this conversation!

Since I'm home for at least another week, I am practicing every day, and I made a deal with myself: if I could learn KRobertson's The Selkie and finally get O'Ferrell's Welcome performance-ready, I'd allow myself to order the arrangement of Moondance that I like by a famous American harpist that I'm not going to name here because I don't want her googling herself and reading this. This harpist and I are by no means really friends, but we did eat dinner together at Somerset 2 years ago, and I message her when I have harp questions, which she very readily answers. I play her arrangements of O'C's Concerto and Wild Mountain Thyme, and was really looking forward to playing the slurry levers in Moondance, 'though it's beyond my skills, really.

And as I got ready to order, I remembered awhile ago when I ordered Deborah Henson-Conant's New Blues, got it home and discovered that I'd have to tune my harp to C instead of E-flat, (the key I've tuned it in since I owned it) and that I wouldn't be playing that song until I could buy a second harp and keep THAT one tuned in C. So I messaged the harpist and asked her what key Moondance is in, and she said C. So sad, I answered, I probably won't play it, then, until I can afford an additional harp, and here's what she said that floored me: "It just drives me nuts that Dusty and many other harpers tune in 3-4 flats. If I did that I would have most of my levers up, the harp strings do not ring as true, and the intonation is not quite right." She added that Dustys are 'designed' to be tuned in 3-4 flats.

When my levers are up, my intonation is still true, and I asked my husband to play the strings individually while I listened, and heard that there was absolutely no difference in the way the levers-up strings vibrated or lasted compared to the lever-down strings! So now I want to know: is my hearing sensitivity really that bad? Do you ladies notice the differences that this harpist described? And isn't it just bad form in general to criticize a harp company this way? And how do you 'design' a harp to be tuned in a certain key? I have a very bad taste in my mouth after this conversation, and Icould really use another harper's opinion!!!

Thanks in advance. Stay warm!

Ring in the New Year!

So I googled "Corgi playing harp" and didn't quite get that.... but I love the picture!  This dog is not appreciating the music, but saying, "Stop playing, already!  Time for walkies, time for supper, time for ME!"

Which leads me to my theme of 'too much going on'.  That describes my life at present.  Which is not a bad way for things to be, not in the least bit. But it makes focussing on one or even two things next to impossible, which in turn means I am not all that satisfied with anything I am doing.  To make matters worse I seem to have been bitten by a knitting bug.  Now I am knitting those harp wristlets - working out what patterns, type of wools etc. look and feel the best.  While I knit I listen to audio books.  AND since I have a book to edit, a harp to play, a concertina to squeeze, books to read, a dog to take for walks and all the other things I am obliged to do.... this is ridiculous!

Not complaining just stating the facts.  I'm not even desperate enough to do anything about any of it, more bemused!

I did have a few folks over yesterday to play but mostly we chatted and I played horribly since I had barely practiced in a ten-day.

Sigh.

Going Pro in 2015 and Practicing Gratitude

Well my New Year's Eve gig at Kilshanny House Pub in Kilshanny, County Clare was a success!  My first *paid* gig in Ireland!  What's not to be grateful for?  Photos to follow when my friend sends them on.




I've been watching a load of youtube videos on setting and accomplishing goals.  There is a wealth of information out there!  Anyway one thing that seems to be repeated over and over is that your goals must be BIG.  Because it is very important that you get fired up and excited about accomplishing them.  We don't dream big enough is what they are all saying!

With that in mind, here are my harp (and other musical) goals for 2015:

Harp goals

-  Practice EVERY DAY within reason.
- Learn more Junior Crehan tunes.
- Refresh the airs that I haven't played in a while.
- Get more harp gigs including:
   Art openings (Ennistymon Court House Gallery is one possibility)
   Posh stuff like weddings, awards ceremonies.
- Play and record with local musicians (and new friends).
- Bring the harp and play at one of the sessions that EoinO'Neil invited me to.

Fiddle goals (may as well put them down here too as it makes me accountable and hence, more likely to stick to them!)

