In short, the week was great. Here is a photo of me mugging with a Fasnacht mask after all the festivities and just before getting into my Jeep to leave the Deep River Muster. Although I was smiling, it really was a sad moment.
 

Just to whet your appetite about themariners.org I’ve included one recording here from my week with the Mariners. This is a set of two tunes called In the Back Seat and McGowan’s Motorcar. Both these tunes were written by the founder of the Mariners, Roy Watrous. Joe, myself and a few others had planned on performing it at the Mariner Muster, but when it came time to play it, the announcer skipped right past the piece. Oh well.

This recording is at Dan’s Firehouse late one evening. Joe and I played it for our Swiss friends since they never got to hear it during our concert.

In The Back Seat / McGowans Motorcar by baconworks

Alright, I promise, no more videos for awhile. I just couldn’t stand to have that IE6 post at the top of my blog for more than ten minutes.
 

Planxty:
Dónal Lunny on bouzouki
Andy Irvine on mandolin
Liam O’Flynn the uilleann pipes
Christy Moore on harmonium and bodhrán

In almost forty years no one has done it better. Check out the Balkan inspired weirdness at 3:24. Mighty.
 

Today, I got an email from Josh at 1:49 where he says:

Hey, I’m learning your tune right now!!!

Then, less than an hour later I get this video from him:
 

 
What can I say, I’m verklempt.

One nice thing they do at their session is have monthly workshops where they bring in a seasoned musician to provide instruction during the early part of the evening. Well, unfortunately, I missed the early part. However, once the session got moving, Unstachio and I did get to have a go at backing Tony DeMarco, this month’s special guest. Tony is a universally known and respected Sligo style fiddle player from Brooklyn, NY. I can’t tell you what he thought, but I thought it was quite fun.

Here is a video of Tony with the legendary Kevin Burk. The video is not much to look at, in fact you can hardly see Tony, who is on the right side of the video. The audio is quite good however, and makes it worth a listen. Incidentally, they open their set with Paddy Clancy’s, which is the same tune I posted the other day.
 

 
Also, I should mention, that Tony has a new album that can be found on his website. Also, he will be performing this Friday, October 3rd, at the Kendall Tavern in Leominster, MA at 8pm. Apparently there is a session to follow. For more information and tickets contact Aisling. Should be a fun night.

• Deb, it’s so nice to see April again.
• John E. Boy, thanks for the interpretive Irish step dancing.
• Alan, that spider nearly killed you, glad I could save your life
• Dan, if ever you need any attire correction in the future, you can count on me. Besides I don’t want you to embarrass the rest of us
• Beave, good man on ye ol’ goat skins. I guess we’ll have to continue carrying the Gary & Ralph torch since there are no others.
• Richard Benoit, nice chatting and playing tunes with you. I’ll be sending some music your way.
• Katie, you are sooo grass roots. Thanks for advertising our session before I knew we were having one. Also, thanks for making me feel good about B minor.
• To those two girls from Delmar who said they were going to go find Wi-Fi so they could check out my web site … you girls rock!
• Tim, impressive flute playing. Glad I could convince you to play one more tune.
• Bosse, I can’t believe you played Shenandoah in F! Cool. You’ve come a long way in a short time.
• Deirdra, mighty whistle playing. With a little more practice, you should be able to get those tunes up to speed  ; )
• Jeff, glad you found us.
• Craig, ninety seven versus of The Humors of Whiskey and I could see the finish line for the first time in three years. But, once again, defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory. Someone has to take the blame.
• Mountain, you should play that Em tune like nine times through. Good shtuff.
• Kate, bring your pipes to Sudbury, we’re putting you on tape.
• Tish, your fifing rules.
• Biscuits, you would have been proud.
• McGraw, you know how to make ‘em. Thanks for bringing them down. I’m so happy you all came. It was the best part of my day.
• Max, I know you can’t read, but Happy Birthday my little punky pirate.
• Sudbury and the Troopers, Great performances. Thanks so much for playing my tunes.
• Rachael, thanks for starting Blackwater Tide in the jam. I guess I should re-learn it now.
• The only downer of the weekend was that Mr. Dukes and The Salad Queen did not make an appearance. I hope you guys show up at Sudbury because my fans hate it when you’re not there.
• finally I’ll leave you with Eighteen fifes, Six snare, Six bass, Eight flags, Three gunners, Two prisoner handlers, One prisoner, One musketeer, One Jeff, One Commode and, apparently, a fair young maiden. Boom.