-  Get sets if tunes you are confident enough to start up in a session if asked to.
-  Bring fiddle to session and play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbxJQpPKygU  (a great motivational video on goals setting and achieving.)

I changed that first resolution and edited it to add 'within reason' as I don't want to put something up as a goal if it is not attainable, so I am happy to practice every day within reason.  I wasn't feeling well on Monday so went straight to bed early in the evening and did not practice that day.

Lucy (or anyone...?) do you play Sheep in the Boat, The Luithreadan (sp?), or The Hills of Coor on harp?  I've got them both on fiddle but an learning them on harp.

We are about halfway through January now and I am happy to say I am pushing forward and practicing a lot, mostly everyday.

Have pretty much got a version of Hills of Coore that I like and almost got Sheep in the Boat, Luachradan is coming along (in D).

Have gone to the pub on my own (not with fiddle--getting there eventually!) and introduced myself to a couple nice musicians (making new friends and connections is part of what I am trying to do).

Went to the Saturday night session at the Roadside last night and was told by Paul Dooley himself that I should just bring the fiddle no matter if I feel confident or not.  And the kind concertina player (Terry Bingham--do you know of him Lucy?) wholeheartedly agreed.  So I will just bring it next week.

I made a nice connection with a man who was watching his wife and teen-aged daughter play in the session that night.  He was really switched on as far as harps and  harpers go (rare to find that in a complete random stranger!) as his three daughters all play harp among other things.  His daughter there that evening was playing concertina.  Turns out he is the owner of the famous Custy's Music Shop in Ennis.  He told me that he would like to organize a harp festival in Ennis at some point.  Also I found out that Michael Rooney's sister Finnula (sp?) is teaching harp in the area.

And, speaking of harps (haha that's what we do here!), I am making a pilgrimage down to Janet Harbison's harp school in Castleconnel (outside of Limerick) in a couple weeks! I will check it out, meet up with Fiana who teaches there and was trained by Janet and maybe have a lesson.  I will stay over Fiana's one night (and pick her brain!) and also meet up with another woman Patti who I met on facebook.  Patti is originally from Texas, knows Kathy, and now lives down that way and takes lessons from Fiana.  Small harpy world it is!

Goodbye to an interesting month
Thank you to everyone who has posted and shared photos this month. I am housebound for a bit as I wait for my new knee to grow together, and reading your blog entries has been wonderful! Especially when you mention songs you know/knew/would like to learn. Because of the way our old house is built, I haven't been able to get myself through a tiny door into the 'harp' room, but sooner or later I'll stop napping each afternoon - who knew surgery would take so much out of me??? - and set down and play just for the joy of it.

Earlier this month, I went to the third-of-five long weekends to prepare to be certified as a therapeutic musician, and it was wonderful. I have become friends with a flutist who's on a teaching sabbatical this year, and during breaks in class we play all kinds of off-the-cuff duets. I love the challenge of making up harmonies and counter-melodies on the fly, and I think it's one of those "use it or lose it" skills; mine could certainly use some polishing! It was extremely gratifying to read, in my evaluation, that the head of the program has moved me from the 'intermediate' to 'intermediate/advanced' category of musician. Which certainly won't hold if I don't put this tablet down right now! So thank you all again for keeping me awake and keeping me inspired! Happy New Year!!!!

December? Already?

SNOWSTORM #1

SNOWSTORM #2

Snowstorm One was pretty and about eight inches.  Snowstorm Two was heavy snow, truly wet cement, and almost a foot and a half before it was done with us.  A nightmare.   We lost a lot of trees and I spent hours outside knocking snow off of trees near the house.  Knox spent two and a half days out on his big tractor moving snow around with the bucket.  Of course, he grumbled but was more or less in guy heaven.

Meanwhile, since I last posted, class ended.  We had a post-class concert and with a couple of others I played the slow Joe Bane's reel I got off of Kate MacNamara's album "Are You the Concertina Player" on the harp and that went really well.  Also our Among Friends bi-annual concert was in early December and I played Marbhna Luimni which was taught to us by Maeve Gilchrist at the Harper's Escape.  I am so madly in love with that tune!   I also played Captain O'Kane with Rakes of Clonmel  (as Kathy taught it - I know there are other versions) with a couple of friends (flute, fiddle)  I managed to get one person to learn a new Carolan tune. Tried to get her to learn two, but it is an uphill battle with these non-harpers!  It was Laoise Kelly's version of "All Alive" which I got from her years ago at East Durham.  It's really a nice tune. Weird key.  

I've played at the hospital, down to two visits a month--really just because of winter and the busy disease.  Once the snow falls like this I get less and less inclined to leave home and more inclined to stay put.  I am still editing my book and will be doing so for at least another couple of months, I think.  It's taking forever, but that is the way writing is.

For some INSANE reason I feel the need to 'recover' "Flying to the Fleadh" and also to work on the other Patrick Davey tune, "The Rectory Reel".  Why?  I don't know, perhaps to prove to myself I can.  I also wish to revive "Soft Mild Morning" and fifty other tunes.  But for the meanwhile no playing at all as I have one of those skin splits on my thumb-- too much shoveling and carrying on out in the snow.  

Nothing much coming up in my music life.  Maybe I need to stir up some trouble?

Keep on posting!

Mid- December Panic!

Well, it is the oddest late fall I can ever remember.  Roller coaster temps.  Ice on top of snow, on top of mud on top of ice ...you get my drift!  behind on holiday preparations in every facet of my life.  A choir who is just now been introduced to Christmas Eve service music.  Last minute harp exchanges for Celtic Evensong, due to the Fisher busting an A string right in the middle of the harp 20 minutes before I was planning to load up the van and head for church.  Thank goodness my Kortier workhorse with the small voice  (aka "Patrick") was standing by after being pretty much neglected the past year and a half- barely needed tuning!  And I stuck the mic down inside as usual for that space, and he sounded great.  The tension on that bird's eye maple is harder. so not the same feel as his little sister, "Colleen"- not so many ornaments- but I really felt good with his size.  The Fisher is a lot smaller and lighter, tho only 2 strings less than the Kortier.  Which makes life easier.  And she has a brighter tone, and much bigger voice.  But I was reminded about the things I really love about the Kortier.  So, I guess I am not ever selling him again!  (Sold and then repurchased him from a student after she gave up harping..)  Unless I can find another harp that does what he does, only with a voice to match the size!

Tonight I am playing at our local library.  They have had a Festival of Trees display for the past  few years, and tonight they are inviting folks in after hours to stroll thru the trees while hearing lovely music.  I was first told it was "background" music, which is fine- but then all the press releases billed me as a performer and the hour as a performance!  Yikes!  Wrong time of year to start prepping for an hour long PERFORMANCE!  So, we shall see- that is a lot of music, and they have now assured me there will just be a few chairs, and people will be encouraged to wander about and chat...and I am going with Christmas music printed!  So it will be a mix of stuff I have nailed for memory, and pot luck from the books!

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and Wonderful New Year!  Stay safe!  Stay warm!

love, Sharon

December in Kilfenora and surrounding area!

Another gig!
I just got another gig playing at an awards ceremony this Thursday!  The awards are from the Burrenbeo conservation trust!

Also I have learned a new tune (all in one day!)--The Kilfenora Jig (sometimes called The Clare Jig).  In honor of my new home.  I am also going to play it at the gig along with anything from this area, like The Cliffs of Moher, The Mist Covered Mountain, and all the Junior Crehan tunes I can get up to performance ready standards.



That's me playing during the awards ceremony.  The Boghill Centre won three awards!  And I gave out a few business cards to people who said, "I do a lot of weddings" including a couple hotel owners and the DJ (who is very famous, so I am told)!

Kifenora Cathedral Christmas Choir and Miscellany Concert

My little performance in the cathedral was a success.  I was only a little bit nervous and there was enough light to see my strings, bonus!

I got several nice compliments, but the best one of all was a woman who said, "You really played from the heart; I could feel it.  And that's really rare."


And another gig!
Now I have a third gig booked!  I will be playing background music as a prelude to a trad female trio on New Year's Eve!  I play for about an hour at a local pub, Kilshanny House, and this time I get paid!  Not loads, but it's a step in the right direction!  And the bonus is I know what I'm doing on NYE!

A lot of practicing!
I've been practicing loads for my NYE gig!  I'm feeling really confident!  I've decided (maybe even had a major shift in my thinking / being) that life is too short not to be fabulous!  Life is too short to be scared!

I really need to be on form on NYE because this is the real deal ladies!  I am in IRELAND playing Irish harp, opening up for a trio who are high profile!  It isn't three ladies, but two ladies and one guy.  It's led by Norin Lynch who has a CD out.  She is a wonderful singer.  The flute player is a young lady who I think is called Clara and the third is a fiddler / guitarist called Quentin.  Both Quentin and Norin are in Eoin O' Neil's band The Ceili Bandits.  The Ceili Bandits also have a CD out and Eoin does a trad program called The West Wind on Clare FM.  He is a local celebrity and plays bouzouki and fiddle!

So you see, this *could* lead to some gigs and to be on the same bill as these people is a bit daunting but I'm taking the bull (Irish cow??) by the horns and going for it, because LIFE IS TOO SHORT NOT TO!

November

Hello everyone!  I am still here, and I didn't want all of November to go by without me posting.  I am healing and finding time to play as well.  One exciting thing is I've been asked to play a piece at the Christmas concert which will take place in Kilfenora Cathedral, a 1000 year old church!  A dream come true!

I decided on my piece.  I will play Black is the Colour (I do it as an air) / The Blackbird.  Because I will only have three minutes, I had to pare things down, so I'll do the air twice through and The Blackbird only once through (AA BB).

Another gig!
I just got another gig playing at an awards ceremony this Thursday!  The awards are from the Burrenbeo conservation trust!

Also I have learned a new tune (all in one day!)--The Kilfenora Jig (sometimes called The Clare Jig).  In honor of my new home.  I am also going to play it at the gig along with anything from this area, like The Cliffs of Moher, The Mist Covered Mountain, and all the Junior Crehan tunes I can get up to performance ready standards.

November

Played at our local coffeehouse at the beginning of the month; Pachelbel, Fanny Power, Kean O'Hara 3/George Brabazon and a weird combo of Scarborough Fair/Lark on the Strand. The audience was so appreciative, but little mistakes have made me resolve to buy some kind of pole lighting. Does anyone else do this? Not really seeing the strings is so frustrating!!!! Playing at a different coffeehouse this Friday, where they have sideways, adjustable lighting. I have to remember what they've got so I can get one, too....Carpal tunnel surgery in a few weeks, and then knee replacement in December. Getting older is not for sissies! But 4-6 weeks off from work - think of the practicing I can get in! I am loving the cold, less-humid weather that lets me not tune EVERY SECOND. The mister and I are writing our first instrumental together, a 6/8 lullaby with jazzy chords. Fun seeing a less-nervous Sharon on stage, hoping she'll keep it up! That's all for now, folks. Happy harping.

November- getting old fast and giving thanks!

Greetings!  This is my birthday month, though I can hardly believe I have already reached this advanced age, when I still have so much to learn and do!!  And I love that Thanksgiving is part of MY month, as I am so grateful for so much, including the inspiration of you all, and fellow musicians in general!  It is feeling like snow, though I do not expect any today, and I am loving the rust and smoke of the surrounding countryside and woods, as there are still bright patches that surprise the eye and gladden the heart!  Hurray for Autumn!!

I was particularly inspired by Pam and Lucy's posts, describing Maeve (whom I have never heard or seen) and I decided to go onstage at the local Coffee House last Saturday with a smile on my face and a bounce in my knees, and decision in my fingertips!  And, though I cannot say for sure there was a noticeable difference in my performance from the audience point of view,  I did feel immensely more confident and had a great deal more fun!  and it is definitely easier to play with the lights dimmed a bit, so as not to wash out the string colors as much, but I felt I was not focusing so much on watching the strings as I was really trying to focus on the tune in my head- minus the usual constant chatter and worry about what came next, leaving more to muscle memory. and a decision to drop the left hand if I started to panic, ready to pick it up down the road when ready!  I had decided to practice my 3 pieces a bit differently, starting at different places, and at different speeds, mixing up tempo and rhythms to see if I could still go forward with the melody line despite it all.  Challenged the gray cells a bit.  And had also decided that pausing, and slowing down if things started running away from me, was not a sign of defeat!  I had once read an account of a disparaging remark made about a musician playing for a dance, and how badly the dance steps can be tripped up with bad rhythm, or by playing too slowly.  However, since I am not playing for dancers, that should not matter, right?!  Why let that complaint mess ME up when I am onstage??!!  So, thank you ladies- your comments were taken to heart, and I tried to be the opposite of grim.  It must have worked at least a little, because my good friend, Don, commented on how relaxed and how much fun I seemed to be having up there.  I also decided NOT to voice any disclaimers this time around...what I was to give is what the audience was to get- no excuses. At my first and only competition, at Loon Mt, the judge told me not to tell the audience I was nervous or even allude to the possibility of goofing up- no matter how funny I tried to make it.  For some reason, I thought it was a way to bond with the audience and make them more sympathetic perhaps?  So, I kept it up, as part of my schtick.  Now, after this weekend, I see that while my audience may have appreciated my self deprecating humor, my own brain was becoming more convinced that messing up was an expected outcome, and I would start the inner dialogue of failure in my head!  Which explains why- at least to me- I actually would become MORE nervous with each song, instead of more relaxed!    So- new mental habits are being worked upon!!

What did I play?  Three Swedish dances, learned from Sue Richards in Lubec.  Josephine's Waltz, another waltz I am spacing out on (Jarna's Valsen?) and Var Det Du- all 3 waltzes.  I had a Shottis in my back pocket if I needed it, but I knew the 3 waltzes would go ok, and my daughter joined in on the flute for the last one, as a duet.   So, I have also decided the DIY is an important thing to pursue, and have another waltz I pulled up on YouTube- also Swedish- that I have begun to try to learn.  It has that bizarre tuning so many Scandanavian tunes seem to have, starting out with B flats and f sharps!  The lever changes will be interesting!  May wish I had taken up the fiddle after all!  I am definitely heavily in Hall of the Mountain King mode, as the winter approaches!  Loving the light and dark contrasts in these tunes, and the surprise twists the melody takes, after being so immersed in the Celtic genre, which is a little more predictable perhaps...not that I don't still love those Celtic tunes!!!

Well- thank you all again for the inspiration you provide!  I think we should arrange to meet in some beautiful place and spend 3 or 4 days together just playing, sharing and drinking buckets of tea!  Would love to meet you all face to face, and have a group hug!  Many group hugs!!  Maybe someday!  Hope you are all keeping well, and finding lots of reasons to be grateful despite the curves life throws at us, and making lovely music- for yourselves as well as others!  Take care- Sharon

October This 'n That

The month has almost come and gone! Are you, like me, wondering how we got to almost-snow season already? We're working hard at not turning on the heat yet, but I know the day is coming. I am lucky enough to have the house to myself this morning, so I have the time to make a nice cup of coffee with a big chug of chocolate syrup and post about lots of stuff.....like The Highland Games, carpal tunnel surgery, new music and MHTP Thereutic Harping!

The Highland Games
We have wonderful Highland Games in New Hampshire at Loon Mountain. We are late to this party, and only started going 2years ago, but goodness we love everything about it! This year I took a personal day off from school and we spent the good part of a day sitting in the sun watching the sheep dog trials. Throughout the weekend people are jurying their bagpipes, so the sound is everywhere!!! I like it enough to consider taking lessons, but the only teacher in our area lives here just part-time....and they're so hard to learn, right? There are harp workshops and competitions throughout the weekend. Maeve Gilchrist was the pro 3 years ago, but for the past 2 years it's been Kim Robertson, my idol. (Though sometimes I do get tired of her big open 9th and 10th chords...) I didn't. Attend any workshops this year, but went to the New England Open Competition and of course Kim's concert. Next year I'm going to enter, and I've already selected two out of the three songs I'll need. You get on-site parking if you're a competitor, which is a great incentive! But we really go to the games to hear Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas on fiddle & cello. This year I think we saw them 3 times, including a set where Kim R sat in. The food! The wonderful people from all over our country! The great-looking men in kilts! It was a wonderful long weekend.

Carpal Tunnel Surgery
My doctor does this in a clinic, which makes it a bigger deal than it is. I think I was out for maybe 10 minutes, and went to work the next day with a band-aid over my 6 stitches. It is great to finally sleep through the night, but because I waited so many years to take care of it, I might never get full feeling back in my fingers. Argh, the numb tingling is annoying, but thankfully it doesn't really distract me from playing. Maybe in mid-November I'll get the other hand done.

New music
I've worked up my own arrangement of a fiddle tune, Mrs. Jamison's Favorite, song #1 for the games next year. I am also determined to learn Kim Robertson's The Selkie, which is a challenge for me because I have almost no technique -yet!- playing open octaves. I have also been playing through her Celtic Christmas book. Sharon, do you have this? There are 2 chants in it that would be great for your Sunday afternoon services. I try to spend an hour sight reading once a week, though that doesn't always happen. If I can learn The Selkie by January, I'm going to reward myself by ordering Janet Witman's new arrangement of Moondance. I have no idea how to do those jazzy lever swoops, but by God I want to learn! We - my husband and I - are playing out twice this month, at local coffeehouses, same old songs with maybe the addition of Pachelbel's Canon.

MHTP Weekend
In early October I went to the second of five long weekends training to play at bedsides in hospitals, nursing and private homes and hospices. So much to learn, and a little frustrating: all the other instrumentalists have single-note instruments, and because a lot of healing music is simple, I'm playing lots of very slow, one-note phrases. But such an interesting thing happened - the session leader did not bring her own harp and used mine. Other than the afternoon that I bought it 4 years ago, I had never sat across a room and heard how deep, expressive and resonant it is!! Maybe 15 minutes of listening has changed the way I play. Kim R said she was planning to live 10 years past the normal age because playing the harp is so spiritual. Haha, I feel this way about my own harp now!

By gosh, the longest post ever. Thanks for listening. Have a great weekend and a happy Halloween. And Andi, that photo with the cat right in front of the lens is priceless!!!!

October Odyssey

Leaving home on the Friday, two weekends ago, I drove down to New Brunswick to attend The Harper's Escape.  I think my 12th year?   Different this time because Grainne, having just given birth to #2, Liam, was not there, nor Billy  (I still brought my bottle of Balvenie which I began bringing for him mainly).  Maeve Gilchrist taught the group I was in and Eileen Gannon was also there.  So,  different but very very good.   I will play The Factory Girl and Farewell to Limerick, but .... I don't know about the jig, not really my thing, but you never know.  Simply watching Maeve play is a revelation.  I very much like the jig the other class learned... Walsh's, I think,it is called, a hornpipe, so I will be learning that, I expect

In case you haven't seen it here is this you-tube offering that a local cable station posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Cbz0abebE&feature=youtu.be

Watch Maeve especially!  I think it is hilarious that they devoted even five seconds to a concertina.  And I was appalled to see how grim I look when I play and also that sometimes my mouth is open!  I must work on that . .  My suspicion is that sometimes when I think I am smiling all I have actually succeeded in doing is to neutralize my expression so that while it is not grim, neither is it exactly happy-looking either. Drat. That is probably my biggest takeaway from HE this year.  More on that further down however....

As is more often the case, my favorite time is not the classes and workshops but  hanging about playing and talking harp shop (and other stuff).  This year folks were NOT shy about the Balvenie,  I'm happy to say, which was great, because the idea is to lower the anxiety level and have fun when we do FINALLY get to just play.  Sunday evening, our extra night, was the best although we were all in the 'drop' stage of 'harp til you drop'.  If I ever organize anything it would be collegial, no instructors, for people at this "level" that we, the folks that read or write in this blog*, are all at, presumably.   Is it all right to say that while one is never done learning and benefitting from the teaching and example of marvelous players, DIY, at this stage, is the most important thing to go for?

*To new readers:  If you want to be a writing participant, just let me know down below and I'll get you started! 

OK, so back to the musical odyssey.  I spent most of the week editing a manuscript while staying at a B&B that inspired my thoughts of a harp gathering, also visiting with my daughter now at college in Bronxville, just outside of NYC (we went into the Met, etcetera) and THEN I went up to the Northeast Tionol in East Durham where my sister (fiddle) and I always share a room and play play play - I also usually meet up with Eileen McIntyre and that great New Jersey crowd of hers and we play every tune we know and it is so much fun!  I also play the concertina quite a lot at the sessions, and because of the class I take with Benedict Koehler and Hilarie Farrington here in VT, my repertoire is improving. For reasons I cannot comprehend, the session group always stop playing tunes I know when I finally get settled and ready to play.  When I leave they start up again.   Be that as it may.... I have really been obsessing with steadiness, consistency and rhythm issues on the concertina like really trying to get my whole body involved and moving when I play.  What I need to work on with BOTH instruments:  play them like I really mean it.   And that includes being comfortable playing an air and filling the air with silences..... I'm probably the quietest concertina player in existence as it now stands.  The harp I do already play with more steadiness and conviction and I have to say I think it is because of my stint in Kathy's Harp Orchestra.   

At the Tionol I learned a jig  - "Bubbling Wine" by Paddy O'Brien in a class about the composer given by (fiddler Matt Mancuso) that I might try out on the harp.  A very cool tune indeed. 

One piece of news is that next year the Harper's Escape and the Tionol are on the same weekend.  It is a special time with my sister, so that does not bode well for the HE.    

Further, I'd like to apologize to everyone for my long absence.  RL has been very compelling. I work as a writer and that has been absorbing all my energy, which is good for me, but bad for music.  This is also the time of year when I have the six-week class with Benedict and Hilarie..... two more to go!  This weekend my local posse, The Flies in the Porter, has a gig at the Harvest Festival at the big monitor bar in Richmond owned by the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. In September we played two farmer's markets, one in Richmond and the other in Stowe in September.   The Stowe gig was five hours and we lucked out with an incredible day, just perfect.  It's one of the 'bigger' markets and there were tons of out-of-staters there.  We felt very.... picturesque.   I played the harp and the concertina both. 

I hope this makes up a little for my long absence.  There's snow now on our local mountain.  Cheers!

Past Mid-October and the Weather is Blowing in From the Atlantic

Hello ladies, I have made it safe and sound back to Ireland.  Wounds that were just starting to heal were ripped open (there are a lot of memories here of many happy times with Mike) and I spent the first couple days attending to that and trying to get settled in.

Time to put myself on some kind of a schedule (around working and socializing, which are both very important to my healing right now).  I set up and tuned up my harp in the small octagon hall and this morning before anyone was awake and before the sun was even up (7:00, not as early as it sounds!) I practiced for an hour.  Next time I will practice fiddle stuff as well.

I am continuing to practice both harp and fiddle.  Have moved out of the small octagon hall into the big one for now--but it may be too cold in there, I will see.

Making new friends, even going to the pub a couple times so far to hear the local musicians play in the sessions.  I may work my fiddling back up to participating in the session again. I am toying with the idea of doing a little concert for the Boghill community.  Who knows, maybe I'll find someone to play with once in a while.